>I was wondering if I can find out the status of my listing.
Sure, read the "read before posting" post to see what information your query needs to include.
>Also if it is not approved what can I do to ensure that it gets approved?
The submittal policies are very clear: "no site is guaranteed a listing." Nothing you do can change that fact.
Oh, if your site makes a significant contribution to the ODP goal as well as serving your purposes, we'll want to include it. So just make sure its content and purpose is clear. But if it fails to serve OUR purpose, we'll want to not include it; by more subtle logic, even if it fails to serve YOUR purpose, we'll want to not include it.