Wayne County Public School’s English as a Second Language Program serves over 2500 multilingual learners representing 34 languages. The English as a Second Language (ESL) program aims to provide multilingual learners with focused pathways to accelerate their academic and linguistic acquisition. 

The home language survey (HLS) serves as the primary source for identifying students who speak languages other than or in addition to English. A student who meets the criteria for language proficiency assessment is administered the WIDA Screener within the first thirty days at the beginning of school and within the first ten days of enrollment during the school year. The school may contact parents directly to provide further information on the student's language abilities before determining if the student needs assessment for language services.

Students scoring below 5.0 on any of the four domains (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) on the WIDA Screener are eligible to receive English as a Second Language services. Permission forms are sent to parents to inform them of their child's eligibility in ESL, including criteria for receiving services and exiting the program. A parent has the right to remove their child from the program at any time. The district's ESL program offers the following services:  

• English learner identification based on the WIDA Screener Initial Test

• annual English Language Proficiency Test Using ACCESS 2.0 

• removable Services, Push-In, Co-Teaching, and Transition 

• collaboration with Content Teachers on Academic Progress 

• offer professional development for our ESL teachers, content teachers, and instructional coaches 

• promote parent involvement

North Carolina is a member of the WIDA consortium and uses the WIDA ELD Standards Framework 2020 edition for instruction and assessment.

WIDA ELD Standards 

For more information, contact Dr. Mary Leslie Wellmer.

(919) 731-5936           

marywellmer@wcps.org