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SDLA Compliance Resource

Monitor Every RFEP Student for at Least Four Years

A multi-year instructional follow-up that detects academic or language-access concerns, documents interventions, and survives school or district handoffs.

  • RFEP
  • Progress Monitoring
  • English Learners
Date(s)For at least four years after reclassification; review on a locally defined recurring schedule
Applies toEvery pupil reclassified from English learner to RFEP status

In Plain Language: Maintain a four-year cohort roster and examine meaningful academic progress. When a pupil is not progressing, determine whether language acquisition contributed and provide appropriate support rather than simply noting the concern.

Why this matters

Reclassification ends EL status, not the LEA’s responsibility to verify successful access to grade-level content. A transfer or staff change can otherwise erase the monitoring obligation.

Primary ownership

Primary owner: EL program administrator. Handoff partners: classroom teachers, counselors, assessment/data, intervention teams, special education/504, registrars, families, and receiving schools.

From reclassification to four years of monitoring: the SDLA ITO workflow

When a pupil is not progressing, the review asks whether language acquisition contributed and assigns support. This SDLA ITO (Input, Transformation, Output) graphic shows how the RFEP cohort, academic and attendance data, and teacher and family input become the cohort roster, the review and concern records, and the transfer or completion record.

SDLA ITO: eleven steps from the RFEP cohort, academic and attendance data, and teacher and family input, through cohort tracking, recurring reviews, concern analysis, and follow-up, to the cohort roster, the review and concern records, and the transfer or completion record.
Read down each column, then move to the next: Input identifies what to collect; Transformation covers cohort tracking, recurring reviews, concern analysis, and follow-up; Output covers the cohort roster, the review and concern records, and the transfer or completion record. Monitor for at least four years after reclassification.

Open the full-size workflow graphic

Operational workflow

  1. Create a cohort roster with RFEP date, year 1–4, school, and named reviewer.
  2. At each review, examine grades, assessments, attendance, course access, teacher/family input, and prior interventions.
  3. If progress is insufficient, determine contributing factors and assign evidence-based supports, owner, and follow-up date.
  4. Document outcomes and securely transfer the monitoring history when the pupil changes schools/LEAs.
  5. Close the four-year cycle only after completing the required reviews and preserving evidence.

Implementation pathway

RFEP date
Years 1–4 reviews
Concern analysis
Support and follow-up
Transfer/closeout

Evidence to retain

  • Cohort roster
  • Review data and reviewer signoff
  • Concern analysis
  • Intervention and follow-up
  • Transfer or completion record

Official guidance and help

Source review completed August 30, 2026. Verify current federal and California requirements, CDE instructions, local policy, pupil-level records, and live reporting-system status before acting.