Bilingual Exceptions and ESL Waivers

Bilingual Exceptions and ESL Waivers

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The Cyclical Process
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The Cyclical Process

To better serve emergent bilingual students, TAC Chapter 89.1207 provides bilingual exception and ESL waiver requirements for all Local Education Agencies (LEAs), which includes all school districts, districts of innovation, and open-enrollment charter schools. The purpose of filing an exception and waiver is to inform TEA of the need for appropriately certified teachers in bilingual and ESL programs across the state. LEAs can use the filing of an exception and waiver as a year-long process of growth, whether it be toward teacher certification or program implementation and improvement.

The cyclical process is intentionally broken down into quadrants to provide LEAs with incremental checkpoints to monitor their current practices and progress in actively recruiting, hiring, and retaining appropriately certified teachers to serve EB students in bilingual and ESL programs effectively and eliminate the need to file for a subsequent year of alternative methods.

Each quadrant highlights key principles to allow key players to engage in collaborative conversations to support teachers and the EB students they serve. During each quarter, key players will find suggestions with a list of things to consider. The checklist is not an exhaustive list but rather an opportunity to reflect and strengthen practices that provide positive outcomes. Considerations may be recurring through the quadrants and hence making it a cyclical process.

A collective approach to:

  • Identifying the teachers who will be placed under an exception or waiver,
  • Developing a comprehensive professional learning plan to prepare teachers to become appropriately certified and have the second language acquisition skills to serve EB students,
  • Layering support for teachers in various stages of their certification pathway,
  • Conducting follow-up check-in points with campus leaders and teachers,
  • Progress monitoring the academic and linguistic growth of EB students served by a teacher under an exception or waiver,
  • Tracking effective recruiting and retention practices,
  • Keeping families informed, and
  • Building a system of support for accountability of all key players.

In response to the 87th legislative session of 2022, the EB Support Team has partnered with Educational Service Centers (ESCs), campus and district leaders, teachers, and other stakeholders and engaged in dialogue on the agency’s 5 calls to action, one of which is to increase bilingual certified teachers. The cyclical process creates a need for LEAs to build systems for all stakeholders to cultivate a collaborative environment to support teachers who are not appropriately certified and serving EB students. Each key player has essential duties and responsibilities within their work streams to enhance practice to recruit, hire, and retain appropriately certified teachers to serve EB students in bilingual education programs.

LEA’s Vision +
Department’s Goals
for EBs		 Retention
Policies, Practices
& Activities		 Recruitment
Policies, Practices
& Activities		 Progress Checks Action Plan
Reflection
Bilingual Directors HR Staff HR Staff HR Staff Bilingual Directors
HR Staff Bilingual Directors District Administrators Bilingual Directors HR Staff
District Administrators District Administrators District Administrators District Administrators District Administrators
Campus Administrators Campus Administrators Bilingual Directors Campus Administrators Campus Administrators
ESC and the Emergent Bilingual Support Team can serve as supplemental support.
  • Bilingual department personnel have the knowledge and skills to plan a comprehensive professional development plan in tandem with campus and district administrators. They work closely with Human Resources personnel to monitor progress and certification status.
  • Human Resources personnel have the skills and opportunities to develop appropriate job descriptions that highlight the areas of certification needed for the bilingual/ESL vacancies. They work in tandem with the bilingual department to verify certification requirements. In addition, have an open line of communication with campus administrators to ensure they are posting job descriptions based on the need of the campus vacancies and creating a pool of possible candidates.
  • Campus administrators have the most up to date status of the needs of their campus and are most appropriate to collaborate with human resources, bilingual department and other district administrators to make PD accessible to their teachers in route to becoming appropriately certified. Campus administrators also observable data that informs teacher needs while instructing EB students.
  • Finance department personnel are the most suitable to support the appropriate use of 10% of the BEA funds and continued conversations with all key players to inform fiscally responsible decisions.
  • Professional Development personnel have access to coordinate professional development sessions, scheduling PD, and help with contracting services.
  • PEIMS personnel are instrumental in collecting and entering data related to student records, attendance, and program participation.
  • Teachers under bilingual exception or ESL waiver identify possible pathways to fulfill their preparation to move in the pathway to becoming certified. In addition, teachers recognize the additional PD and job-embedded support to deliver high-quality lessons that target language development and content knowledge in all core content areas and closely aligned to the required bilingual/ESL program.

The Quadrants

Cyclical Process Graphic

The ongoing collaboration in the cyclical process provides all stakeholders with key practices to hold everyone accountable to ensure EB students are served through HQIM and delivery of high-quality instructional practices to be successful through their educational experiences. Having quarterly checkpoints keeps the vision and mission of the LEA at the forefront to ensure teachers have the tools to better serve EB students to become college and career ready. TEA’s EB Support Division and ESCs are additional sources of support to LEAs.

Principle 1

Access, Collaboration, and Planning leverages high-quality instructional practices when serving EB students that focus on linguistic and academic outcomes to develop high-impact systems.

Access:
  • Review progress on the previous year’s Action Plan.
  • PEIMS coding to reflect the alternative methods.
  • Data collection for the current year’s application for exceptions and waivers.
Collaborate:
  • District and Campus Leaders
  • Human Resources
  • Bilingual Department
  • Professional Development
  • PEIMS
  • Principal, Assistant Principal, Instructional Support Staff
Plan:
  • Strategic assignment of appropriately certified teachers.
  • Strategic scheduling of EB students.
  • Prepare for submission of the Comprehensive Professional Development Plan for classroom teachers who will be under a bilingual exception or ESL waiver using the 10% of the BEA funds
  • Prepare for submission of district action plan.
  • Present annual EB program evaluation to the school board of trustees before November 1st (TAC §89.1265), which include the number of teachers for whom an exception or waiver is filed, and the comprehensive professional development plan
  • Teacher actions for accountability to their pathway to certification and serving EB students.
  • Actively continue recruiting for appropriately certified teachers.
  • Communication to families.
Cyclical process badge: Assess & Plan • Focus on Specific Areas • Monitor Progress (Aug–Oct)

The Key Player Roles:

Bilingual Department will:
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Human Resources will:
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Campus Principal will:
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Finance Department will:
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PEIMS Department will:
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Teacher will:
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Professional Development Department will:
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Principle 2

Focusing intentionally on high-quality professional learning to address instructional delivery necessary to support EB students’ language development and content attainment.

Determine the classrooms that have teachers in the pathway of becoming appropriately certified.
  • What is the local district policy for teachers that are not appropriately certified?
  • What are the local district retention policies?
Plan for job postings for any vacancies and teachers that may not be in the pathway to becoming appropriately certified.
  • What are the current local district incentives to recruit, hire, and retain bilingual education teachers?
Check progress for teachers serving EB students and students’ linguistic and academic impact.
  • Are job postings planned for these positions?
  • What is the continuous comprehensive professional development plan and on-going job-embedded professional development for teachers under exceptions and waivers?
  • Does the professional development plan include teacher certification pathway preparation sessions as well as second language acquisition methods, including Content Based Language Instruction (CBLI) to deliver high-quality lessons to develop language and content?
Cyclical process badge (Nov–Jan): Focus on Specific Areas

The Key Player Roles:

Bilingual Department will:
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Human Resources will:
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Campus Principal will:
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Finance Department will:
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PEIMS Department will:
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Teacher will:
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Principle 3

Tracking processes will identify teacher needs and student academic and linguistic outcomes to guide instructional practices in campus and district plans.

Monitor the linguistic and academic progress of students
  • Determine the classroom needs for teachers and EB students.
  • Verify PEIMS coding is representative of the appropriate certified educator or alternate methods.
Check the progress of the comprehensive professional development sessions to ensure the data is meeting the action plan outcomes.
  • On-going collaboration from Human Resources, Finance Department, Bilingual Department, Campus leaders.
  • Review progress of action plan goals stated on application and to structure upcoming goals.
Review student academic and linguistic data and celebrate successes
  • Student academic progress
  • Student linguistic development
  • Teacher certification achievement
  • Teacher instructional practice development
  • Capacity building in key players
  • Effectiveness of monitoring systems
Cyclical process badge (Feb–Apr): Track & Monitor Progress

The Key Player Roles:

Bilingual Department will:
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Human Resources will:
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Campus Principal will:
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Finance Department will:
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PEIMS Department will:
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Teacher will:
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Principle 4

Meeting measurable targets provides the necessary accountability for all key players to ensure EB students are given access to opportunities to develop language and academic skills.

Meet measurable targets.
  • Measure certification success rate and the correlation to activities from the Comprehensive PD Plan
  • Evaluate the tentative classroom allocations for the current and subsequent school years (student: teacher ratio, recruitment needs),
  • Progress Monitor the linguistic and academic growth of EB students served by a teacher under an exception or waiver,
  • Collaborate with Bilingual Department, HR Department, Campus Principals, Financial Officers, Academic and Curriculum team leaders to plan for upcoming school year based on the updated needs assessment for teachers and students,
  • Measure the success of your action plan’s recruiting and retention goals and make adjustments for the subsequent year
Cyclical process badge (May–July): Meet Targets

The Key Player Roles:

Bilingual Department will:
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Human Resources will:
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Campus Principal will:
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Finance Department will:
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PEIMS Department will:
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Teacher will:
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