HOME LANGUAGE SURVEY

According to the Basic Education Circular (BEC) of July 1, 2001, school districts and charter schools are required to administer a home language survey to all students (those presently enrolled and those who may enroll) to identify students whose dominant language is not English.

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) requires schools to identify potential ELLs. The tool Pennsylvania chooses to use for this identification is the home language survey. The results of that survey must be retained in the student’s permanent folder. For those students whose primary home language is other than English (PHLOTE), the district must also determine the student’s English language proficiency. Then ESL instruction at the appropriate level must be provided for the limited English proficient student with local/state funds.

The survey must be signed by the parent and maintained in each child’s permanent record folder. Districts and charter schools should make every effort to make the information on the survey available to the parent in the parent’s preferred language. The survey should contain questions that assist in determining the English language experience and language needs of the student. The survey must contain the following three questions at minimum:

What was the first language your child learned to speak?
What language(s) does your child speak at home?
What language(s) is/are spoken in your home?

If the answer to one of these three questions is a language other than English, further assessment is necessary. The results of the assessment must be included in the permanent record of every student.

After the initial home language survey, a school district/charter school may ask more detailed questions that may further explain the language needs of the student and/or parent.