December 22, 2010
ISBE DELL E-Broadcast 2010.198 – Immigrant Education Program (IEP) Annual Report
This year, for the first time, districts will not be required to submit an Immigrant Education Program student count, through the Immigrant Education Survey. Rather, the Illinois State Board of Education will utilize information reported on the Student Information System (SIS) to determine student eligibility and funding for FY12. This data will be extracted from SIS on March 1, 2011 and districts are therefore advised to review the Eligible for Immigrant Education Program Indicator in SIS for accuracy.
This program provides funds to State educational agencies as support to local school districts that experience large increases in their student enrollment due to immigration; to provide high-quality instruction to immigrant children to help with the transition into American society, meeting the same challenging state performance standards expected of all children.
All students with an “Eligible for Immigrant Education Program” indicator on SIS must meet immigrant eligibility -- which is defined as: Any student, age 3-21, who was NOT born in any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, and who has been attending schools in the U.S. for LESS than three full academic years.
- For example, students enrolling for the first time in a U.S. school after September 30, 2007 would be eligible. Eligible immigrant children must have been enrolled during the 2010-2011 school year and had to be eligible to be counted as immigrant children at the time of their enrollment.
Again, because the immigrant student count is used to determine district funding, it is imperative that these students are accurately identified on SIS.
Should you have any questions or need any additional assistance, please do not hesitate to contact the Division of English Language Learning at 312-814-3850.
