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Lewisville ISD reports emerging bilingual population at 24%; TELPAS changes led to higher program exits
Summary
District staff reported that emerging bilingual students now account for 24% of enrollment (about 11,312 students). Presenters said changes to TELPAS exit criteria increased exits in 2024; staff described staffing, mobility and monitoring practices for reclassified students.
Lewisville ISD staff told the Board of Trustees on Jan. 13 that emerging bilingual (EB) students now make up about 24% of district enrollment, roughly 11,312 students, and that district programs aim to serve those students through bilingual and ESL models.
Liliana Marquez, bilingual ESL administrator; Danielle Oakley, secondary ESL coordinator; and Shaniqua Johnson, elementary ESL coordinator presented the annual bilingual/ESL update and described the district’s program mix, staffing approaches and recent test-score trends.
"This year, we count with 24 percent of our populations as emerging bilinguals. That accounts for 11,312 students," Marquez said. Presenters noted that the district serves students speaking more than 76 languages and that Spanish remains the predominant language.
Presenters highlighted a change in the 2024 TELPAS (Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System) exit criteria that reduced the requirement to reach Advanced High in every domain; the district said that change enabled it to exit 1,191 students in 2024 who demonstrated English proficiency under the new composite-based rule.
The presenters reminded trustees that research on second-language acquisition indicates conversational proficiency can take two to six years and academic language typically requires five to seven years; students with interrupted formal education can require longer. The district said it continues to hold EB students to the same graduation and assessment standards while monitoring reclassified students for up to four years.
Trustees asked about EB distribution across feeder patterns and supports for campuses with higher concentrations. Oakley said ESL staff and liaisons are assigned to every campus and that resources are allocated based on data and need. Marquez and other staff described a weighted staffing model that factors campus-level needs such as economic differences and newcomer counts.
Officials also reported high mobility on some elementary campuses and noted that staffing, attendance and newcomer supports remain priorities. The district reported an 86% graduation rate for emerging bilingual learners and said it will continue monitoring literacy and English proficiency outcomes.
Ending: Trustees asked staff for feeder-pattern breakdowns of EB populations and additional details about exit and graduation calculations; staff said they would provide the requested reports.
