Multilingual Learners (MLL)

Students in Shoreline

We are a diverse school district serving students who speak more than 70 different languages at home, with approximately 28% of our students qualifying for free/reduced lunch K-12.  While our Multilingual Learner (MLL) program comprises 11% of our district population, nearly 20% of our students speak a different language at home.  Currently, our top languages are Spanish, Amharic, Tigrinya, Mandarin, and Arabic.  We value each student’s native language and culture and the richness this diversity brings our school community.

Program Description

The Shoreline School District offers a Multilingual Learner (MLL) program for students of limited English proficiency. The primary purpose of the MLL program is to provide students with an educational environment that gives them the best opportunity for success. The district’s K-12 program is designed to develop competency in English as rapidly as possible in order to provide a language base for the regular curriculum. The program focuses on developing oral proficiency with the integration of reading and writing as the student progresses through the various stages involved in learning English.

Eligibility for the MLL program is determined by a student’s score on the English Language Proficiency Assessment, the WIDA Screener, upon entry into school. In accordance with state law, students exit from the MLL program when they score as Proficient on the state annual English language proficiency test, the WIDA Access.

Shoreline serves elementary multilingual learners through a collaborative/co-teaching model, which may include services within the regular classroom and/or small group instruction.

Shoreline serves secondary multilingual learners in MLL classrooms and/or through support in the content classroom.