(a) School districts shall by local board policy establish
and operate one or more language proficiency assessment committees
(LPACs). The school district shall have on file a policy and procedures
for the selection, appointment, and orientation of members of the
LPAC(s).
(b) The LPAC shall include an appropriately certified
bilingual educator (for students served through a bilingual education
program), an appropriately certified English as a second language
(ESL) educator (for students served through an ESL program), a parent
of an emergent bilingual student participating in a bilingual or ESL
program, and a campus administrator in accordance with Texas Education
Code (TEC), §29.063.
(c) In addition to the three required members of the
LPAC, the school district may add other trained members to the committee.
(d) No parent serving on the LPAC shall be an employee
of the school district.
(e) A school district shall establish and operate a
sufficient number of LPACs to enable them to discharge their duties
within four weeks of the enrollment of an emergent bilingual student.
(f) All members of the LPAC, including parents, shall
be acting for the school district and shall observe all laws and rules
governing confidentiality of information concerning individual students.
The school district shall be responsible for the orientation of all
members of the LPAC, including the parents. The LPAC may use alternative
meeting methods, such as phone or video conferencing and the use of
electronic signatures that adhere to district policy.
(g) Upon a student's initial enrollment in Texas public
schools, a student's transfer from a previous Texas public school
district, and at the end of each school year, the LPAC shall review
all pertinent information on all potential and identified emergent
bilingual students, including emergent bilingual students with a parental
denial of program participation, in accordance with §89.1226
of this title (relating to Testing and Classification of Students).
(1) For students initially enrolling in Texas public
schools, the LPAC shall:
(A) designate the language proficiency level of each
emergent bilingual student in accordance with the guidelines issued
pursuant to §89.1226(b)-(f) of this title;
(B) recommend, subject to parental approval, the initial
instructional placement of each emergent bilingual student in the
required bilingual or ESL program without restricting access due to
scheduling, staffing, or class size constraints; and
(C) facilitate the participation of emergent bilingual
students in other special programs for which they are eligible while
ensuring full access to the language program required under TEC, §29.053.
(2) For transferring students previously enrolled in
a Texas public school district, the LPAC shall:
(A) review permanent record and LPAC documentation
from the previous Texas school district to determine if the student
has been identified as an emergent bilingual student based on the
original home language survey and initial identification process;
(B) determine the continuation of the required bilingual
or ESL program participation with parental approval for students previously
identified as emergent bilingual or determine the need for monitoring
of students who have previously met reclassification and are in their
first two years of monitoring;
(C) review linguistic progress and academic achievement
data of each emergent bilingual student to inform instructional practices;
and
(D) facilitate the participation of emergent bilingual
students in other special programs for which they are eligible while
ensuring full access to the language program required under TEC, §29.053.
(3) At the end of the school year, for all identified
emergent bilingual students, including emergent bilingual students
with a parental denial of program participation, the LPAC shall:
(A) review language proficiency progress in English
and, to the extent possible, the primary language of each emergent
bilingual student;
(B) review academic achievement data in English and,
to the extent possible, the primary language of each emergent bilingual
student;
(C) reclassify eligible emergent bilingual students
as English proficient in accordance with the criteria described in
§89.1226(i) of this title;
(D) recommend exit from program of reclassified English
proficient students, pending parental approval, or continuation of
program participation for reclassified students participating in a
dual language immersion one-way or two-way program model, according
to the goals of the program; and
(E) prepare parental reports on student progress for
all identified emergent bilingual students to be provided to parents
within the first 30 calendar days after the beginning of the next
school year, which include data on linguistic and academic progress,
benefits of bilingual or ESL program participation, and the criteria
for reclassification as English proficient.
(h) The LPAC shall give written notice to the student's
parent, informing the parent that the student has been identified
as an emergent bilingual student and requesting approval to place
the student in the required bilingual education or ESL program not
later than the 10th calendar day after the date of the student's classification
in accordance with TEC, §29.056. The notice shall include information
about the benefits of the bilingual education or ESL program for which
the student has been recommended and that it is an integral part of
the school program.
(i) Before the administration of the state criterion-referenced
test each year, the LPAC shall determine the appropriate assessment
option for each emergent bilingual student as outlined in Chapter
101, Subchapter AA, of this title (relating to Commissioner's Rules
Concerning the Participation of English Language Learners in State
Assessments).
(j) Pending completion of the identification process,
receipt of LPAC documentation for transferring students, or parental
approval of an identified emergent bilingual student's placement into
the bilingual education or ESL program recommended by the LPAC, the
school district shall place the student in the recommended program.
Only emergent bilingual students with parental approval for program
participation will be included in the bilingual education allotment.
(k) The LPAC shall monitor the academic progress of
each student, including any student who previously had a parental
denial of program participation, who has met criteria for reclassification
in accordance with TEC, §29.056(g), for the first two years after
reclassification. If the student earns a failing grade in a subject
in the foundation curriculum under TEC, §28.002(a)(1), during
any grading period in the first two school years after the student
is reclassified, the LPAC shall determine, based on the student's
second language acquisition needs, whether the student may require
targeted instruction or, after careful consideration of multiple linguistic
and academic data points, should be reconsidered for placement in
a bilingual education or ESL program. In accordance with TEC, §29.0561,
the LPAC shall review the student's performance and consider, at a
minimum, the following:
(1) the total amount of time the student was enrolled
in a bilingual education or ESL program;
(2) the student's grades each grading period in each
subject in the foundation curriculum under TEC, §28.002(a)(1);
(3) the student's performance on each assessment instrument
administered under TEC, §39.023(a) or (c);
(4) the number of credits the student has earned toward
high school graduation, if applicable; and
(5) any disciplinary actions taken against the student
under TEC, Chapter 37, Subchapter A (Alternative Settings for Behavior
Management).
(l) The student's permanent record shall contain documentation
of all actions impacting the emergent bilingual student.
(1) Documentation shall include:
(A) the original home language survey;
(B) the identification of the student as an emergent
bilingual student;
(C) the designation of the student's level of language
proficiency;
(D) the recommendation of program placement;
(E) parental approval or denial of placement into the
program;
(F) the date of placement in the program;
(G) assessment information as outlined in Chapter 101,
Subchapter AA, of this title;
(H) additional instructional linguistic accommodations
provided to address the specific language needs of the student;
(I) the date of reclassification and the date of exit
from the program with parental approval; and
Cont'd... |