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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, It is not surprising that students with limited |
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English proficiency (LEP) who are recent arrivals to the United |
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States score poorly in standardized testing during their initial |
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years of U.S. enrollment, yet their scores are excluded from state |
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adequate yearly progress (AYP) determinations for only one |
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year--not nearly enough time for LEP students to overcome language |
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barriers and master the required knowledge and skills; and |
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WHEREAS, A cornerstone of the No Child Left Behind Act of |
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2001, AYP measures student performance in reading/language arts, |
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mathematics, and either graduation or attendance rate; all public |
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school campuses and districts, as well as the entire state, are |
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evaluated for AYP, and those that receive Title I, Part A, funds and |
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do not meet AYP goals for two or more years in a row are subject to |
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consequences; and |
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WHEREAS, Title I, Part A, funds are allocated to local |
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education agencies and schools with high numbers or high |
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percentages of poor children; in Texas, some 70 percent of schools |
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receive these funds and risk having to take corrective action |
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should they not meet AYP goals due to the test scores of recently |
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arrived LEP students; although the mathematics and |
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reading/language arts assessment scores of these students may be |
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excluded from one cycle of AYP determinations, a year is not |
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sufficient for them to gain adequate English skills and to acquire |
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the necessary content knowledge; and |
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WHEREAS, An exclusion period of three years would make a |
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measurable difference in terms of student ability and would allow a |
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much greater degree of flexibility for campuses, school districts, |
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and the state; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to revise the |
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No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 so that the State of Texas may |
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exclude the assessment scores of recently arrived limited English |
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proficiency students from adequate yearly progress determinations |
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for a period of three years following the students' initial |
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enrollment and so that the exclusion period for LEP students who |
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enter Texas schools in grades 10 and higher concludes prior to the |
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students' final year of schooling; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
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copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
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the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of |
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Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the |
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members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that |
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this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a |
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memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |