The first step in determining whether our students need support with language acquisition begins with registration. When a student enrolls in District 44, a Home Language Survey is completed.

If exposure to a language other than English is indicated, the WIDA Language Proficiency Screener will be administered to the student. The results of this screener determine eligibility for English Language services. The following is a breakdown of what those services are:

TRANSITIONAL PROGRAM OF INSTRUCTION (TPI)
All District 44 Multilingual students receive instruction that is aligned to WIDA English Language Development (ELD) standards. ELD standards, along with the Common Core State Standards, are used to teach language through content area instruction.

TRANSITIONAL BILINGUAL EDUCATION (TBE)
Our Transitional Bilingual Education Program includes all the components of our Transitional Program of Instruction, along with native language instruction and support for our Spanish and Urdu speaking students. This program is housed in some of our district schools.

DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM
The Dual Language Program includes all components of our Transitional Bilingual Education program. Additionally, this program is designed to provide challenging instruction to students in both English and Spanish. Students learn to speak, read, and write in both languages, while developing respect and appreciation for the culture of two language groups. Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, the program only accepts eligible Spanish speaking students.