English Learner Education

                                           ENGLISH LANGAUGE EDUCATION (ELE)                    

                                                               ADMINISTRATION

Dr. Barry Rabinovitch

Superintendent of Schools

Robert Louzan

Director of Student Services

Jan Rotella

Director of Curriculum & Instruction

Maureen Manning

Coordinator, English Language Education

Principals in ELE Designated Buildings/Houses

John W. Decas Elementary K-5 ~ Christine Panarese

Wareham Middle School 6-8 Nobel House ~ Howard Gilmore

Wareham High School 9-12 ~ Scott Paladino

The Wareham Public School System has a diverse student population and currently services students from a variety of countries.

On November 5, 2002, the voters in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts approved Question 2, also known as the Unz Referendum or English for the Children, that changed some programmatic and instructional practices for the teaching of

English Language Learners (ELLs). Massachusetts general laws Chapter 71A outlines these new requirements.

In Wareham, ELLs at the kindergarten and elementary school levels (K-5) receive sheltered instruction in Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) at the John W. Decas Elementary School. ELL students in grades 6-8 receive SEI in the Nobel House of the Wareham Middle School. ELL students in grades 9-12 receive SEI at Wareham High School.

Structured English immersion (SEI) is a program model whereby all curriculum materials and instruction are in English. Sheltered instruction is a methodology in which content concepts and skills are addressed while simultaneously attending to language development. The three basic principles of teaching English to ELLs are: to increase   comprehensibility, to increase interaction, and to increase high order thinking skills. Another component of structured English immersion is English Language Development (ELD), whereby the four language domains – speaking, listening, reading, and writing – along with aspects of social and cultural language, are targeted by specific instruction and related to the state standards on English language development, and the English Language Proficiency Benchmarks and Outcomes (ELPBO) for English Language Learners.

Wareham Public Schools assesses all limited and non-English speaking students to determine their proper placement and classification in the ELE program. Students are assessed to determine proper grade placement and also to determine the need for additional and specific types of academic support.

Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act does not permit time limitation of services for ELLs and requires that ELLs be provided language support services until they are proficient enough in English to participate meaningfully in the district’s education program.

Staff uses a variety of formal and informal assessments, including the Massachusetts English Language Assessment-Oral (MELA-O) and the Massachusetts English Proficiency Assessment (MEPA), to assess progress in ELD. New students will be

classified in accordance with the entry classification process. Subsequent classifications of all students will be the responsibility of the Language Assessment Teams (LAT).

For more information about the ELE Program in Wareham, please contact

Maureen Manning at

mmanning@wareham.k12.ma.us