Identification of English Language Learners and the Parent Home Language Survey
In Maryland, local education agencies (LEAs) are required to ask every student upon enrollment if a language other than English is spoken and list the language(s) by means of a Home Language Survey (HLS) that is designed to identify:
- Students who communicate in a language other than English;
- Students whose families use a primary language other than English in the home;
- Students who use a language other than English in daily non-school surroundings.
Note: Having another language spoken in the home or routinely used in other settings is not an automatic identification of a student as ELL. COMAR provides the criteria of the HLS and defines them for ELL identification COMAR 13A.05.07.02 and COMAR 13a.05.07.03.
A student’s eligibility for services is based on the English Language Proficiency (ELP) placement test. Each LEA must inform parents of an ELL child identified for participation in the district's ESOL program:
- No later than 30 days after the beginning of the school year for students who enter at the start of the school year.
- Within the first 2 weeks of attendance for those children who have not been identified as ELL prior to the beginning of the school year.
Parent Notification Letter