82R2071 JH-D
By: Guillen H.C.R. No. 37
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, It is not surprising that students with limited
English proficiency (LEP) who are recent arrivals to the United
States score poorly in standardized testing during their initial
years of U.S. enrollment, yet their scores are excluded from state
adequate yearly progress (AYP) determinations for only one
year--not nearly enough time for LEP students to overcome language
barriers and master the required knowledge and skills; and
WHEREAS, A cornerstone of the No Child Left Behind Act of
2001, AYP measures student performance in reading/language arts,
mathematics, and either graduation or attendance rate; all public
school campuses and districts, as well as the entire state, are
evaluated for AYP, and those that receive Title I, Part A, funds and
do not meet AYP goals for two or more years in a row are subject to
consequences; and
WHEREAS, Title I, Part A, funds are allocated to local
education agencies and schools with high numbers or high
percentages of poor children; in Texas, some 70 percent of schools
receive these funds and risk having to take corrective action
should they not meet AYP goals due to the test scores of recently
arrived LEP students; although the mathematics and
reading/language arts assessment scores of these students may be
excluded from one cycle of AYP determinations, a year is not
sufficient for them to gain adequate English skills and to acquire
the necessary content knowledge; and
WHEREAS, An exclusion period of three years would make a
measurable difference in terms of student ability and would allow a
much greater degree of flexibility for campuses, school districts,
and the state; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to revise the
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 so that the State of Texas may
exclude the assessment scores of recently arrived limited English
proficiency students from adequate yearly progress determinations
for a period of three years following the students' initial
enrollment and so that the exclusion period for LEP students who
enter Texas schools in grades 10 and higher concludes prior to the
students' final year of schooling; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.