CELDT Parent Letter, Alternative Assessment - CELDT (CA Dept of Education)

California Department of Education December 2010

Sample Parent/Guardian Notification Letter for Annual Assessment Results English Learners Who Took an Alternate Assessment

NOTE: Before this letter is distributed, be sure to insert the information required in the brackets and in bold.

Dear Parents or Guardians:

State and federal laws require all school districts in California to give a state test of English proficiency each year to every student who is identified as an English learner, including students with disabilities. In California, the name of the required state test is the California English Language Development Test (CELDT). The results of the CELDT help to measure how each student is progressing toward proficiency in English in the areas of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Your child’s individualized education program (IEP) team determined that [he or she] was unable to take one or more parts of the test due to identified disabilities. To ensure full participation in the CELDT, however, the IEP has identified an alternate assessment to help your child complete the test. Your child was given the CELDT and/or the alternate assessment for the current school year, and the IEP team has compiled the results for your review.

As you look at your child’s CELDT results for this year, it is important to remember that these results only are one measure of your child’s progress toward English language fluency. [The school district or schools may want to add a sentence about the other measures that will be used to assess the student’s progress.]

You are invited to request an IEP meeting at [insert place, date, and time] where the results of the CELDT and/or the alternate assessment and your child’s English language instructional support program will be explained. To confirm your attendance at the meeting, please call [put contact information here].

You are encouraged to be involved in your child’s education. You are welcome to volunteer at the school and to participate on the school’s English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC). If you have any further questions about the CELDT or your child’s instructional program at any time during the school year, feel free to contact your child’s teacher or bring them up for discussion at an IEP meeting.

Sincerely,

______Superintendent/Principal Date