Duncanville ISD reports steady emergent bilingual enrollment, highlights gaps in early literacy and high‑school English
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Summary
District staff told the board that emergent bilingual students make up about 26% of enrollment (~2,904 students), cited strengths in upper elementary and middle grades and flagged gaps in grade 3 literacy and high‑school English; Maria Hernandez outlined teacher certification improvements and technology rollouts to support intervention.
Duncanville ISD administration presented the annual bilingual and English‑as‑a‑second‑language (ESL) program evaluation, reporting both gains and areas of concern for emergent bilingual learners.
Maria Hernandez, director of language acquisition, told trustees that emergent bilingual students comprise roughly 26% of the district and that a headcount cited during the presentation was about 2,904 students. She said about 1,234 students were enrolled in the dual‑language (Spanish/English) program and roughly 1,431 were enrolled in ESL services; about 210 students were recorded as parent denials of bilingual services in the presentation.
Hernandez said bilingual teacher certification rates improved in 2024–25, with about 66% of dual‑language teachers bilingual‑certified and a smaller share uncertified. She reported the ESL program had a higher proportion of uncertified teachers and described district efforts to expand certification through a "grow your own" pipeline, testing prep supports and reimbursement for certification costs.
On student performance, Hernandez reviewed TELPAS (English language proficiency) and STAAR results. She said emergent bilinguals showed strong growth in upper elementary and middle school (notably grades 4–5 and grade 8) but lagged in grade 3 early literacy and in high‑school English I and II. To address gaps, the district plans to strengthen Tier‑1 early literacy instruction, provide embedded language objectives, expand coaching and readiness lessons, and offer targeted supports (including a TELPAS Saturday camp and coaching cycles for high‑school English).
Trustees asked about technology and monitoring; Hernandez said the district has purchased Summit K12 and expects campuses to provide students at least 60 minutes weekly of work on the platform, with training for all campuses planned by the end of the semester. Additional platforms referenced for intervention included All In Learning, Sirius (in procurement), and existing iReady supports. The deputy chiefs and academic leadership will monitor rollout and implementation metrics.
Hernandez offered to provide trustees with a rollout plan and training schedule for Summit K12.
