1 Bilingual/ESL Required Services for Students with Disabilities.

2 Do students born in the United States and identified as LEP, who have lived outside the United States for most of their lives qualify for ESOL services? No, to be eligible for ESOL 1 and 2, a student must be born outside of the U.S. –See Q & A document Question #2 98a1.dochttp:// 98a1.doc Question 1

3 Question 2 Does a student who has resided in the United States for 3 interrupted years, such as 1 month one year, 4 months second year and maybe 2 months the third year qualify for ESOL? Yes, the student was born outside of the United States. –See Q & A document Question #2 98a1.dochttp:// 98a1.doc

4 Question 3 Does the special education teacher who serves students identified as LEP in a district where bilingual education is required need to have a bilingual certification? (MR unit, LD, PPCD) Yes, if the special education teacher teaches the student in a self-contained classroom. –§ (b) and § (c)

5 Question 3 Does the special education teacher who serves students identified as LEP in a district where bilingual education is required need to have a bilingual certification? (MR unit, LD, PPCD) No, if the bilingual certified teacher teaches all the content areas in the classroom and the special education teacher is team-teaching in the classroom providing only services in support of instruction. –§ (b) and § (c)

6 Question 3 Does the special education teacher who serves students identified as LEP in a district where bilingual education is required need to have a bilingual certification? (MR unit, LD, PPCD) If the special education teacher teaches content areas in the classroom or pulls the student out of the classroom, s/he must be ESL certified and working with a bilingual certified teacher in a team-teaching situation. The bilingual teacher must provide content area instruction in the student’s primary language. –§ (b) and § (c)

7 Question 4 Does the special education language arts teacher who serves students identified as LEP in a district where bilingual education is required need to be bilingually certified? Yes, content area instruction must be provided by a bilingual certified teacher. –§ (b) and § (c)

8 Question 5 If the special education teacher needs to be certified, does the district have to apply for a waiver/exception? Yes. –§ (g) and § (h) What if the district did not ask for an exception or waiver? The district would be out of compliance with state rule.

9 Question 6 In a dual language classroom where teachers are team teaching, do they both need to be certified in Bilingual or ESL? No, one teacher needs to be bilingual certified provided that s/he provides content area instruction in the primary language. The other teacher needs to be ESL certified if providing content area instruction in English. –§ (b) and § (c)

10 Question 7 What is the role of the ARD and LPAC in the identification process? ARD and LPAC should be considered as equal partners and should collaborate in reviewing appropriate assessments and student needs. ARD in conjunction with LPAC may determine that LEP identification is inappropriate for certain students, i.e., students with severe cognitive disabilities, or students who are deaf.

11 Question 8 What options exist for a student with disabilities who has been identified as LEP but who is not meeting exit criteria (§ )? Currently there are no options, the student must continue to receive bilingual/ESL required services until exit criteria are met. –Note: A proposed rule change would allow the ARD and LPAC to set appropriate entry and exit criteria.

12 Question 9 Does passing SDAA at grade level meet exit criteria? No, not at this time but the pending commissioner rule will address this issue.

13 Question 10 What is the relationship between the federal definition of a highly qualified teacher (NCLB) and the state requirements for bilingual/ESL certification? While NCLB may not require bilingual/ESL certification for special education teachers, Texas law does. –§ (b) and § (c) –For more information, see question #11