City of Arcadia provides language access services to ensure equal access to city services. The city has formally recognized Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, Korean, Tagalog, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Hindi.
School district gets CAP test scores. Although Arcadia students remained comfortably above the 80th percentile in most categories in California Assessment Program test scores, the influx of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students into the district is having a definite impact. In 1976, there were 63 limited or non-English speaking students in Arcadia school district. As of October 1 this year, 539 students are in the LEP program. 78% of LEP students are Asian; 14 % are Spanish, 2 % European, with the remainder from other cultures. Fifteen languages are represented. See hard copy in Box 51.
A study released today by the Public Policy Institute of California found students' progress toward English proficiency is linked to their native language and socioeconomic status more than the length of time they've been in the country. A comparison chart of San Gabriel Valley schools is included.