The purpose of this directive is to reconfirm D.C. Public Schools' (DCPS) obligation to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 with respect to national origin minority students with limited English proficiency (LEP students). In general, that law requires school districts to provide any alternative programs necessary to ensure that LEP students have meaningful access to the schools' programs. Consistent with that goal, the Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education has interpreted this law to require all school districts to take affirmative steps to rectify English language deficiencies which have the effect of excluding LEP students from participation in the educational program offered by the school district.

Within the parameters of Title VI, DCPS must have procedures for identifying LEP students. Accordingly, DCPS has developed procedures for the identification, assessment, and placement of LEP students. The first step in this process is the completion of the Home Language Survey (HLS). (A copy of the procedures and the HLS are attached for your information.)

Please be advised that the HLS is to be administered to all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, or language, at the time of registration within the DCPS. Completion of the procedures is critical to the proper identification of LEP students.

Failure to comply with this requirement may subject the offending officer to disciplinary action. Questions concerning this directive should be referred to the Language Minority Affairs Branch at 724-4745.

The Language Minority Affairs Branch (LMAB), Division of Special Programs and Alternative Education, within the District of Columbia Public School System, was formed in August of 1990, in order to provide comprehensive educational programs for all language minority students. The ethnic face of immigrants to the greater Washington metro area reflects the strife-torn map of the world, with the city of Washington, D.C. itself often the first settlement in the country.

Over 100 language groups are represented in the schools; of the 177 schools in the system, close to 70 have language minority students who speak Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese (several dialects), Tagalog, various French dialects, Portuguese, Arabic, Amharic, Hindi, Urdu, Ibo, Farsi, Tigrinya, Yoruba, Korean, Burmese, Lao, Khmer, Italian, Russian, Swahili, German, Greek, and many others. The city itself is an area with rapidly changing demographics, and the programs offered by DCPS are an important early welcome for the tides of newcomers to our schools.

Dr. David Burkett
Associate Superintendent
Special Programs and Alternative Education
415 12th Street, Northwest, Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20004
(202) 724-4172

Elena Izquierdo
Language Minority Affairs Branch
3rd and G Streets, Southeast
Washington, D.C. 20003
(202) 723-4745

Related documents:

District of Columbia Procedures for the Identification,
Assessment and Placement of Language Minority Students