82R10346 VOO-D
By: Van de Putte S.B. No. 1622
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a secondary-level English language learners' program
for public school students of limited English proficiency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 29.053(d), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) Each district that is required to offer bilingual
education and special language programs under this section shall
offer the following for students of limited English proficiency:
(1) bilingual education in kindergarten through the
elementary grades;
(2) bilingual education, instruction in English as a
second language, or other transitional language instruction
approved by the agency in post-elementary grades through grade 8;
and
(3) a secondary-level [instruction in] English [as a
second] language learners' program, as provided by Sections
29.055(b-1) and (b-2), in grades 9 through 12.
SECTION 2. Section 29.055, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (b-1), (b-2), and (g) to read as follows:
(b-1) A language program for students of limited English
proficiency in post-elementary grades through grade 12, as
applicable, as required by Section 29.053(d)(2) or (3), other than
a bilingual education program, must include the following
components:
(1) consistent with Section 29.056 and any other law:
(A) identification and placement procedures
that are based on information concerning a student's proficiency in
English and in the student's primary language; and
(B) specialized identification and placement
procedures and instructional support services for students who are
recent immigrants, as determined under commissioner rule, that take
into consideration a student's previous school experience;
(2) assessment, approved by the agency, that:
(A) is administered in English and, in
appropriate cases as determined under commissioner rule, in a
student's primary language; and
(B) measures a student's progress toward state
and district academic performance standards or mastery of subject
matter content;
(3) instruction in English as a second language that
is aligned with the various levels of English language proficiency
of students of limited English proficiency;
(4) in each subject in the required curriculum under
Section 28.002 that is designated as a core content area by
commissioner rule:
(A) use of sheltered instruction to teach
students, using the English language in a manner that enables
students to learn both the subject area material and the English
language; and
(B) adaptation of the standard curriculum in a
manner that results in a curriculum that:
(i) is consistent with and is as rigorous as
the standard secondary-level curriculum; and
(ii) is consistent with a student's level of
proficiency in English;
(5) instruction by:
(A) teachers who are appropriately certified for
English as a second language; and
(B) subject area teachers who are trained in
adapting instruction for students of limited English proficiency;
(6) a strategy that involves parents of
secondary-level students of limited English proficiency and, as
appropriate, interested members of the community in assessment of
the effectiveness of the program provided under this subsection;
and
(7) access to supplemental instructional services for
any student of limited English proficiency who does not reach
state, district, or campus academic performance standards.
(b-2) For a campus performing unsatisfactorily, as
determined by commissioner rule and consistent with applicable
performance standards under the agency's Performance-Based
Monitoring Analysis System, in offering language programs to which
Subsection (b-1) applies, a school district shall require campus
educators, including appropriate administrators, associated with
such a program to, as provided by State Board for Educator
Certification rule, participate in ongoing professional
development in effective, research-based practices for serving
students of limited English proficiency. In satisfying the
professional development requirements adopted under this
subsection, a subject area teacher and an administrator serving
students of limited English proficiency on the campus must
complete:
(1) at least six semester credit hours of higher
education coursework in English as a second language contact
methodology; or
(2) professional development, equivalent as
determined under State Board for Educator Certification rule in the
time commitment necessary for satisfying the requirement under
Subdivision (1), in using sheltered instruction to teach a subject
area.
(g) The commissioner and the State Board for Educator
Certification, as applicable, shall adopt rules as necessary to
administer this section.
SECTION 3. (a) Not later than March 1, 2012:
(1) the commissioner of education shall adopt rules as
necessary to administer Section 29.055(b-1), Education Code, as
added by this Act; and
(2) the State Board for Educator Certification shall
adopt rules as necessary to administer Section 29.055(b-2),
Education Code, as added by this Act.
(b) Beginning with the 2011-2012 school year, each school
district shall provide programs as provided by Sections 29.055(b-1)
and (b-2), Education Code, as added by this Act.
(c) A public school teacher teaching students of limited
English proficiency on or before March 1, 2012, must comply with the
educational or professional development requirements of that
provision not later than March 1, 2014.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2011.