What are the Reclassification Criteria?
Reclassification is the process whereby an English Learner is reclassified as a Fluent English Proficient (RFEP) student after meeting criteria set by the district. In 2019, the Oro Grande School District Board approved a new district-wide criteria for reclassification. These criteria align to the California Education Code Section 313 (f) requirements for reclassification.
California Education Code Section 313 (f) states:
The reclassification procedures developed by the department shall utilize multiple criteria in determining whether to reclassify a pupil as proficient in English, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
- Assessment of language proficiency using an objective assessment instrument, including, but not limited to, the English language development test that is developed or acquired pursuant to Section 60810 .
- Teacher evaluation, including, but not limited to, a review of the pupil's curriculum mastery.
- Parental opinion and consultation.
- Comparison of the performance of the pupil in basic skills against an empirically established range of performance in basic skills based upon the performance of English proficient pupils of the same age, that demonstrates whether the pupil is sufficiently proficient in English to participate effectively in a curriculum designed for pupils of the same age whose native language is English.
In January of 2019, the State Board of Education approved the Summative ELPAC Overall Performance Level (PL) 4 as the statewide standardized criterion for reclassification beginning with the 2018-2019 Summative ELPAC Administration.
The Oro Grande School District’s criteria (Appendix B-C) allow students to demonstrate English Language proficiency through use of state and local assessments. Parents and teachers of the student are required to take an active role in the reclassification process. When a student has been deemed to have completed the requirements for reclassification, the Student Support and Progress Team will meet to sign related documentation to the reclassification of the student (Appendix D).
Once it has been determined that a student has met the reclassification criteria, the English Learner (EL) Designee will:
- Generate and Print the Notification of Reclassification letter
- Have a site principal sign the Notification of Reclassification
- Make a copy of the signed letter and send it to the parent/guardian to acknowledge the change in the child’s language classification to Reclassified Fluent English Proficient (RFEP)
- Update student classification to RFEP in CaLPads and Aeries/Pathways
- File the letter, all reclassification documentation, and the Reclassification Checklist in the student’s EL folder in the student’s cumulative file