Possible bilingual education changes

Students in ECISD and all across Texas may see different bilingual education programs next year as part of a court-ordered improvement in education for students at the secondary level.

"We will certainly follow all the guidelines that filter down to us," Lupe Hernandez, ECISD bilingual and ESL program coordinator, said.

Hernandez said the district is waiting to see what the Texas Education Agency does to alter the secondary education programs for students with limited English proficiency. The changes spring from a July order by federal judge William Wayne Justice to fix a system with major gaps between elementary and secondary bilingual students. Across Texas, elementary students do much better in a system with dual-instruction in both English and Spanish than their secondary peers beginning in seventh grade. Bilingual students start taking English-only English as a Second Language courses during that grade.

According to Hernandez, about 13 percent of ECISD students take some form of bilingual education. She said three tests are used to determine level of English acquisition, and the district has worked to improve education for those students struggling.

"We are very aware of the needs we must fulfill," Hernandez said. She said ECISD offers tutoring and teacher training to assist students if they need more time to absorb information because of language barriers.

In ECISD, the district's 2007-'08 state accountability rating indicates elementary LEP students taking Spanish exams kept pace with the district as a whole, sometimes even exceeding the overall average. However, once students hit seventh grade, ECISD TAKS scores for the same students dropped significantly. LEP students taking seventh grade reading received an overall score 56 percentage points lower than students even taking a comparable English reading exam in the sixth grade.

It was a similar disparity across Texas that led to the ruling against TEA, which the state is appealing. Late last month, Justice denied a request to delay the plan implementation after the Texas Education Agency said it would not have the financial resources or time to develop a new secondary system by the Jan. 31 deadline.

"Even with the appeal, we are working and believe we will meet the deadline," TEA spokeswoman Suzanne Marchman said.