Miami-Dade County Public Schools - English Language Learners and Their Academic and English Language Acquisition Progress: 2024-2025

Oct 15, 2026

Annual reporting on English Language Learners (ELL) in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, focusing on students’ demographic profile, English acquisition outcomes, and academic achievement. The report explains classification through the Home Language Survey and testing, outlines ESOL placement levels and ACCESS for ELLs usage, and tracks former ELL monitoring after program exit. Data summarize ELL and formerly ELL changes during 2024-2025 and present demographic distributions by race/ethnicity, FRL status, student language, and ESE eligibility.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Section I. Students’ Demographic Characteristics

Section II. English Language Acquisition Results

Section III. State Assessment Results by ELL Status

Summary

Miami-Dade County Public Schools ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS AND THEIR ACADEMIC AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION PROGRESS: 2024-2025 Author: Andrea Tirado, M.S. October 2025 Office of Assessment, Research, and Data Analysis 1450 NE 2nd Avenue, Suite 208, Miami, Florida 33132 (305) 995-2943 Fax (305) 995-1960 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 2 SECTION I. Students’Demographic Characteristics ..................................................................... 3 SECTION II. English Language Acquisition Results..................................................................... 4 SECTION III. State Assessment Results by ELL Status .............................................................. 12 SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................. 21 INTRODUCTION This report addresses the following three areas. • Demographic characteristics of students classified as English Language Learners (ELL) . • English language acquisition results of ELL students on the State’s English Language Proficiency assessment known as ACCESS for ELLs. • Academic achievement results of students in the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program and those who exited the ESOL program on the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST) and End-of-Course (EOC) assessments. These three areas are described in separate sections of the report. When a student enrolls in Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) for the first time, the student’s parents/guardians complete a Home Language Survey. This survey inquires whether a student’s first language is a language other than English, whether a student’s primary language is one other than English, and whether a language other than English is used at home. Ifat least one of the answers is yes, the student is tested to determine his/her English proficiency. Based on the results of this assessment, the student is either classified as an English Language Learner (ELL) or deemed proficient in English. Depending on the English proficiency levels, ELL students are enrolled in specific ESOL courses tailored to meet students’language needs. English proficiency levels for ELL students in M-DCPS range from ESOL 1 (lowest) to ESOL 4 (highest) . The English proficiency levels of students are reassessed annually, and the appropriate ESOL placement is determined based on the testing results. ACCESS for ELLs is currently used as the State-mandated English Language Proficiency test. ACCESS for ELLs stands for Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners. Once it is ascertained that a student has acquired English proficiency and satisfied the State requirements for exit from the ESOL program, the student exits the program and is re-classified as formerly ELL (ESOL level 5) . In this report, students' achievement in the ESOL program is disaggregated by grade and ESOL level. The academic achievement results of former ELL students disaggregated by the number of years since ESOL exit are included in this report. For comparison purposes, the performance of students who have never been classified as ELL is also included in the report. The time since ESOL exit is calculated as of May 1, 2025, when depicting academic achievement results. SECTION I STUDENT DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS This section describes certain demographic characteristics of ELL students in the District as of February 2025. During the year between February 2024 and 2025, the number ofELL students in grades K-12 in the District increased slightly from 80,497 to 81,841, a 2% increase. The proportion of ELL students in the District also increased from approximately 24% to 25% during the same period. Table 1 below exhibits demographic features for all K-12 stu

FAQs

How are students classified as English Language Learners in M-DCPS?

Parents or guardians complete a Home Language Survey, and students are tested to determine English proficiency. Students are classified as ELL if proficiency results indicate a need for ESOL instruction.

What test is used to measure English language proficiency for ELL students?

ACCESS for ELLs is used as the State-mandated English Language Proficiency test, assessing comprehension and communication in English.

What does the report compare across ELL, formerly ELL, and other students?

It compares demographic characteristics, English acquisition results, and academic achievement outcomes, including former ELL performance by years since ESOL exit and state assessment results by ELL status.

Oct 15, 2026

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