79S10120 PAM-D
By: Shapleigh S.B. No. 32
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a dual language education pilot project in certain
school districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. (a) This Act may be cited as the "21st Century
Texas Educational Competitiveness Act."
(b) In the 2002-2003 school year, over 50 percent of the
students enrolled in the first grade in the three largest school
districts in this state, the Houston, Dallas, and Fort Worth
Independent School Districts, were Hispanic. Forty percent of
those students were classified as students of limited English
proficiency. The data for those school districts represent a
growing statewide trend that will pose significant challenges to
educators of children who are required to learn in a language other
than the primary language spoken in the home. Dual language
education programs provide instruction in both English and the
native language of the non-English-speaking students. Those
programs promote bilingualism, biliteracy, and grade-level
academic achievement by placing both native English-speaking and
non-English-speaking students together in one classroom. Wayne
Thomas and Virginia Collier conducted a study in which they
examined the records of 700,000 students in various bilingual
education programs. The study found that those students who
received grade-level cognitive and academic instruction in both
their first and second languages for many years were succeeding at
the end of high school. In fact, by the eighth grade, nonnative
English speakers in dual language education programs were found to
outperform native English speakers on standardized tests. Those
programs also experience lower dropout rates than other bilingual
education programs. The 21st Century Texas Educational
Competitiveness Act establishes a pilot program to study the
effectiveness of dual language education.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 21.0485 to read as follows:
Sec. 21.0485. DUAL LANGUAGE EDUCATION TEACHER
CERTIFICATION. (a) To ensure that there are teachers with special
training to work with other teachers and with students in a dual
language education program, the board shall establish a dual
language education teaching certificate.
(b) The board shall propose rules establishing the training
requirements, including the minimum academic qualifications, a
person must accomplish to obtain a certificate under this section.
(c) The board shall propose rules establishing the
requirements for a teacher who receives training in a foreign
country to obtain a certificate under this section.
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 28, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 28.0052 to read as follows:
Sec. 28.0052. DUAL LANGUAGE EDUCATION PILOT PROJECT. (a)
The commissioner shall establish a pilot project in school
districts selected by the commissioner under which the agency
examines dual language education programs and the effect of those
programs on a student's ability to graduate from high school.
(b) In selecting school districts under Subsection (a), the
commissioner shall:
(1) select districts that:
(A) will commit to at least a three-year dual
language education program; and
(B) demonstrate a substantially equal enrollment
of students with limited English proficiency and students whose
primary language is English or, if a district does not have a
sufficient number of limited English proficiency students to meet
the equal enrollment standard, include the enrollment of students
with limited English proficiency, students whose primary language
is English, and bilingual students; and
(2) give preference to a district that:
(A) demonstrates the potential for expanding the
program through middle school; and
(B) will implement the program at the
kindergarten level.
(c) The commissioner by rule shall require a district to
limit activities of the dual language education program during the
first year of the program to planning activities, including:
(1) hiring and training teachers and ensuring teacher
certification;
(2) establishing parental and community support for
the program; and
(3) acquiring adequate learning materials in both
program languages.
(d) A program that applies for the expansion of an existing
dual language education program is eligible for funding under the
pilot project.
(e) Funding provided for a dual language education program
may be used by a district for:
(1) classroom materials; and
(2) tuition and textbook expenses for students seeking
teacher certification under Section 21.0485.
(f) The agency shall report to the legislature describing
the agency's activities under the pilot project, the effect of the
project on grade-level completion and high school graduation rates,
and the recommendations arising from the project. The agency shall
submit an interim report under this subsection not later than
January 1, 2009, and a final report not later than January 1, 2011.
(g) This section expires August 1, 2011.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the
legislative session.