Multilingual Learners

Student helping another student learn English.

Philosophy and vision

Lake Washington School District’s Multilingual Learner (ML) program empowers ML students to both participate in classroom curriculum and attain English proficiency through language and academic support from highly-qualified ML teachers. The district provides varying levels of support based on students’ individual needs, language proficiency level and grade level.

More than 3,000 students receive English Language Development services in the Lake Washington School District. These students represent over 95 different cultures and language groups.  

The WIDA Can Do Philosophy reflects the foundational belief that everyone has valuable resources they can use to support their own and others’ learning.  

The WIDA Consortium is a member-based organization made up of U.S. states, territories, and federal agencies dedicated to the research, design, and implementation of a high-quality, standards-based system for K-12 English language learners.

General information and questions

American Indian/Alaska Native Title III support

Title III Native American provides eligible, academically at-risk Native American/Alaskan Native students supplementary literacy and language development support services. Please contact mlprogram@lwsd.org with questions.

Dual Language Program

The Dual Language program in LWSD serves students from across the district using a two-way dual language model. The target language for the program is Spanish. The program is aligned with the guidance and vision from Washington State's Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI):

  • "Dual language education is approved by Washington State as the most effective way to develop English language skills for multilingual/English learners." (OSPI, 2022). 
  • OSPI also states that Dual Language is the “only program model that prevents and closes opportunity gaps for multilingual/English learners and other student groups that have been historically underserved”, as shown by decades of research (OSPI, 2022). 

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