The Edina School District offers an educational program to meet the needs of students who are English Language Learners in grades K-12. This program addresses two areas: language acquisition and cultural adjustment.

In the area of language acquisition, the goal of the English as a Second Language (ESL) Program is to provide students with the opportunity to develop communication skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing, thereby enabling the students to be successful within the academic mainstream classroom.

The program will assist the students through their cultural adjustment by helping them develop an understanding of American culture. At the same time, the students will be encouraged to share their cultural backgrounds and realize the importance of their role in a multicultural society.

Elementary and Secondary Programs

ESL service in the elementary schools is provided through a pullout and/or push-in program. ESL schedules are coordinated with the classroom teacher so that children do not miss important classroom instructional time or specialists (i.e., gym, music, art). The ESL teacher and classroom teacher work closely together to plan an instructional program that is most beneficial for the language and academic needs of each student.

Parent/teacher conferences are held twice a year - in the fall and in the spring - in order to communicate student progress. New students are tested for English proficiency when entering Edina schools and are tested again in May to determine eligibility for continued ESL instruction. All ESL students are given the Minnesota Test of Emerging Academic English (TEAE) and the Minnesota Student Oral Language Observation Matrix (SOLOM); Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test; the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) in the spring for grades 3, 4, and 5; the Cognitive Abilities Assessment (CogAT) in the spring for grades 2 and 4.

Secondary ESL service is provided within the student's regular class schedule. One or more class periods each day are designated as ESL classes, depending on the language needs of the student. Conferences are optional but strongly recommended. Report cards are issued four times a year.

District-wide All Students Assessment Schedule 2008-2009

District K-12 Curriculum

Student Projects
Country WebQuests

China
Japan
India
Somalia

© Edina Public Schools
5701 Normandale Road
Edina, MN 55424
(952) 848-3900