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Eatonville board approves transitional bilingual instruction plan, sets family engagement target
Summary
The Eatonville School District board reviewed and approved its Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program (TBIP), setting student growth and family-engagement goals and scheduling an ELL family night for Nov. 20.
The Eatonville School District board on Thursday approved the district’s annual Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program, a plan to provide English-language learners immediate assessment and classroom supports and to increase family engagement.
The plan, presented by Tracy (staff member), lays out eligibility and exit criteria tied to WIDA ACCESS for ELLs scores, program models in use (supportive mainstream and pullout small-group work) and goals for the coming year. “Services begin immediately right after identification,” Tracy said during the presentation, summarizing the district’s required timelines for notification and service start.
The nut graf: the board voted to adopt the TBIP after staff described current programming, student counts and performance. District staff said 31 students are currently in the program and highlighted academic gains they link to focused multilingual instruction.
Staff described the district’s models: a multilingual teacher who co-teaches and coaches classroom teachers, small-group instruction for newcomers, and pullout language acquisition supports that do not remove students from core instructional time. Tracy said the district uses the WIDA framework, GLAD, SIOP and Universal Design for Learning strategies and is preparing teacher resources (a Padlet) that links standards to instructional tools.
Officials presented outcome and data: the district reported a 62% year-over-year growth in ELA and 65.5% growth in math for multilingual students from 2023 to 2024, and noted that more students were tested this year (21 took WIDA last year; 24 the year before). Staff also noted two students exited the program this year.
Family engagement is a stated growth area. The TBIP sets a goal of 20% increased parent engagement; a first ELL family night is scheduled for Nov. 20 at Eatonville Elementary School from 6–7 p.m. Staff said they had low response to a parent survey to date and will rely on bilingual staff and district leadership to boost participation.
The board approved the plan by voice vote. During discussion members asked about languages represented (presenters said Spanish is the primary language in the program currently) and about supports for newcomer students and families.
Ending: Staff said next steps include rolling out the Padlet resource to teachers, continuing PLC-based coaching, monitoring WIDA and Smarter Balanced progress, and conducting ongoing outreach to multilingual families.
