West Valley presents TBIP implementation, data and next steps to board

Geralyn Ashbon, the district’s director of state and federal programs, and Rebecca Vesta, the instructional coach for the multilingual program, presented Tuesday evening on the West Valley School District’s implementation of the state Transitional Bilingual Instructional Program (TBIP) and related professional development.

Ashbon told the board that TBIP and federal Title III “share the same goal: to develop language proficiency that enables meaningful access to grade-level content and instruction.” She described the state’s shift to a multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) model that emphasizes core instruction in general education classrooms, targeted small-group supports and more intensive interventions for students with greater needs.

The presentation summarized district data used in the TBIP grant and planning. Ashbon said West Valley’s three-year trend for multilingual learners’ on-track ninth-grade rates and graduation rates have risen but that some indicators remain concerning: the district’s share of long-term English learners — students remaining in language services five or more years — was reported at 38%, above the statewide figure Ashbon cited as 32%. West Valley’s share of students dually qualified for special education and multilingual services was reported at 28%, compared with a state rate of about 19%.

Why it matters: the board approved a TBIP-related grant last fall; Tuesday’s presentation outlined what the district will do with those resources. Staff described layered supports, teacher training and progress monitoring meant to increase language proficiency while reducing unnecessary special-education referrals.

Supporting details and implementation

Ashbon and Vesta said West Valley is emphasizing teacher capacity in the core classroom: veteran teachers with ELL endorsements or district training provide most day-to-day language supports while instructional coaches and targeted small-group instruction provide supplemental services. The district has invested in Guided Language Acquisition Design (GLAAD) and Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) training. Ashbon said elementary teachers have high levels of GLAAD training and the district now sustains two internal trainers to reduce outside training costs.

Vesta described professional development offerings that include four-day GLAAD workshops, two-day SIOP sessions and combined after-school planning sessions tied to the new HMH Into Reading curriculum. The district is piloting classroom walkthroughs focused on multilingual instruction; Ashbon and Vesta said they and building instructional coaches join those observations and follow up with coaching conversations.

The presenters also described specific classroom strategies the district is reinforcing: sentence patterning charts, turn-and-talks, numbered-heads cooperative structures, sentence and paragraph frames, cooperative strip paragraphs and comparative and pictorial input charts for building background knowledge. Ashbon said teachers report using those strategies immediately after training; she described a recent 4-day GLAAD training at Cottonwood followed by observed classroom use the next week.

Concerns raised and next steps

Board members pressed for more concrete numbers behind the slides. At the meeting, a board member asked for raw student counts to accompany the percentages; Ashbon agreed to provide those figures and the superintendent said the data would be placed in a future superintendent’s report so it is in the public record. Ashbon also told the board the district enrollment report shows roughly 525 bilingual students in a district of about 5,000 full-time equivalents, and she agreed to provide exact counts for the board’s review.

To address the district’s relatively high rate of long-term English learners and high dual-qualification rates, staff described a new book study on referral practices for multilingual students. Ashbon said the district is using a tool called the “critical data matrix” (author cited in presentation) to guide decisions about special-education evaluation and to “look at the whole child” rather than attributing academic challenges to language alone. Participants in the book study include the special-education director and other specialists; Ashbon said the district expects to pilot changes in building referral practice next fall.

What the board directed (discussion vs. decision)

No formal board action was taken on TBIP implementation at the meeting. Staff presented program data and plans; board members asked for supplemental data (student counts for percentages shown) and the superintendent said that information will be provided publicly in a future report. Staff described ongoing and planned implementation steps — expanded PD, instructional coaching, classroom walkthroughs focused on multilingual learners and a book-study revision of referral processes — but the board did not vote on new policy or resource allocations during the session.

Ending

Ashbon and Vesta closed by reiterating the program goals and invited board members to observe classroom walkthroughs; they offered to schedule visits for board members interested in seeing implementation in person. The district will return requested numeric detail to the board and public in a future report.