Grant Elementary in San Lorenzo, Ca has a an English Language Learner liasion, called an "English Language Coordinator (ELC;)" Michelle Verkuilan is the mediator of information between school and district. She is also a Kindergarten teacher at Grant. Michelle's job is to oversee the Instructional Assistant hired by the district, and to ensure his effectiveness in working with the school's ELL caseload. It is interesting to note that Michelle's position was re-instated only this year. Grant Elementary had no ELL program last year, despite the enormously high ELL population within the district. The Instructional Assistant at Grant Elementary is new this year. He is bi-lingual, but doesn't have a teaching certificate; he is not required to have one for this position. Along with Michelle's (ELC) help, it is his job to administer a test to an English Learner who enrolls at Grant Elementary. It is a called the California English Learning Development Test (CELDT). The test is turned in to the state, who scores it and returns the test along with the score to the ELC as well as the Instructional Assistant. The score by the state determines the level of English Proficiency and the classroom teacher is informed as well. The Instructional Assistant pulls groups according to level of proficiency and will pull the lowest proficiency groups first. He does not interact with the students in their classrooms, but does "pull-outs" in which he removes students to an outside room for group time. ELL students get "pulled" half a day, twice a week for ELL instruction. The Instructional Assistant's role is mostly in support of teaching language fluency, but he also tries to bridge content curriculum so students can complete homework assignments. In short, the majority of ELL instruction falls on the student's teacher. Per state mandate, the teacher is required to devote 40 minutes a day to English Language Development instruction. The District's Language Arts curriculum provided by the state, has a ELD component which according to Michelle (ELC) can be used. My impression from her was that this provision doesn't necessarily ensure it's use. The resources that these services require originate from Federal Monies, along with some State. The money is first allocated to the district, then disbursed to the schools within the district. Most of the money goes to the salary of the Instructional Assistant, with very little left over for the program materials and resources. Grant Elementary was able to secure a Grant to provide a Homework club for ELL. The teachers at the school run this program before the school day begins. Bi-lingual dictionaries were also purchased with this grant money. There are also District level meetings and school level meetings for discussion and feedback of ELL programs and concerns. There is about a 5% parent turnout at the District level and a 30% parent turnout at the school level. The impression I got from Michelle was that absolutely no money or donations were provided by parents in this district. It is a relatively low-income, multiculturally diverse community, with a majority Latino population in serious need of ELL instruction. Finally, Grant Elementary opened in 1998, after Prop 227 was passed. Therefore, the school opened with no bi-lingual intstruction program. Of the nine schools in the San Lorenzo school district, only one has a dual-immersion program. It is interesting to point out that the demography of Grant is 46% Hispanic!!!