Hannah Gookstetter

T&L 333
September 1, 2017
Unit 1 Activity

Part One

School selected: Irene Reither Elementary in the Meridian School District

Part Two

The Meridian School District – located in Bellingham, Washington – refers to its English
Language Learners programs as “bilingual education” which is found on the school district’s
website. (“Bilingual Education,” n.d.). This program is for all three schools in the district: Irene
Reither Elementary, Meridian Middle School, and Meridian High School. Meridian uses the term
English Language Learners (ELLs) to describe the students they are educating through this
program. The school district follows “the State Transitional Bilingual Instructional Program
(STBIP)” and involves educators, parents, and community members in order to address the needs
of ELL students (“Bilingual Education,” n.d.). The Meridian School District lists the personnel
who are in charge of bilingual education at each school in the district and how one can contact
them if they desire more information on the program. The website then goes on to include a
definition of the program and how the school district determines eligibility and places students
into the program. Meridian claims to have done “very well” on meeting standards and was
“…higher than the state averages and goals for AMAO (Annual Measurable Achievement
Objective) 1 & 2…” (“Bilingual Education,” n.d.).

Based on the information I found on the Meridian School District’s website, I believe that
the terminology they used to describe their program to be acceptable. They utilized the term
‘English Language Learner (ELL)’ rather than ‘limited English proficiency”; using ELL instead
of LEP is great because ELL carries more positive connotation and LEP does. The Meridian
School District also claims that include instruction that “teaches concepts and knowledge in the
primary language of a student, while the student also acquires English language skills”
(“Bilingual Education”, n.d.). I believe that the school district should have used the term
‘additive bilingualism’ rather than the descriptive phrase cited in the previous sentence. Using
the term ‘additive bilingualism’ would be more beneficial because it is a more concise term to
describe one of the components of the program and is more academically correct.

Works Cited

Bilingual Education. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.meridian.wednet.edu/TLS/LEP.