The state of Texas has implemented twelve dual-language schools in the Dallas, Irving, and Grand Prairie school districts, open to any student who wishes to become bilingual and biliterate in more than one language. These schools have been established to cater to the nearly 900,000 students in the Texas school system who have been designated as English learners. Those twelve dual-language schools are just the most recent addition to the over 700 dual-language programs being offered across the state. But while some critics feel that teachers are not well-versed in both languages that are offered in these new schools and there is too great an emphasis on teaching in Spanish, many feel the basic goals of dual-language institutions are not properly met. However, these types of schools offer English learners the best support system possible for effective learning.

The Texas Education Agency has also built a curriculum for a Bilingual Education Program that is supported by the Language Proficiency Assessment Committee (LPAC), which sets the standards for how English learner students are identified, placed, instructed and assessed for the Bilingual Education Program. The goal is to educate the child in their native tongue while honing and structuring their English language skills along the way. The Program takes each child’s native background, experiences, and identity into account when a strategy for learning is developed in order to be culturally sensitive to the needs of the student. A child can be recommended for enrollment in the program but it is up to the parent or legal guardian to give their approval for entry into these courses. All students are subject to meeting the strict standards for learning that have been set forth under the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) requirement. The classroom subjects that are included in the TEKS are math, reading, science, social studies, and language arts. All of these incorporate the learning of the English language as these ELL’s are given the chance to interact with their peers in a typical class setting, enabling them to participate in class discussions.

For effective parent programs with Ells, visit Lectura Books and plan on attending a webinar for training to learn how to work with Spanish-speaking parents for an award-winning Parent Involvement program!