WorkflowK–12 Student Services, Families & Safety

English Learner Identification & Reclassification

English learner reclassification with every gate cited and every parent notice on time, in the family's language

Every eligible student reclassified on time, with zero missed parent notices.

See one case, screen by screen ↓
demo1,186of 1,412students at level 4 meet all four gates on the sample district's spring scores, each file drafted with every gate cited
demo93studentsheld back by one missing piece — 41 teacher evaluations, 52 parent consultations — each group cleared with one bulk action
target0late noticesto parents, each notice in the family's language
targetSamedayreclassification files drafted when spring scores arrive, not over six weeks
In short

What is English Learner Identification & Reclassification?

English learner reclassification moves a student out of the English learner program once the state's exit criteria are met; in California, for example, those are an English proficiency test, a teacher evaluation, a parent consultation and a basic skills comparison. English Learner Identification & Reclassification checks those gates for every student at level 4 the day spring scores arrive, drafts each file with every gate cited, and leaves the approval to a school EL coordinator and the signature to the program director.

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Updated

The problem

Why English learner reclassification takes six weeks every fall

English learner reclassification is where a district proves its program works, and today it runs on spreadsheets. When spring English proficiency scores arrive, coordinators export them, look up each student's content score, chase teachers for evaluations, call families for consultations, then fill one file per student and walk it to the director. For over a thousand students at level 4, that takes about six weeks, and some files miss the state's fall reporting snapshot, so those students stay counted as English learners for another year.

English learner identification runs on paper at the same time. Every family fills in a home language survey, and the ones in other languages are scanned in batches, sometimes days later, while the 30-day parent notice clock is already running. Notices are mail-merged from a template library, low-incidence languages wait for a translator, and a missed or untranslated notice is a civil-rights exposure. Then each reclassified student should be followed for four years, on a form whose completion is uneven.

demo611late noticesto parents in the sample district's last school year, before the solution: 94.2% on time
demo1,094studentslong-term English learners in the sample district: six years or more without reclassifying
typical5.1millionEnglish learners in US public schools, 10.4% of students
Where a spring reclassification's school days goestimated
By hand30 days
With the solution13.2 days
  • Exporting scores and finding the students at level 43 → 0.1 d
  • Matching each student's content assessment score4 → 0.1 d
  • Requesting and chasing teacher evaluations8 → 5 d
  • Inviting families and holding parent consultations9 → 7 d
  • Filling each file and walking it to the director4 → 0.5 d
  • Director review, signature and the state upload2 → 0.5 d

Estimated split for one spring reclassification season in a district of about 1,400 students at level 4, by hand and with the solution, in school days. Steps run side by side, so the season is shorter than the sum.

How it works

How a student moves

Seven agents read, clock, check and draft; coordinators approve, bilingual staff review and the director signs.

What comes in
Evidence in4 sources · surveys, scores, gradebook, families
Agents at work
Survey readeroriginal beside English
Then
Clock agent30 days or 2 weeks
Notice writerhome language
Then
Gate agentfour gates, cited
Evaluation assistantprefilled for teachers
Then
Monitoring agentfour years
A person decides
EL coordinator and directorapprove, then sign
What comes out
Notice in Dari
Signed file
State report
One case, step by step

One English learner reclassification season, from a new survey to signed files

Marlow Bay Unified School District has 62 schools and 10,512 English learners. It is Tuesday, September 8, 2026, the first week of school. Spring English proficiency results arrived on Friday, and a kindergartner's paper survey was scanned this morning. Here is what happens next, screen by screen, in the working solution.

  1. 0107:55

    A home language survey read in Dari, beside the English

    Survey reader

    Maryam Ahmadzai registered for kindergarten at Juniper Elementary on Aug 27. The Survey reader reads her family's paper survey in Dari and shows the English beside it: questions 1–3 are answered Dari, question 4 "Dari and English". It finds no earlier US school record, finds her brother Farid in the program with notices in Dari, and proposes screening with a confidence of 0.97.

    Below 0.92 confidence a bilingual technician reads the survey first, and immigration status is never asked.

  2. 02The same morning

    Every flagged student on a notice clock

    Clock agent

    Maryam's notice is due Oct 2, 30 days after the first day of school, and her screener is booked for Thursday, Sep 10 at 9:00 with Shabnam Karimi. This fall: 1,034 surveys, 612 flagged, 388 screened, 224 waiting for a screener, 0 late notices. One clock is escalated: Ilyas Popal, grade 4, Pashto, 2-week notice due Sep 17. Three texts were not delivered, and the printed notices are ready.

    The Clock agent never sends a notice and never moves a deadline.

  3. 03When spring scores arrive

    The state criteria applied to every student at level 4

    Gate agent

    The Gate agent finds the students at level 4, matches their content scores, reads teacher evaluations and consultations, applies criteria 2026–27 v1.4 and drafts every file. Of 10,486 students tested, 1,412 reached overall level 4: 1,186 meet all four gates and 226 are blocked. The 63 who also have an IEP are held for their IEP teams.

    The Gate agent never approves or signs, and never decides for a student with an IEP.

  4. 04Reclassification gates

    Four reclassification gates per student, each cited

    Nadia Rahimi-Coulter · English Learner Program Director

    Each student at level 4 is a row of four gates: English proficiency test, content assessment, teacher evaluation and parent consultation. Farid Ahmadzai, grade 7 at Seacliff Middle School, scored level 4 (1,594) and 2,532 on the state ELA test against a cut of 2,518, and Daniel Whitcomb evaluated him on Sep 3. His parent consultation has not been held, so that gate is closed and says so.

    An open gate shows its score with a link to the source report; a closed gate shows what is missing.

  5. 05One filter

    41 students missing only a teacher evaluation

    Nadia Rahimi-Coulter · English Learner Program Director

    Filtering to one gap shows the students it holds back: 41 need only a teacher evaluation, 52 only a parent consultation. The Evaluation assistant has already prefilled each of the 41 evaluations from the gradebook for 29 teachers. Nadia sends the 41 requests in one step, due Tue, Sep 15, with a reminder on Mon, Sep 14 and the principal told on Wed, Sep 16.

  6. 06In the teacher's inbox

    A teacher evaluation the teacher only confirms

    Daniel Whitcomb · Grade 7 English teacher

    For Mateo Guzmán, the district rubric is prefilled: reading 3, writing 3, speaking and listening 4, from his novel unit test (84%), his argument essay (3 of 4) and his seminar rubric (4 of 4), each cited. Daniel confirms, changes a rating or disagrees with a reason; the gate opens only when he submits.

    Evaluation assistant: “I prefilled the district rubric from your gradebook and two pieces of Mateo's work. Change any rating you disagree with; your rating is what counts.”

  7. 07Farid's file

    A reclassification file with three of four gates met

    Luis Ortega-Baines · School EL coordinator

    Each gate in Farid's file shows its value, its source and the rule it meets. The parent consultation is set for Thursday, Sep 17 at 4:00 p.m., Room 114, with a Dari interpreter. The sign-off chain is on the file: drafted by the Gate agent at a confidence of 0.98, approved by Luis as the school's EL coordinator, signed by the program director, then written to the student information system.

  8. 08Before it goes out

    The consultation invitation, in Dari beside the English

    Notice writer and Shabnam Karimi · Bilingual assessment technician

    The Notice writer drafts the invitation to Hamida and Wahid Ahmadzai in six paragraphs, Dari beside English, and links each of the 6 required items to its paragraph. Shabnam reviews it and changes one word to the Dari word for school. Someone else sends it: a text message in Dari and a printed copy.

    “Every machine draft is reviewed by a person for that language before it is sent.”

  9. 09Both programs

    Students with an IEP go to their IEP team

    Karen Liu-Haddad · Special education case manager

    1,320 students are English learners with an IEP; 63 of them reached level 4. For Tomás Villalobos, grade 5, with a specific learning disability in reading, the reading score is 28 points below the cut of 480. The Gate agent drafts a summary of his English learner evidence for Karen to bring to his IEP team, and the team decides.

    “Students with an IEP always go to their IEP team.”

  10. 10Signed

    312 approved files signed after a sample review

    Nadia Rahimi-Coulter · English Learner Program Director

    Fourteen coordinators approved 312 files between 08:05 and 10:20, and none was approved by Nadia. Before her bulk signature she opens the random 5% sample: 16 of 16 files read, no issues found. The signed files are written back to the student information system and staged for the state's fall snapshot on Oct 7.

    “The coordinator who approves a file cannot sign it; the director who signs cannot approve.”

Who it’s for

Built for everyone who touches a reclassification.

The same English learner program, seen by the people who carry it — what their fall looked like, and what it looks like now.

NR
Nadia Rahimi-CoulterEnglish Learner Program Director · district office · signs every file
English Learner Program Director
Before
Signs every reclassification and answers to the state's Title III monitor, from files assembled by hand over six weeks. “I need to see why each student is still in the program, not just that they are.”
Now
Sees every student at level 4 as four cited gates, clears each missing piece in bulk, and signs approved files after a sample review.
LO
Luis Ortega-BainesSchool EL coordinator · Seacliff Middle School
School EL coordinator
Before
Prepares and approves files, runs consultations and sends notices. “Spring is six weeks of spreadsheets and phone calls.”
Now
Opens files drafted with every gate cited, approves them, and sees exactly which student needs which piece.
SK
Shabnam KarimiBilingual assessment technician · Dari, Pashto, Farsi
Bilingual assessment technician
Before
Gives screeners and reviews translated notices in her languages. “A letter in the wrong Dari is the same as no letter.”
Now
Reviews each draft in Dari beside the English, with every required item linked to its paragraph, and her screeners booked by the Clock agent.
DW
Daniel WhitcombGrade 7 English teacher · Seacliff Middle School
Classroom teacher
Before
Fills in evaluations for his English learners from memory when the coordinator asks. “Tell me what you need from me and show me the work.”
Now
Gets the district rubric prefilled from his gradebook with the student's work cited, and confirms, changes or disagrees.
GT
Gloria TanFederal programs auditor · read only
Federal programs auditor
Before
Prepares the Title III monitoring visit and state reports from scattered files. “Show me who decided, when, and on what evidence.”
Now
Filters one audit trail of every person and agent and exports a pack with names replaced by student IDs.
Built on the engine

7 agents. Each with one job, and hard limits.

Seven agents read, clock, check and draft; coordinators approve, bilingual staff review and the director signs.

Survey reader

Reads each home language survey in its original language, including handwriting, translates every answer, applies the district rule — a language other than English on questions 1–3 means screen — and checks the student information system for siblings and an earlier US school.

  • Never decides a student is not an English learner
  • Below 0.92 confidence a bilingual technician reads the survey
  • Never asks for or records immigration status
Clock agent

Starts each student's notice clock — 30 days after the first day for students enrolled by then, 2 weeks from enrollment after — books screeners with a technician who speaks the language, and escalates before anything is late.

  • Never sends a notice
  • Never moves a deadline
Gate agent

Applies the state reclassification criteria to every student at level 4, opens each gate only on cited evidence, drafts each file, and groups blocked students by the one missing piece with the bulk action that clears it.

  • Never approves or signs
  • Never decides for a student with an IEP
  • Below 0.95 confidence the coordinator decides
Evaluation assistant

Prefills the district teacher evaluation rubric from the gradebook and work samples, with citations, then sends the requests and chases them.

  • Never submits an evaluation
  • The teacher confirms or changes every rating
  • Teachers see only their own students
Notice writer

Drafts identification notices, annual notices and consultation invitations in the home language beside the English, and checks each against the federal required contents, paragraph by paragraph.

  • Never sends
  • A bilingual reviewer checks every draft for its language
Monitoring agent

Follows every reclassified student for four years, flags falling grades, attendance and test drops with their sources, and drafts a support plan for the coordinator.

  • Never returns a student to the program
  • Re-entry needs a new test and the director's signature
Reporting agent

Stages English learner status and reclassification dates for the state's fall snapshot, fixes rejected records from the student information system, and builds export packs.

  • Never uploads the final file; the director does
  • Names are replaced by student IDs in exports
Program director

Signs every reclassification. The agents propose; a named person decides.

Ask in plain words

Ask about any student, gate, notice or clock

Ask in plain words, or tell the assistant what to do. Every answer cites its source and opens the screen it is about.

Why is Farid Ahmadzai not reclassified yet?

Farid has met three of four gates: level 4 on the English test, 2,532 on the state ELA test against a cut of 2,518, and Mr. Whitcomb's evaluation on Sep 3. The last gate is the parent consultation: it has not been held. The Dari invitation for Thursday, Sep 17 is drafted beside the English and reviewed by Shabnam Karimi.

Which students are one step from reclassification?

93 students are blocked by a single gate: 41 by a missing teacher evaluation and 52 by a parent consultation not yet held. Sending the 41 prefilled requests and the 52 invitations clears them before the state snapshot on Oct 7.

Which parent notices are at risk of being late?

None is late. One clock is escalated: Ilyas Popal, grade 4, Ridgecrest Elementary, enrolled Sep 3. His 2-week notice is due Sep 17 and no screener is booked. Three texts were not delivered; printed copies are ready. 358 annual notices are with bilingual reviewers, most in low-incidence languages.

Show reclassified students who are struggling

37 of 4,870 reclassified students are flagged this term. Start with Lucía Mendoza, grade 10, year 2: D+ in English 9 and D in Biology, a 53-point drop on the state ELA test, and 14 days absent last spring. Her support plan is drafted for Rosa Villanueva-Park.

Every screen

The working solution, as it ships.

13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.

Reclassification gatesEvery English learner at level 4 as a row of four reclassification gates — English proficiency test, content assessment, teacher evaluation, parent consultation — under a new kindergartner's home language survey in Dari beside the English, with its 30-day notice clock.
The home language surveyA paper home language survey read in Dari, the English beside it, the student information system checked, and screening proposed for a bilingual technician to confirm.
English learner identification queueEvery flagged student with a 30-day or 2-week parent notice clock, an owner and its step; escalations and undelivered notices show before anything is late.
Spring scores, checkedThe Gate agent's run when spring results arrive: students at level 4, content scores matched, the reclassification criteria applied and every file drafted, with why each blocked student is blocked.
One missing pieceStudents blocked by a single missing teacher evaluation, and the one bulk action that sends all 41 prefilled requests.
A prefilled teacher evaluationThe district reclassification rubric prefilled from the gradebook with two cited pieces of work, for the teacher to confirm, change or disagree with.
The reclassification fileFour cited gates with the rule each one meets, the consultation invitation, and the sign-off chain from the drafting agent to the coordinator and the director.
A parent invitation in DariA parent consultation invitation in Dari beside the English, each required item linked to its paragraph, checked by a bilingual reviewer and sent by someone else.
Signing in bulkThe director signs only files a coordinator approved, after opening a random 5% sample, with the meaning of the signature stated.
English learners with an IEPStudents in both programs go to their IEP team with a drafted summary of their English learner evidence; the agent never decides.
Four-year monitoringEvery reclassified student followed for four years, each flag explained with its source, and a support plan drafted for the coordinator to approve.
The audit trailWho, what, when, why and the evidence for every person and agent, with an export pack for a Title III monitoring visit, state reporting or a civil-rights review.
Roles and separation of dutiesEight roles, what each can and cannot do, and the rules that keep the approver of a file from signing it and the reviewer of a notice from sending it.
Governance

Built for student records: cited, approved by one person, signed by another, on the record.

Every gate cites its sourceEach value and each agent statement links to its source passage: the score report, the survey answer, the gradebook entry, the criteria section or the statute.
The coordinator approves, the director signsThe Gate agent drafts, the school EL coordinator approves and the program director signs, and the same person cannot do two of these on one file. A bulk signature needs a random 5% sample opened first.
A person checks every languageThe Notice writer drafts, a bilingual reviewer checks the draft for its language, and someone else sends it. The translation is kept with the English original as part of the record.
The IEP team decides for its studentsFor a student who is an English learner and has an IEP, the Gate agent drafts a summary of the English learner evidence for the IEP team and never decides.
Overrides need a reason and a second personAnyone with the role can change an agent's proposal with a required reason code; a gate override also needs a second approver. Criteria, prompts and models are versioned, and every decision stores the versions it used.
Every step on the audit trailEvery person's and agent's action records who, what, when, why and the evidence, with an export pack for a Title III monitoring visit, state reporting or a civil-rights review.
Configuration

Your English learner reclassification criteria, versioned

The criteria, clocks, roles and thresholds the agents work by are settings. A change needs a second approver, and files already signed keep the version they were signed under.

SettingDefaultChoose from
Reclassification criteria2026–27 v1.4Proposed by the program director; becomes the next version once the second approver approves
Gate 1 · English proficiency testOverall level 4 on the state test; Alternate test level 3Set by the state
Gate 2 · Content assessmentState ELA at or above “Standard nearly met” for the grade tested; district reading in K–4Cut scores by grade, set by the district within state rules
Gate 3 · Teacher evaluation3 or higher in reading, writing, and speaking and listening, from classroom workDistrict rubric
Gate 4 · Parent consultationIn the family's language, free interpreter, parents' views recordedParents may ask to wait one term
Identification notice clock30 days after the first day of school; 2 weeks from enrollment for students who enroll laterESEA §1112(e)(3); escalates to the program director when a notice is not sent 5 school days before it is due
Bulk signingA 5% random sample opened before a bulk signatureLocked on by policy
Below this confidence, a person decidesSurvey reader 0.92 · Gate agent 0.95Bilingual technician · school EL coordinator
Connections

Works with the systems an English learner program already runs on

Student information systemenrollment and surveys in; English learner status and reclassification dates written back
English proficiency assessment platformspring results and screener scores
Learning management systemgradebook and work samples for teacher evaluations
Family messaging platformnotices and invitations by text, email and app, with delivery receipts
Special education case management systemIEP teams for students in both programs
State reporting portalEnglish learner status and reclassification dates for the fall snapshot
What it changes

The difference, in numbers.

Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.

target
0late
parent notices, each in the family's language, against 611 last year
Clock per student
30 days, or 2 weeks mid-year (regulation)
target
Sameday
1,186 files drafted the afternoon spring scores arrive
By handabout 6 weeks
With agentssame day
target
4years
of monitoring for every reclassified student, with a plan when one struggles

“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample district data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate · “typical” = published figures (NCES, via Statista: about 5.1 million English learners, 10.4% of US public school students). Legal context: ESEA §1112(e)(3) on parent notices, §3113(b)(2) on statewide entrance and exit procedures and §3121(a)(5) on four years of reporting on former English learners; California EC 313(f) as an example of state reclassification criteria; FERPA, 34 CFR Part 99; Plyler v. Doe (1982). The district, schools, families, students and people named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.

Questions

What English learner program directors ask us.

What is English learner reclassification?

English learner reclassification moves a student out of the English learner program once the state's exit criteria are met; in California, for example, those are an English proficiency test, a teacher evaluation, a parent consultation and a basic skills comparison. English Learner Identification & Reclassification checks those gates for every student at level 4 the day spring scores arrive, drafts each file with every gate cited, and leaves the approval to a school EL coordinator and the signature to the program director.

How does English learner identification work from the home language survey?

The Survey reader reads each home language survey, scanned, handwritten or from the registration portal, in its own language and shows the English beside it. A language other than English on questions 1–3 means screen: it highlights and cites those answers, checks the student information system for siblings and an earlier US school, and proposes screening for a bilingual technician to confirm. The Clock agent then books the screener and starts the parent notice clock.

Does it send parent notices within 30 days, in the family's language?

The Clock agent runs each student's clock: 30 days after the first day of school, or 2 weeks from enrollment for students who enroll later, as ESEA §1112(e)(3) sets out, and escalates before a notice is late. The Notice writer drafts each notice in the home language beside the English and checks the required contents. A bilingual reviewer checks every draft, and a person sends it.

How are English learners with an IEP reclassified?

They always go to their IEP team. The Gate agent holds their files and drafts a summary of the English learner evidence for the special education case manager to bring to the team, and the team decides.

How does it monitor reclassified students for four years?

The Monitoring agent reads grades, attendance and state test history each term for every reclassified student, explains each flag with its source, and drafts a support plan for the coordinator to approve. It never returns a student to the program; re-entry needs a new test and the director's signature.

How does it protect student records under FERPA?

Teachers see only their own students and coordinators only their schools, and IEP details are shown only to the IEP team, the coordinator and the director. Exports replace names with student IDs unless the director approves names for a specific request, and English learner files are kept 5 years after monitoring ends. Immigration status and Social Security numbers are never asked for or stored.

Do people stay in control of every decision?

Yes. The agents read, draft and propose; they never approve, sign, send or move a deadline. A coordinator approves each file and the program director signs it, never the same person, and a gate override needs a reason code and a second approver. Every action is on the audit trail.

How long does it take to go live?

The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents — your state's reclassification criteria, your notice templates and a sample of past surveys and score files — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on your own data first.

See it on
your English learners.

We'll run English Learner Identification & Reclassification on a sample of your own past surveys, score files and your state's reclassification criteria.