Multilingual Learners

Delano Public Schools welcomes Multilingual Learners (ML) whose first language is not English.  Our ML Program is designed to assist multilingual students in acquiring the formal academic English necessary to succeed in school and beyond. Delano’s ML teachers align their instruction with the general education content in combination with WIDA English Language Development Standards, Literacy, and Minnesota content standards. 

The ML Program encompasses student languages from around the world including Russian, Hmong, Bulgarian, Bengali, Ga, Somali, Spanish, and others. 

Typical English Language instruction includes push in or pull out of classroom formats and services while most of their day is spent in general education classes.  MLs work on language goals specific to their needs.  As students progress in their English language acquisition, MLs will advance from learning basic conversational language and literacy to academic vocabulary and language structure.  ML instruction focuses on reading, writing, speaking, and listening.  Yearly growth and determination of services for the future year are assessed by our English proficiency exam, the ACCESS test. This is taken once a year until the student achieves a proficient score. Delano Public Schools MLs and their instructors work closely with the general education teachers to create plans and strategies for students to be successful in more challenging content and vocabulary.