Section 7A. The department shall conduct on-site visits to school districts at least once every 6 years for the purposes of evaluating the effectiveness of programs serving English learners and to validate evidence of educational outcomes.

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The evaluation shall include, but shall not be limited to: (i) a review of individual student records of English learners; (ii) a review of the programs and services provided to English learners; (iii) a review of the dropout, graduation, discipline and special education incidence rates of the English learner population in the district; (iv) using the best available data, a review of the dropout, graduation, discipline and special education rates of English learners who exited the English learner education program within the 3 school years preceding the on-site visit for that 3–year period; (v) a description of the processes by which school-based teams, consisting of educators, administrators and support staff, monitor the progress of English learners and former English learners; (vi) a review of the amount, frequency and effectiveness of English as a second language instruction; and (vii) a review of the administration and coordination of English learner education programs. The advisory council for bilingual education established under section 1G of chapter 15 shall annually review the results of the department’s monitoring of English learner programs in school districts.

Nothing in this section shall prevent the department from conducting an evaluation of a language acquisition program at any time.