The law, according to Chapter 89, Adaptations for Special Populations, Subchapter BB, Commissioner’s rules concerning state plan for Educating English Language learners, in the State of Texas, 1201 (b) states that the goal of bilingual education programs shall be to enable English language learners to become competent in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in the English language through the development of literacy and academic skills in the primary language and English (Tex. Amin. Code ch 89, §89.1201(b)). The test that the state has adopted to give is the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS). This test is designed to assess the progress that limited English proficient (LEP) students make in learning the English language. TELPAS is taken in kindergarten through grade 12 in four language domains: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Student performance is reported in terms of four English language proficiency levels: beginning, intermediate, advanced, and advanced high. TELPAS results are used to meet state and federal reporting and accountability requirements. In the State of Texas, teachers are trained to use proficiency level descriptors (assessment guidelines) to determine the English language proficiency levels of students based on classroom observations and written student work. In recent years pressure has been put on the classroom …show more content…
Formative assessments, project based learning, personalized learning and portfolios are a must. Students need the five to seven year window to become proficient in a second language. Ongoing professional development can help teachers better understand the ways instruction for ELLs should differ from generic instruction (Klinger, Hoover, and Baca, 2008). Finally, evaluating a teacher on student progress will not be beneficial to the student or the teacher as they embark on this 5 to seven year