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Academic ProgramsBilingual/English as a Second Language (BE/ESL)Dr. Hua Yang & Dr. Leo Ledezma, Evaluation Specialists According to the Texas Education Code (TEC), public schools must provide the opportunity for all students to become competent in English, recognizing the educational needs of limited English proficient (LEP) students and ensuring equal educational opportunity to every student. The Dallas ISD BE/ESL program is a comprehensive program to meet the affective, linguistic and academic needs of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students at the elementary and secondary levels. The elementary component consists of three programs: Bilingual Education (BE), English as a Second Language (ESL), and Newcomer Education (NE) programs. These programs were designed to enable LEP students to become competent in listening, speaking, reading, and writing through the development of literacy and academic skills in English. In addition to English mastery, these programs also emphasize mathematics, science, and social studies. The BE program is implemented in Grades PK-3, the ESL program in Grades PK-6 and the NE program in Grades 3-6. The secondary BE/ESL program provides LEP students with sequential
instruction in ESL, sheltered English, and other sheltered content courses
in mathematics, science, and social studies. The goals are helping LEP
students acquire English proficiency and facilitating a timely transfer
into mainstream programs. Learning CentersDr. Bob Costello, Evaluation Specialist The Dallas Independent School District’s Learning Centers, located in East, South, and West Dallas, were originally court-ordered efforts to return disadvantaged, inner-city, minority students to their neighborhood schools and provide quality educational programs with supplementary funds. The Learning Centers represent an alternative to the district’s previously attempted vehicle of providing transportation to distant sites as a remedy, for a better educational opportunity. The concept of the Learning Centers is based upon the philosophy that a history of educational deprivation under conditions of poverty can be overcome. Specifically, the purpose of the Learning Centers is to provide special programs with educational concepts different from those in other schools in the district. Each Learning Center is expected to provide innovative and creative instructional strategies to accelerate student learning so that the achievement difference between minority and majority students will be narrowed. The target population for this program is all neighborhood children in Grades 4-8 who live in the target school’s attendance zone. There are 14 intermediate Leaning Centers (Grades 4-6) and 2 middle Learning Centers (7-8). Eight Centers are located in South Dallas, 5 in West Dallas and 3 in East Dallas. Magnet SchoolsDr. Tabiri Tabasuri, Evaluation Specialist The magnet school concept originated as part of the 1976 Desegregation Court order of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The concept called for the implementation of magnet high schools at Grades 9-12, academy middle schools at Grades 7-8, and vanguard elementary schools at Grades 4-6. The schools were expected to promote voluntary desegregation by offering unique educational opportunities through specialty curricula that could not be found in traditionally configured neighborhood schools. After almost three decades of monitoring, the Dallas Independent School District was officially released from the Desegregation Court Order on June 5, 2003. Presently, the Dallas ISD operates nine magnet high schools, nine academy middle schools, and seven vanguard elementary schools. Talented and Gifted (TAG)Dr. Dot Weir, Evaluation Specialist In November 1996, The Texas State Plan for the Education of Gifted/Talented Students was adopted by the State Board of Education to create a model for designing quality program services that meet the needs of advanced and gifted learners. In the Dallas Independent School District, these program services consist of two components which serve academically talented students: (1) the Talented and Gifted Program (TAG), Grades K-8, and Advanced Academic Courses (Grades 7-12). The K-6 TAG component serves identified gifted students who are nominated, screened, and selected by an Admission, Review and Exit (ARE) committee for an interdisciplinary pull-out program that meets for a minimum of 90-120 minutes each week. In Grades 7-8, the TAG Interdisciplinary Seminar is typically offered to identify students as an elective course. Secondary students may take Advanced Placement coursework by enrolling in Pre-Advanced Placement (Pre-AP) courses at the middle school or high school level or Advanced Placement (AP) courses at the high school level. In addition, four magnet schools (Polk Vanguard, Spence Academy, Travis Vanguard and Academy, and the TAG Magnet High School) serve identified gifted students from across the district. Two-Way Immersion Program, Walnut HillDr. Leo Ledezma, Evaluation Specialist The Two-Way Immersion (TWI) program is an alternative instructional approach that integrates native English speaking students and students speaking another language and provides instruction to both groups in both languages. The objective is to provide all students the opportunity to maintain and develop their first language while simultaneously acquiring proficiency in a second language. It helps both groups achieve academic performance at or above grade level and obtain positive cross-cultural attitudes and behaviors. |
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