Are you a new EL teacher finding out you have to make an individual learning plan (ILP) for every student you work with?
Or are you one of the thousands of seasoned EL teachers making ILPs every year but aren’t confident about what to include?
Whether it’s your first time hearing about an ILP or you’ve struggled to make them for years, I’ve got you covered. This blog post is FOR YOU.
You’ll leave feeling confident because:
- You know what an ILP is.
- You know what to include in an ILP.
- You know how to share the ILP with general education teachers.
- You know how to make the ILP helpful for you and others.
ILPs are here to stay. The more you understand them, the better you can use them.
What Is an Individual Learning Plan?
Starting with the basics, you need to know what an ILP is.
If you’ve been in education for any time at all, you’re probably familiar with an IEP. IEPs give a personalized education plan for students receiving special education services.
ILPs are basically the IEP for ESL students. The document highlights the best educational plan for ELs. And it’s a way for the ESL teacher and general education teachers to stay on the same page.
The ILP gives general education teachers a foundation for teaching ELs – instead of leaving them to figure it out on their own.
A strong ILP will outline the path needed to help ELs reach success.
How Do You Write an ILP?
Writing the ILP – that’s on you.
There’s no “Easy ILP” program to plug everything into and wait for it to spit out the finished product.
Nope.
It’s you. Starting from scratch. Every. Time.
Now that we’ve gotten the bad news out of the way, let’s move on to the good news!
Writing an ILP doesn’t have to be confusing.
Follow this template of information to include in an ILP.
Student Information
The basics.
- Name – with pronunciation
- Grade
- Age
- Language background
- ESL teacher’s name
- ESL status (active, waived, long-term, transition)
Give the necessary information first. The general education teacher needs the non-negotiables up front.
WIDA Scores
Hand over all the data you have. This could be anywhere from one set of Screener scores to multiple years of ACCESS scores. Any language data you have can help the general education teacher better understand the student’s language level.
But remember – general education teachers aren’t ESL teachers. They aren’t familiar with ACCESS. They don’t understand what a speaking score of 3.2 means. Or a composite score of 4.1. All of this is just noise.
This section *MUST* include an explanation of the scores. It doesn’t need to be long. Think clear, concise, and easy to read.
Explain that a 1 means the student can communicate in single words. While a 6 means the student is on the level of a native English speaker.
The scores and explanations help the regular education teacher understand how the student communicates in English.
Background information
As an ESL teacher, you probably know more about the student than anyone else in the school. Help the general education teachers learn more about the student’s history. Include educational and personal.
Here are some background information ideas to consider including:
- Where the student is from
- Family information – who do they live with, do parents/guardians speak English
- English proficiency level
- Information about BICS (basic interpersonal communication skills)
- Information about CALP (cognitive academic language proficiency)
- Strengths
- Interests
- Things to be aware of – any educational gaps, trauma
- When the student will be receiving ESL services and how the teachers can contact you
This is where you start building a relationship with the student. And this will help the general education teacher create a relationship, too.
Can Do Descriptors
You know ‘em; you love ‘em.
What the student CAN do in English. Instead of going down the rabbit hole of what they can’t do.
The Can Do Descriptors can be overwhelming. Help the general education teacher out. Only include the descriptors that are relevant to the student’s proficiency level.
Give examples of what students can do at their current level. Include a few ideas on how to help students reach the next level based on their proficiency.
You may want to keep your ILP clean and concise. If so, link to a separate document with what the student can do currently and what their goals are.
It’s *VERY IMPORTANT* that you help the general education teacher understand what the student can do at their current level. This will take stress off them, the student, and you down the road.
Classroom and Testing Accommodations
There’s no way around it. ESL students need modifications and accommodations to access the content.
Include the classroom and testing accommodations in the individual learning plan. This makes sure the ESL student has the best opportunity to learn and show what they know. It also holds the general education teacher accountable when you run into someone who doesn’t see the need to modify.
Keep the ILP reader-friendly. Link to a separate document with the level-specific accommodations.
Classroom accommodation ideas:
- Activate background knowledge
- Wait time
- Say AND write words
- Teach vocabulary
- Word banks
- Sentence starters
- Sentence frames
- Reduce the use of idioms and sarcasm
- Provide directions in short, clear steps
Classroom accommodations don’t change the content. They make it so the students can understand the content.
Testing accommodation ideas:
- Extra time
- Test with the ESL teacher
- Word banks
- Oral response
- Drawings
- Eliminate the writing portion
*Reminder for general education teachers!* Students can only receive accommodations on state testing if they received them in the classroom.
Grading Information
Grading ELs can be challenging.[1]
You want to be as fair as possible based on their language level. But you also have a job to make sure they’ve learned the material.
Include grading information in the individual learning plan. And work with the general education teachers to make a plan that works for everyone.
Here are some tips to get you started:
- Use a variety of ways to assess
- Assess based on the student’s strengths (listening, reading, speaking, writing)
- Don’t grade for language – ignore grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation
- Allow more time
- Let the student redo their work to improve their grade
- Give choices for the student to show what they know
- Give clear, timely feedback
- Explain grading criteria in advance
These are guidelines to get the topic of grading started. These will also help take the guesswork out of it for the general education teachers.
Creating the individual learning plan doesn’t have to be a mystery. Use this guide to make the strongest plan for you, the student, and the other teachers.
Want a little more ILP guidance? Check out this (guide, document, link, etc).