Current through September 24, 2024
(1) LEAs shall:
(a) Provide adequate ESL staff to implement
the chosen service model effectively, as documented by the progress in English
language proficiency and academic content of their EL students.
(b) Adequately staff their ESL programs to
meet state and federal requirements. This includes, but is not limited to,
having sufficient staff to ensure meaningful communication to parents or
guardians of EL students with limited English proficiency, to identify EL
students, and to monitor transitional EL students.
(2) To meet the two (2) criteria of effective
and compliant ESL programs, LEAs shall implement ESL programs based on the
following staffing ratio standards:
(a) ESL
class sizes shall not exceed state-mandated grade-level class size
requirements; and
(b) The LEA-wide
ESL program staffing ratio shall be based on an average of no more than
thirty-five (35) identified EL students per full-time equivalent ESL teacher
unless an alternate staffing ratio is approved by the Department of
Education.
(3) An
alternative staffing ratio may only be approved when the LEA can show adequate
academic growth and proficiency with the EL student population and can prove
that EL students are receiving the required hours of service. LEAs seeking
approval for a waiver for an alternate LEA-wide staffing ratio shall provide
the following information upon application and, if approved, annually to the
Department of Education:
(a) The number of EL
students served;
(b) The
proficiency levels of EL students;
(c) The academic growth of EL
students;
(d) Evidence that no
school in the LEA is an Additional Targeted Support and Intervention (ATSI)
school based on the EL student accountability subgroup;
(e) The most recent analysis for the EL
student subgroup for achievement assessments in reading/language arts,
mathematics, and science;
(f) The
proposed staffing ratio that will be used in place of the recommended
thirty-five (35) to one (1) ratio; and
(g) The justification for the alternate
staffing ratio.
Authority: T.C.A. §§
49-1-104 and
49-1-302; 42 U.S.C. §
2000d; and 20 U.S.C. §
1703.
