School district gathering data to help English language learners

Clark County School District, where one in five students is considered English language learners, is developing a sweeping master plan to help children with limited proficiency in English.

District officials on Monday kicked off a weeklong series of town hall meetings to gather public input about how they can equip schools and teachers to better prepare English language learners, or ELLs, for success in the workforce and higher education.

Administrators will use the feedback — which students, parents and community members also can submit online — to identify key challenges facing ELLs and draft a multiyear plan to bolster their education, both in English and their native language. The final plan will be unveiled early next year.

The district serves about 65,000 ELLs, who speak more than 70 languages and make up 19 percent of the student population.

According to the district, 58 percent of ELLs dropped out of high school last year, with only 26 percent graduating on time with their peers. That's compared to the district's overall graduation rate of 72 percent.

"It's intolerable," said James Kuzma, principal of Rancho High School, where 16 percent of students identify as ELL.

As part of a districtwide project to gather more data about ELLs, Kuzma recently shadowed an 11th-grader with limited English proficiency.

"I followed him around, and I could see how lonely it must be for a student who speaks little to no English to go through a whole day and that's all he hears," Kuzma said.

"I get why there's a dropout problem," he added. "They feel disconnected."

That disconnect also likely drives the chronic absenteeism — missing 10 or more days of school — among ELLs.

Although only 27 percent of non-ELL students in high school missed 10 or more days in 2014-15, 34 percent of ELLs were chronic absentees.

However, 10.5 percent of ELLs in the district successfully exited its language development program last year, compared with just 6.4 percent in 2013-14.

"We definitely need to strengthen that," said Ignacio Ruiz, the district's new ELL program director. "Reaching 10.5 percent is not our goal, and we definitely need to shoot beyond that.

"With regards to parent engagement and professional development, we want to hear from the community what they think we should prioritize," Ruiz said. "If they have any ideas, we want to hear those, too."

Ruiz and his staff will host ELL town halls through Thursday. Details on times and locations can be found at ell.ccsd.net.

Contact Neal Morton at nmorton@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279. Find him on Twitter: @nealtmorton