1. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Texas Education Agency Bilingual Education Exceptions ESL Waivers Susie Coultress Director of Bilingual/ESL susie.coultress@tea.state.tx.us

2. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. The information on the following slides is from 19 TAC Chapter 89, Adaptations for Special Populations, Subchapter BB, Commissioner's Rules Concerning State Plan for Educating Limited English Proficient Students, Section 89.1205, Required Bilingual Education and English as a Second Language Programs

3. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Request for Exception to the Bilingual Education Program (a) Each school district which has an enrollment of 20 or more limited English proficient students in any language classification in the same grade level district- wide shall offer a bilingual education program as described in subsection

4. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Request for Exception to the Bilingual Education Program (cont.) (b) of this section for the limited English proficient students in prekindergarten through the elementary grades who speak that language. "Elementary grades" shall include at least prekindergarten through Grade 5; sixth grade shall be included when clustered with elementary grades.

5. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Request for Exception to the Bilingual Education Program (cont.) Districts or charter schools that are unable to provide a bilingual education program are required by 19 TAC §89.1207(a) to request from the Commissioner of Education an exception to the bilingual education program and approval to offer an alternative program by submitting …Request for Exception to the Bilingual Education Program.

6. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Request for Waiver for English as a Second Language Program (d) All limited English proficient students for whom a district is not required to offer a bilingual education program shall be provided an English as a second language program as described in subsection (e) of this section, regardless of the students' grade levels and home language, and regardless of the number of such students.

7. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Request for Waiver for English as a Second Language Program (cont.) Districts or charter schools unable to provide ESL certified teachers to implement the ESL program are required by 19 TAC §89.1207(b) to request from the Commissioner of Education a waiver of the certification requirements for teachers who will provide ESL instruction by submitting … Request for Waiver for English as a Second Language (ESL) Program.

8. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Submission Deadline November 1 All data must be based on information prior to November 1, 2010.

9. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Are charter schools required to provide bilingual certified teachers and ESL supplemental certified teachers? Yes. If you are required to offer these programs based on 19 TAC §89.1205, then the teachers must be certified appropriately.

10. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Does TEA verify the colleges and universities reported on the bilingual exception and ESL waiver application? Yes. The Bilingual Education Unit collaborates with the State Board for Educator Credentialing on colleges and universities offering certification programs.

11. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Annual comparison of previously submitted Bilingual Exceptions and ESL waivers Every bilingual exception and ESL waiver is compared from one year to the next to note progress and to review if proposed action plan is met.

12. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Can a district or charter school use permanent substitute teachers to teach LEP students? Yes, but only if these teachers have valid Texas teaching certificates and are properly certified in Bilingual Education or hold an ESL supplemental certification as required by the program that the district or charter school is required to implement.

13. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Does a district/charter school need to re- submit their application if they lose the certified teacher during the school year? If this situation occurs after November 1 for the 2010-11 school year only, there is no need to resubmit. Try to serve the students with a certified teacher. Solve the situation as quickly as possible and keep all documentation.

14. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. School data in the bilingual exception and ESL waiver if submitting both Though most district data is the same when submitting for both an exception and a waiver, there are some differences in the information submitted on the request for Exception to the Bilingual Education Program. The questions pertain to number of teachers instructing LEP students under bilingual education exception for Spanish and languages other than Spanish.

15. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Instructional Designs Any of the following acronyms that will most appropriately describe the instructional design used by your district in that class may be used: SC – Self Contained TA - Teacher Assistant PO – Pull-Out I – Inclusion

16. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Performance Based Monitoring Information regarding districts submitting for a bilingual education exception and/or ESL waiver is shared with Performance Based Monitoring.

17. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Reason for submission of a bilingual education exception or an ESL waiver A Bilingual exception needs to be submitted only if your district/charter school has an insufficient number of bilingual teachers to be in compliance in offering the required program with Title 19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 89.1245 Staffing and Staff Development. An ESL waiver needs to be submitted only if the district/charter school does not have a sufficient number of ESL teachers to be in compliance in offering the required program with Title 19 TAC Chapter 89.

18. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. If a district has the certified personnel in bilingual education or ESL to instruct the ELLs in their respective required programs, then no documents need to be submitted.

19. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Bilingual certification for Vietnamese or Chinese teachers Bilingual Generalist EC-4 Vietnamese Bilingual Generalist Vietnamese 4-8 Bilingual supplemental Vietnamese EC-4 and 4-8 Bilingual Chinese

20. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Bilingual Exceptions A bilingual exception application must include an action plan that states what the district or charter school will do to ensure that the required bilingual program will be provided the next year, including plans for recruiting & training an adequate number of teachers to eliminate the need for subsequent exceptions.

21. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Bilingual Exceptions A bilingual exception application must show that the district has: taken all reasonable affirmative steps to hire sufficient certified bilingual teachers; reduced the number of teachers under exceptions; implemented affirmative hiring policies & procedures; and not unjustifiably denied employment to properly certified bilingual teachers in the past 12 months.

22. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Bilingual Exceptions A bilingual exception application must show that the district is: implementing specific measures to eliminate the need for a bilingual exception by 25% for the Spanish bilingual program; and providing a training program for staff assigned to provide the alternative program and using 10% of the bilingual allotment for this training.

23. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. 2010-2011 APPLICATION FOR BILINGUAL EDUCATION EXCEPTION AND ESL WAIVER District/Charter School Name County-District Number Authority for Data Collection: Texas Education Code (TEC) Subchapter B, §29.054; Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Title 19, Chapter 89, Subchapter BB, Commissioner’s Rules Concerning State Plan for Educating Limited English Proficient Students. Planned Use of the Data: Documentation of district or charter school compliance with state requirements for serving students of limited English proficiency. Please designate: Contact person for the district/charter school, and check the correct response in the drop box on either one or both statements below concerning the present status of the Bilingual/English as a Second Language program in your district or charter school. For further information, please contact our office at (512) 463-9581.

24. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Original form must be submitted electronically by November 1, 2010 to: BilingualExceptions_ESLWaivers@tea.state.tx.us Please save this document to your desktop using the following file name format: (district) Bilingual Education Exception or ESL Waiver Complete all pertinent information of the document, saving often. Please feel free to insert rows as needed and to copy and paste individual tables or sheets to complete for additional campuses. PLEASE DO NOT FAX FORM

25. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. REQUEST FOR EXCEPTION TO THE BILINGUAL EDUCATION PROGRAM District/Charter School Data

26. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Complete only the columns for the grade levels in which you are requesting an exception. Do not record information for any grade level in which you have appropriately certified bilingual teachers. (e.g. bilingual-Spanish, bilingual-Vietnamese, etc.) Columns F,G,J,K,N,O,R,S,V,W,Z,AA,AD,AE,AH, AI- Language(s) of Instruction: For language arts, math/science/social studies in each grade level, indicate the language of instruction by choosing the correct response from the drop down box. The PL refers to Primary Language and ESL refers to English as a Second Language. The district should provide as much instruction in the students’ primary language as needed to develop literacy and content knowledge. ESL instruction must be provided in language arts and the content areas. Columns H,L,P,T,X,AB,AF, AJ - Number of Students Under Exception: record the number of students who are not receiving instruction from a bilingual certified teacher at the appropriate grade level. The number of students will be added and the total number will be in the TOTALS column.

27. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Column B – Instructional Design: Choose an appropriate response from the drop down boxes to describe the instructional design(s) or method(s) of instructional delivery being used to serve students under exception. You will be asked to describe these codes in detail. Example: SC = Self Contained Bilingual Classroom; TA = Teacher Assistant; PO = Pull Out; I = Inclusion. Columns I,M,Q,U,Y,AC,AG,AK– Number of Teachers Under Exception: For each grade where data has been entered, record the number of teachers where students are receiving the alternative bilingual services. (Example: If one ESL certified teacher provides instruction to different grade levels in a pull-out model, this counts as one teacher.) Add up the number of teachers and input the total in the TOTALS column. Continue on the page as needed. Complete for each campus and for each language for which an exception is requested.

28. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. REQUEST FOR EXCEPTION TO THE BILINGUAL EDUCATION PROGRAM District CDN Campus CDCN Language of Exception Language of Instruction Languag e Arts Math Science SS Number of Students Under Exception Number of Teachers Under Exception PK – 6 Grade

29. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Bilingual Action Plan REQUEST FOR EXCEPTION TO THE BILINGUAL EDUCATION PROGRAM Action Timeline Number of Bilingual Teachers to be Hired Yearly per Grade Level Located in: Action Timeline – Bil-Exc tab

30. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Bilingual Action Plan YearGrade Level Number of Bilingual Teachers to be Hired Yearly per Grade Level 2010-2011 PK K grade 1 grade 2 grade 3 grade 4 grade 5 grade 6 2011-2012 PK K grade 1 grade 2 grade 3 grade 4 grade 5 grade 6 2012-2013 PK K grade 1 grade 2 grade 3 grade 4 grade 5 grade 6 2013-2014 PK K grade 1 grade 2 grade 3 grade 4 grade 5 grade 6 2014-2015 PK K – Grade 6

31. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Bilingual Action Plan REQUEST FOR EXCEPTION TO THE BILINGUAL EDUCATION PROGRAM Describe the actions the district or charter school will take to ensure that the required bilingual education program will be provided and continued beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, including district or charter school plans for recruiting and training an adequate number of teachers to eliminate the need for subsequent exceptions. Located in Narrative Bil-Exc tab

32. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Recruiting/Training Activity and Location

33. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. ESL Waivers An ESL waiver application must include all of those items required for a bilingual exception except number of teachers instructing LEP students under bilingual exception for Spanish and /or Other Languages and the Total; the names of the teachers not on permit who are assigned to the ESL program and who have never been submitted previously for an ESL waiver; and the estimated date for completion of the ESL supplemental certification. (The date must be within the present school year.) Located in District Information & Campus Info-ESL Waiver Tabs

34. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. ESL Waivers An ESL waiver application must include actions that the district or charter school will take to ensure that the required ESL program will be provided and continued beginning with the requested school year.

35. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. REQUEST FOR WAIVER FOR THE ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL) PROGRAM Sheet: District Information

36. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Located in Campus Info – ESL Tab REQUEST FOR WAIVER FOR THE ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL) PROGRAM Sheet: Campus Info – ESL Waiver

37. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. ESL Action Plan REQUEST FOR WAIVER FOR THE ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL) PROGRAM Describe the training program the district or charter school will provide to improve the skills of staff assigned to implement the proposed ESL program. Teacher training must specifically address instructional modifications for English language learners, ESL endorsement and certification. Provide specific information regarding the staff development plan to include intensity and duration of activities. Located in Narrative – ESL Waiver tab

38. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. ESL Action Plan

39. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. 1. Please save this document to your desktop using the following file name format: [district] Bilingual Exception Application 2010 2. Complete all three sheets of the document, saving often. 3. Please feel free to insert rows as needed and to copy and paste individual tables or sheets to complete for additional campuses. 4. Email the completed document toBilingualExceptions_ESLWaivers@tea.state.tx.us. Note: This email must be sent from the email address of the district superintendent to verify its authenticity. The body of the email must contain the following statement of certification: I have verified the information submitted to the Texas Education Agency via this email and attached document and certify its truth and accuracy. Additionally, I assure the following: at least 10% of the bilingual education allotment shall be used to carry out the activities described in this application the proposed actions described in this request form will be implemented documentation of completion of the proposed actions will be submitted to the Texas Education Agency by November 1, 2011. Name of Superintendent Name of District Bilingual/ESL ContactEmail of District Bilingual/ESL Contact Contact Phone Number (area code first)

40. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Bilingual Exceptions/ESL Waivers Criteria for Review alternative program is appropriate and adequate to meet the needs of students and fulfill the requirements of the law the recruiting plan is adequate (must include time lines) the previous year’s recruiting plan was accomplished

41. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Bilingual Exceptions/ESL Waivers Criteria for Review of Form # years requesting bilingual exceptions/ESL waivers # & % teachers on bilingual exception # & % teachers on ESL waiver # & % teachers on bilingual exception and/or ESL waiver has decreased yearly by at least 25% for the Spanish bilingual program # and % of student enrollment impacted

42. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Bilingual Exceptions/ESL Waivers The 2010-2011 Exception/Waiver Application must be requested via email from: BilingualExceptions_ESLWaivers@tea.state.tx.us. Please use “Exception/Waiver Request” in the subject line of the email. All applications are due by November 1, 2010. On or before that date each application must be submitted to TEA as an attachment to an email to: BilingualExceptions_ESLWaivers@tea.state.tx.us. The district Bilingual/ESL contact person may request an Exception/Waiver Application and complete it, but all completed applications must be submitted to TEA in an email directly from the superintendent. BilingualExceptions_ESLWaivers@tea.state.tx.us

43. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. TITLE 19. EDUCATION Subchapter BB. COMMISSIONER'S RULES CONCERNING STATE PLAN FOR EDUCATING LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT STUDENTS 19 TAC §§89.1207

44. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. §89.1207. Exceptions and Waivers. (a) Bilingual education program. (1)Exceptions. A district that is unable to provide a bilingual education program as required by §89.1205(a) of this title (relating to Required Bilingual Education and English as a Second Language Programs) shall request from the commissioner of education an exception to the bilingual education program and the approval of an alternative program. The approval of an exception to the bilingual education program shall be valid only during the school year for which it was granted. A request for a bilingual education program exception must be submitted by ______ 1 and shall include: (A) a statement of the reasons the district is unable to offer the bilingual education program with supporting documentation; (B) a description of the proposed alternative modified bilingual education or intensive English as a second language programs designed to meet the affective, linguistic, and cognitive needs of the limited English proficient students, including the manner through

45. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. §89.1207. Exceptions and Waivers. (B) which the students will be given an opportunity to master the essential knowledge and skills required by Chapter 74 of this title (relating to Curriculum Requirements); (C)an assurance that certified teachers available in the district will be assigned to grade levels beginning at prekindergarten followed successively by subsequent grade levels to ensure that the linguistic and academic needs of the limited English proficient students with beginning levels of English proficiency are served on a priority basis; (D)a description of the training program which the district will provide to improve the skills of the certified teachers that are assigned to implement the proposed alternative program, and an assurance that at least 10% of the bilingual education allotment shall be used to fund this training program; and

46. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. §89.1207. Exceptions and Waivers. (E)a description of the actions the district will take to ensure that the program required under 89.1205(a) of this title will be provided the subsequent year, including its plans for recruiting and training an adequate number of certified teachers to eliminate the need for subsequent exceptions and measurable targets for the subsequent year. (2) Approval of exceptions. Bilingual education program exceptions will be granted by the commissioner of education if the requesting district: (A) meets or exceeds the state average for limited English proficient student performance on the required state assessments; (B)meets the requirements and measurable targets of the action plan described in paragraph (1)(E) of this subsection submitted the previous year and approved by the Texas Education Agency (TEA); or

47. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. §89.1207. Exceptions and Waivers. (C) reduces by 25% the number of teachers under exception for bilingual Spanish programs when compared to the number of exceptions granted the previous year. (3)Denial of exceptions. A district denied a bilingual education program exception must submit to the commissioner of education a detailed action plan for complying with regulations for the following school year. (4) Appeals. A district denied a bilingual education program exception may appeal to the commissioner or the commissioner's designee. The decision of the commissioner or commissioner’s designee is final and may not be appealed further.

48. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. §89.1207. Exceptions and Waivers. ( 5)Special accreditation investigation. The commissioner may authorize a special accreditation investigation under the TEC, §39.075, if a district: (A)is denied a bilingual education program exception for more than three consecutive years; or (B)is granted an exception based on meeting or exceeding the state average for limited English proficient student performance on the required state assessments but has excessive numbers of allowable exemptions from the required state assessment. (6)Sanctions. Based on the results of a special accreditation investigation, the commissioner may take appropriate action under the TEC, §39.131.

49. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. §89.1207. Exceptions and Waivers. (b) English as a second language program. (1)Waivers. A district that is unable to provide an English as a second language program as required by §89.1205(d) of this title because of an insufficient number of certified teachers shall request from the commissioner of education a waiver of the certification requirements for each teacher who will provide instruction in English as a second language for limited English proficient students. The approval of a waiver of certification requirements shall be valid only during the school year for which it was granted. A request for an English as a second language program waiver must be submitted by and shall include:

50. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. §89.1207. Exceptions and Waivers. (A) a statement of the reasons the district is unable to provide a sufficient number of certified teachers to offer the English as a second language program; (B) a description of the manner in which the teachers in the English as a second language program will meet the affective, linguistic, and cognitive needs of the limited English proficient students, including the manner through which the students will be given opportunity to master the essential knowledge and skills required by Chapter 74 of this title;

51. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. §89.1207. Exceptions and Waivers. (C) an assurance that certified teachers available in the district will be assigned to grade levels beginning at prekindergarten followed successively by subsequent grade levels in the elementary school campus, and on the basis of need for secondary campuses, to ensure that the linguistic and academic needs of the limited English proficient students with the lower levels of English proficiency are served on a priority basis; (D) the name of each teacher not on permit who is assigned to implement the English as a second language program and estimated date for the completion of the English as a second language supplemental certification for each teacher under a waiver, which must be completed by the end of the school year for which the waiver was requested;

52. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. §89.1207. Exceptions and Waivers. (E) a description of the training program which the district will provide to improve the skills of the certified teachers that are assigned to implement the proposed English as a second language program, and an assurance that at least 10% of the bilingual education allotment shall be used to fund this training; and (F) a description of the actions the district will take to ensure that the program required under §89.1205(d) of this title will be provided the subsequent year, including its plans for recruiting and training an adequate number of certified teachers to eliminate the need for subsequent waivers.

53. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. §89.1207. Exceptions and Waivers. (2)Approval of waivers. English as a second language waivers will be granted by the commissioner of education if the requesting district: (A)meets or exceeds the state average for limited English proficient student performance on the required state assessments; or (B)meets the requirements and measurable targets of the action plan described in paragraph (1)(D) of this subsection submitted the previous year and approved by the TEA. (3)Denial of waivers. A district denied an English as a second language program waiver must submit to the commissioner of education a detailed action plan for complying with required regulations for the following school year.

54. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. §89.1207. Exceptions and Waivers. (4)Appeals. A district denied an English as a second language waiver may appeal to the commissioner or the commissioner's designee. The decision of the commissioner or commissioner's designee is final and may not be appealed further. (5) Special accreditation investigation. The commissioner may authorize a special accreditation investigation under the TEC, §39.075, if a district: (A)is denied an English as a second language waiver for more than three consecutive years; or (B)is granted a waiver based on meeting or the state average for limited English proficient student performance on the required state assessments but has excessive numbers of allowable exemptions from the required state assessments.

55. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. §89.1207. Exceptions and Waivers. (6) Sanctions. Based on the results of a special accreditation investigation, the commissioner may take appropriate action under the TEC, §39.131.

56. Copyright TEA, 2010 All rights reserved. Additional information on Bilingual/ESL education can be accessed by visiting the Bilingual/ESL Unit website Join our listserv: http://miller.tea.state.tx.us/list/ Contact Information: Susie Coultress Bilingual/ESL Director susie.coultress@tea.state.tx.us (512) 463-9581