On Fire for their Future
2025-2026 Lau Plan
2025-2026 Plan
Madison County Schools
The district should have a plan designed to meet the instructional needs of English Learners (ELs) which is referred to as a Lau Plan (Lau v. Nichols, 1974). The plan should be designed to meet the district obligations to ELS under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA).
Lau Plan Team Members:
Ruth Ramos, EL teacher
James Ray, Assistant Superintendent
Iman Altawee, EL teacher
Sarah Dalton, Elem Teacher
Amy Carmichael, FRYSC Director
Rhea Parks, Guidance Counselor
Drew Muntz, Director of Districtwide Services
I. Lau Plan Guided Principles
Madison County Schools is a district that is prepared to educate all students, in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act. Madison County Schools will provide the same educational experiences and opportunities to all who enroll. Madison County Schools will focus on increasing English language proficiency for all EL students so they may participate fully in both academic and extracurricular activities.
II. Enrollment, Identification and Placement of ELS in a Language
Instruction Educational Program (LIEP) The identification and placement process for ELS is taken directly from the District Guide to English Learners from KDE. The identification process is as follows:
ESSA 3113(b)(2) requires states to establish standardized statewide entrance and exit procedures for ELs. These procedures must be applied consistently across the state and consistent with federal civil rights obligations under Title VI. ESSA 1112(e)(3)(D) prohibits states and LEAs from basing any part of the EL identification process on the basis of a surname or language-minority status. Please note that Title Ill funds cannot be used for purposes related to the identification of ELs.
Home Language Survey
In Kentucky, all local school districts are required to administer a Home Language Survey (HLS) to all students in grades K 12 upon their initial enrollment in the district as a first screening process to identify potential English learner students (703 KAR 5:070 and the associated guidance). The HLS should be completed by the student's parent/guardian. Chapter I of the OELA English Learner Toolkit, Identifying All English Learner Students, advises districts and schools to reassure parents that the HLS is used solely to offer appropriate educational services, not for determining legal status or for immigration purposes. The HLS should not include any questions which would be considered to have a "chilling effect" and thereby discourage enrollment and/or attendance. The HLS shall be based at a minimum on four questions and if needed, translations or oral interpreters provided at no expense to the families. The four questions are:
- What is the language most frequently spoken at home?
- Which language did your child learn when he/she first began to talk?
- What language does your child most frequently speak at home?
- What language do you most frequently speak to your child?
To obtain accurate information and avoid including any questions with a chilling effect, it is recommended that the HLS be a separate document from the district enrollment form.
EL Identification Process
Step One: Administer the Home Language Survey (HLS) to all students upon initial enrollment.
Step Two: Review the responses on the HLS. If any of the answers on the HLS are a language other than English, the student is a "potential EL" and will need to be assessed.
- If the student is in Kindergarten, administer the W-APT for Kindergarten.
- If the student is in grades 1-12, administer the WIDA Screener Online. If the student in grades 1-12 scores a 4.5 overall composite on the WIDA Screener Online, the student is identified as Initially Fully English Proficient (IFEP). Students in grades 1-12 identified as IFEP will not take the ACCESS for ELLs in January. If the student in grades 1-12 scores below a 4.5 overall composite, the student is identified as an EL.
- A Kindergarten student who has taken the W-APT test must be enrolled as an EL student, regardless of the W-APT score results in accordance with Kentucky's EL Identification and Placement Guidance. Although parents may decline EL services.
- If all responses on the HLS are English, no additional action needs to be taken. The student is not considered an EL.
Step Three: Create a Program Service Plan (PSP). Once a student is identified as an EL, the district is required to provide a PSP. Parents must be notified and invited to the PSP meeting within 30 days of the first day of school. If the student was enrolled after the start of the school year, the PSP meeting must occur within 2 weeks of enrollment. All EL students will take the ACCESS for ELLs test in January. This process is also outlined in WIDA's Kentucky English Learner Identification and Placement Guide
III. Description of the LIEP
The LIEP consists of instruction of the general education teachers as well as the English Learners instructor.
The English Learners instructor receives Professional Development specific to English Learners. The English Learners instructor receives these through a mixture of in- person and online opportunities, such as Ellevation PD.
General Education teachers receive professional development from the English Learners instructor during a faculty meeting, during PSP meetings, through Ellevation PD Trainings and embedded in the collaboration with the English Learners teacher.
EL Program Types
- Structured English Immersion
- Pull Out/ESL Resource
- Content Based ESL
- Collaboration Imagine Learning
The amount of time in resource is determined by the needs of the students and the recommendation of the PSP committee.
IV. Process to Provide Meaningful Access to all Co-curricular and Extracurricular Programs and Activities
EL students will have the same access to co-curricular programs as the general education population. We use a variety of indicators to determine placement in intervention programs, special education, primary talent pool and advanced placement classes, as test scores are not indicative of the EL students' ability in all areas. Such indicators include:
IReady scores, ACCESS scores, classroom performance, parent input, student interviews, and teacher recommendation.
Family Resource Youth Service Center will help students to participate in Extracurricular activities if there is an economic barrier.
V. EL Professional Development for Staff who Deliver Instruction or Support the LIEP for El’s
- Collaboration with the EL teacher
- Professional Development at Faculty Meetings
- Presented at State and Regional Conferences
- EL Teacher and General Ed Teacher receive Ellevation PD Trainings and PSP Training
VI. Annual English Language Proficiency Assessment and Administration
The ACCESS for ELLs is administered every year during the testing window as set by the state of Kentucky. Test training and procedures are provided by WIDA.
When new English Learners enter the district, they are given the Screener for English Learners. Students who have previously been enrolled in a district that is a member of the WIDA consortium do not have to take the Screener. If an EL student comes from another WIDA, we can request a folder through our Ellevation platform.
The Screener is administered online through the DRC Direct application. The Writing and Speaking portions of the exam are scored locally. When taking the Screener, students in the first semester of a grade take the test for the grade below.
Kindergarten students take the Kindergarten W-APT which is administered on paper. The Kindergarten W-APT is scored locally.
VII. LIEP Exit Criteria and Procedures
The LIEP Exit Criteria and Procedures is taken directly from the District Guide to English Learners from KDE. The LIEP Exit Criteria and Procedures are as follows:
In order to exit from an EL program in the state of Kentucky, a student must achieve a score of 4.5 or higher Overall Composite Proficiency Level on a Tier B/C ACCESS for ELLS@ 2.0 as a student. The online version of ACCESS for ELLS 2.0 is an adaptive test in which a student's performance as they progress through the test determines what questions they see next.
The test contains different tiers based on difficulty. Tier A contains easier items than Tier B/C. WIDA's Interpretive Guide for Score Reports provides additional information on assessment scores. Students cannot exit in Tier A. Students taking the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs must score a P2 or higher Overall Composite in order to exit EL status. Kentucky's exit criteria is also included in the ACCESS for ELLs Online Checklist. The Program Exit Date will be June 30 of the school year in which they exited services in accordance with the English Learner Data Standards.
VIII. Monitoring Procedures after Students Exit the LIEP Program
Look at students grades, Iready scores, K-PREP scores. Check in with teachers three times a year on Ellevation Monitoring forms, students. Monitor students for four years after exiting.
IX. EL Program Evaluation
The EL Program will be evaluated in the following ways:
- Parent survey - Fall and Spring Title I
- Parent feedback after family nights
- Forms and feedback from Ellevation
X. Parent Communication
Currently our district has two full time translators to help ensure meaningful
communication with limited English proficient parents. The translators assist with parent
meeting and translation of document that go home to parents. We also will contract to get
translators with languages that our current translators do not speak. In addition to
translators we have purchased devices that help aide in translation with multiple languages.
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