What is ESL?
ESL stands for English as a Second Language. At the Woodlands High
School we have students whose first language is not English. However, not all students of English as a Second Language qualify to be in an ESL program.
The Woodlands’ High School ESL Program 10, 11, & 12
We have a growing number of ESL/LEP students in their sophomore, junior and senior years. The group is formed from a combination of exchange students and students that have recently come to the United States. They live with host families, or with their own family and/or relatives. They come for different reasons to live in the United States. Since 1997 we have had students from the following countries: Germany, France, Poland,
Holland/Netherlands, Japan, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, Dominican Republic,
Italy, Guatemala, El Salvador, Sweden, Switzerland, Nicaragua, Colombia,
Haiti, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Iran, Israel, Russia, Chec Republic, Taiwan,
China, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Venezuela, Russia, Slovakia, Norway, El
Salvador, Singapore, and Macao.
Most of these students have had some English grammar classes in their home countries. Their levels of English proficiency are varied. There is a small number among this group of students who are non-English speaking.
They have had no English classes in their home country.
At the Woodlands High School, ESL class instruction is conducted using an eclectic curriculum designed to assist these students in developing their
English language skills in a short period of time. The idea is to prepare the
ESL students to succeed in their mainstream classes, adjust to the cultural change, learn about other cultures represented in the ESL class, learn how to work with technology and develop all the language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) to be successful when they are ready to take
TAKS.

English as a Second Language Learning Theories
B.I.C.S. ( Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills ) and C.A.L.P.
( Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency ) are two acronyms that refer to a distinction in language learning introduced by Cummins (1979). The distinction was intended to draw attention to the very different time periods typically required by immigrant children to acquire conversational fluency in their second language as compared to grade-appropriate academic proficiency in that language.
BICS are those language activities acquired easily through daily living.
They would include such context embedded activities as face-to-face conversations, following oral directions, making oral presentations, and responding to simple commands. They might also include context reduced activities such as making telephone conversations, following written directions, writing short notes, etc.
CALP, on the other hand, would be language proficiency learned in an academic setting (skills learned in a school). They would include such context embedded activities as demonstrations, experiments, A-V assisted lessons, math computations, and science experiments. Context reduced examples of CALP could also be found in activities like standardized tests, reading / writing, math concepts, lecture with few illustrations, social science texts, mainstream English texts and most content classes.
In summary, BICS are cognitively undemanding activities and CALP are cognitively demanding activities. Conversational fluency is often acquired to a functional level within about two years of initial exposure to the second language.
CALP, in a second language, is developed mostly through the modes of reading and writing.
However, it takes at least five years to catch up to native speakers in academic aspects of the second language (Collier, 1987; Klesmer, 1994;
Cummins, 1981a).

Understanding the development of language skills in
ESL/LEP(English as a Second Language/Limited English
Proficient Students)
Some times students at the lower levels of English language development appear to be quite fluent. They respond, in English, to questions like, "How are you", and "What are you doing?" They answer pretty well and will appear to understand everything being discussed. That is because they have BICS. They have basic interpersonal communication skills in English. They also have them in their primary language. However, if a concept like "Independence" or
"Democracy" is introduced during a Social Studies lesson, they may have no idea of what is being discussed. That is because they do not have CALP in English.
These concepts are academically demanding and the language is not there for the student. The teacher will be trying to teach a grade level concept in English when the student doesn't have the proficiency (CALP) to comprehend it. It is very important to understand that fluency is not literacy. Don't be fooled. One needs to ask oneself if the ESL/LEP student in front of you is exhibiting BICS or CALP and then work on designing an instructional program that is best able to meet the student's needs.

Criteria for Identification and Placement of ESL Students
1. Home Language Survey
2. Oral Proficiency Assessment (IPT-II)
3. Academic Proficiency in English (Stanford) (Administered to students that score LES or FES in the IPT-II)
4. Academic Proficiency in Spanish (Aprenda)(Only administered to
Spanish speakers)
3. LPAC Initial Recommendation (Language Proficiency Assessment
Committee)
4. Notification of Placement to Parent (Acceptance, Denial {a waiver is
necessary}
Criteria for Exit from the ESL Program
1. Pass IPT-II test in English (Oral) – Fluent Score
2. Pass Achievement Test(s) in English (Stanford)
3. Pass TAKS the LAT or TAKS {ELA – English Language Arts and
Math}
4. Sign a Waiver (When the parent denies
placement and/or continuation in the ESL program)
Note : Monitoring of ESL students is required by TEA (Teacher Education
Agency) when ESL students exit the ESL classes: (1) by waiver or (2) after passing ELA and Math parts of TAKS/LAT. All Students that qualify for ESL or that waive ESL are considered at risk, therefore they have LEP status until they pass the ELA and Math parts of
TAKS/LAT. After they pass the ELA and Math parts of TAKS/LAT, they are removed from at risk status, but they must be monitored for two years.