Long-Term English Learner (LTEL) Students

An LTEL student is generally defined as an English learner (EL) student who has not achieved English language proficiency within a specified number of years and has not yet been reclassified as fluent English proficient (RFEP). As a result, LTEL students are a subset within the larger population of EL students.

The California Education Code (EC) identifies two distinct definitions of LTEL students, both of which are used for reporting LTEL data for different purposes. To clarify these differences, this web page outlines the definitions applied to the applicable reports, details the start and end dates used to determine the number of years that a student is an EL, and provides links to resources that contain comprehensive and technical information. This web page does not cover all the technical aspects of how a student is identified as an LTEL for each report. The links in the Resources section provides users directions on how to access additional technical information.

Resource: CDE LTEL Page