Early Childhood Education. Graduation Information. Instructional Materials. Learning Support and Programs. Special Student Populations. Subject Areas. Financial Compliance. State Funding. Texas Permanent School Fund.
Data Submission. Educator Data. Financial Reports. Legislative Information. Program Evaluations. School Data. School Performance. Financial Compliance. State Funding. Texas Permanent School Fund. Data Submission. Educator Data. Financial Reports. Legislative Information.
Program Evaluations. School Data. School Performance. Student Data. Learn More. Johnson, M. The state of Texas was an early pioneer in providing academic instruction to children using their native language while simultaneously developing proficiency in English. In , then State Representative Joe Bernal of San Antonio championed a state law removing a prohibition that was in place at the time and allowing for voluntary local implementation of bilingual programs in Texas schools. Affecting schools across the country in , the U.
Supreme Court ruled that simply providing the same all-English program to limited-English-proficient LEP and to non-LEP students violated federal requirements relating to equal educational opportunity, setting the stage for new approaches in states around the country.
As a result of that litigation, the state revised the mandate and required school systems to offer bilingual education programs in elementary grades, English as a second language ESL or bilingual programs at post-elementary grades through eighth grade, and ESL programs in high school.
The new legislation also prescribed uniform procedures for student identification and placement, established exit criteria for students to be transitioned out of the mandated program, and slightly increased state funding based on numbers of LEP students served. No major changes were incorporated into the program over the ensuing decade.
This summer, however, a federal district court ordered the state to improve its monitoring of programs serving LEP students and to improve LEP programs at the middle and high school levels.
The ruling points out that high schools and middle schools in Texas are losing English language learners at twice the rate of other students. The number of pupils identified as LEP has increased steadily over the last 26 years since the program was mandated in Texas.
In , the state of Texas reported a total LEP enrollment of about 25, students. The LEP count had grown to more than , students by and to , pupils in The table in the box below reports LEP enrollment in Texas schools from to , reflecting a steady increase in that student population over time.
Cumulatively, this represents a LEP student increase of ,, or a Historical data for the years through reveal that LEP pupils in Texas have historically been concentrated at the lower elementary grades, with LEP counts and percentages decreasing notably after third grade.
LEP enrollments at grades 4 through 6 accounted for Forum , organized the community-based " Little School of the By these programs had enrolled some 20, students in school districts. Programs in English as a second language also promoted English skills among Mexican American students with limited English proficiency.
In Texas had the highest concentration of Mexican American students enrolled in elementary and secondary ESL programs in the Southwestern states. The federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of and other legislation sparked a flurry of compensatory measures for "disadvantaged" students. These programs concentrated on language teaching and learning and affirmed that the "language barrier" was primarily a symptom of incompatibilities between the school and learner.
In the s the civil rights movement and the Great Society programs of the Johnson administration caused a major change in the perception of ethnic minorities.
Institutionally segregated schooling ended, political mechanisms obstructing minority group voting collapsed, and it became unpopular to be publicly racist. Equal educational opportunities for linguistically and culturally atypical learners became a desirable goal. Bilingual schooling emerged as an alternative approach. He built on the experience of the first bilingual program in the nation, initiated in the Coral Way school in Dade County, Florida.
At Coral Way federal funds supported bilingual education for Cuban immigrants and inspired similar ventures elsewhere in the nation. Brantley made the initial effort in the first grade of the Nye Elementary School, and expanded the program into the second and third grades. The programs fostered the transition of Spanish-speaking children from instruction in their native language to English-only teaching and learning.
The program ranged from exclusive instruction in Spanish with gradual integration of ESL, to thirty minutes a day in Spanish with the rest of the instruction in English. By May , Texas had sixteen school districts with bilingual programs serving 10, students. Before the passage of the Texas Bilingual Education and Training Act in , TEA officials had faced an interesting dilemma when asked to review proposals that violated the English-only law.
At first they circumvented the law by reporting these programs as experimental. In , TEA developed an accreditation standard that allowed school districts, on a voluntary basis, to offer non-English-speaking children an instructional program using two languages.
In , with support from Representative Carlos Truan and Senator Joe Bernal, the Sixty-first Texas Legislature legalized this permissive standard and permitted bilingual instruction when such instruction was educationally advantageous to pupils. In Representative Truan presented a bill in the legislature for stronger bilingual programs, but was unable to muster support because the Sharpstown Stock-Fraud Scandal dominated the proceedings. In the next legislature Truan, Senator Chet Brooks, and other supporters won the needed support.
The passage of the federal Bilingual Education Act in helped their cause. This law, originally approved as Title VII to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of , addressed the problems of those children who were educationally disadvantaged because of their inability to speak English. Title VII provided competitive grants directly to school districts.
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