Pasadena ISD multilingual director reports major reclassification gains, highlights bilingual program progress

Rolando Merchand, Pasadena ISD’s multilingual director, told the school board on Oct. 22 that the district has seen notable gains in English‑learner reclassification and steady performance from bilingual‑program participants.

Merchand said the district serves a large and growing population of emerging bilingual students and reported that reclassification activity rose dramatically last year: “we went from 79 kids to 1,000 kids in reclassification,” he said. He said about half of the district’s students participate in a bilingual program and that two‑way dual‑language participants and reclassified students have outperformed peers across many grade levels and subjects.

The presentation included assessment context: Merchand noted the second year of a computer‑based writing assessment for TELPAS (the state English language proficiency assessment) has affected composite proficiency measures, and the district has not fully recovered previous composite levels that used different testing formats. To improve measurement of biliteracy growth, the district is partnering with the University of Colorado to develop MAP‑based metrics and said staff have already begun MAP data collection.

Merchand highlighted that reclassified students historically outperform their prior category in most grade levels and content areas, while also flagging areas for growth — notably third‑grade reading and fourth‑grade mathematics in certain cohorts. He said parent denials of bilingual services remain a concern because students whose families decline services tend to underperform relative to peers.

The district will continue professional development and data work; Merchand said leaders hope to present the new MAP‑based biliteracy metrics to the board next year.

The board did not take formal action on the presentation; it was provided for information and discussion.