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Texas Education Code - Section 29.056. Enrollment Of Students In Program

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§ 29.056. ENROLLMENT OF STUDENTS IN PROGRAM.  (a) The 
agency shall establish standardized criteria for the 
identification, assessment, and classification of students of 
limited English proficiency eligible for entry into the program or 
exit from the program.  The student's parent must approve a 
student's entry into the program, exit from the program, or 
placement in the program.  The school district or parent may appeal 
the decision under Section 29.064.  The criteria for 
identification, assessment, and classification may include:
		(1)  results of a home language survey conducted within 
four weeks of each student's enrollment to determine the language 
normally used in the home and the language normally used by the 
student, conducted in English and the home language, signed by the 
student's parents if the student is in kindergarten through grade 8 
or by the student if the student is in grades 9 through 12, and kept 
in the student's permanent folder by the language proficiency 
assessment committee;
		(2)  the results of an agency-approved English language 
proficiency test administered to all students identified through 
the home survey as normally speaking a language other than English 
to determine the level of English language proficiency, with 
students in kindergarten or grade 1 being administered an oral 
English proficiency test and students in grades 2 through 12 being 
administered an oral and written English proficiency test;  and
		(3)  the results of an agency-approved proficiency test 
in the primary language administered to all students identified 
under Subdivision (2) as being of limited English proficiency to 
determine the level of primary language proficiency, with students 
in kindergarten or grade 1 being administered an oral primary 
language proficiency test and students in grades 2 through 12 being 
administered an oral and written primary language proficiency test.
	(b)  Tests under Subsection (a) shall be administered by 
professionals or paraprofessionals with the appropriate English 
and primary language skills and the training required by the test 
publisher.
	(c)  The language proficiency assessment committee may 
classify a student as limited English proficiency if:
		(1)  the student's ability in English is so limited or 
the student's disabilities are so severe that assessment procedures 
cannot be administered;
		(2)  the student's score or relative degree of 
achievement on the agency-approved English proficiency test is 
below the levels established by the agency as indicative of 
reasonable proficiency;
		(3)  the student's primary language proficiency score 
as measured by an agency-approved test is greater than the 
student's proficiency in English;  or
		(4)  the language proficiency assessment committee 
determines, based on other information, including a teacher 
evaluation, parental viewpoint, or student interview, that the 
student's primary language proficiency is greater than the 
student's proficiency in English or that the student is not 
reasonably proficient in English.
	(d)  Not later than the 10th day after the date of the 
student's classification as a student of limited English 
proficiency, the language proficiency assessment committee shall 
give written notice of the classification to the student's parent.  
The notice must be in English and the parent's primary language.  
The parents of students eligible to participate in the required 
bilingual education program shall be informed of the benefits of 
the bilingual education or special language program and that it is 
an integral part of the school program.
	(e)  The language proficiency assessment committee may 
retain, for documentation purposes, all records obtained under this 
section.
	(f)  The district may not refuse to provide instruction in a 
language other than English to a student solely because the student 
has a disability.
	(g)  A district may transfer a student of limited English 
proficiency out of a bilingual education or special language 
program for the first time or a subsequent time if the student is 
able to participate equally in a regular all-English instructional 
program as determined by:
		(1)  agency-approved tests administered at the end of 
each school year to determine the extent to which the student has 
developed oral and written language proficiency and specific 
language skills in English;
		(2)  satisfactory performance on the reading 
assessment instrument under Section 39.023(a) or an English 
language arts assessment instrument under Section 39.023(c), as 
applicable, with the assessment instrument administered in 
English, or, if the student is enrolled in the first or second 
grade, an achievement score at or above the 40th percentile in the 
reading and language arts sections of an English standardized test 
approved by the agency;  and
		(3)  agency-approved criterion-referenced tests and 
the results of a subjective teacher evaluation.
	(h)  If later evidence suggests that a student who has been 
transferred out of a bilingual education or special language 
program has inadequate English proficiency and achievement, the 
language proficiency assessment committee may reenroll the student 
in the program.  Classification of students for reenrollment must 
be based on the criteria required by this section.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff. May 30, 1995.  
Amended by Acts 2006, 79th Leg., 3rd C.S., ch. 5, § 3.06, eff. 
May 26, 2006.

Last modified: August 10, 2007