Title III and Senate Bill 560:
How Gran Vía's Bil/ESL Program Support Aligns with TEA's Strategic Plan for English Learners

Executive Summary

Gran Vía Educational Consulting's comprehensive certification preparation and professional development services demonstrate exceptional alignment with Title III and the Senate Bill 560's Texas Education Agency's Strategic Plan for English Learners. Through specialized supports for BTLPT 190, BIL 164, ESL 154, and TOEFL exam preparation, Gran Vía directly addresses the strategic priorities of developing highly qualified bilingual educators, implementing effective instructional practices, and ultimately improving educational outcomes for emergent bilingual students across Texas. Accountability and Program Enhancement - Showcasing 25+ years of experience providing evidence-based approaches that help position English learners for success.

Key Alignment Areas

1. Building a Strong Bilingual Teacher Pipeline

TEA's Strategic Plan emphasizes the critical need for qualified bilingual and ESL teachers to serve Texas's growing multilingual student population. Gran Vía directly supports this priority through:

• Targeted Certification Preparation: Personalized coaching for BTLPT 190 and BIL 164 exams helps address the severe shortage of certified bilingual educators in Texas schools.

• International Teacher Support: TOEFL preparation services enable international educators to join the Texas teaching workforce, bringing valuable linguistic assets and cultural knowledge to multilingual classrooms.

• Comprehensive ESL Certification: ESL 154 exam preparation equips more educators with strategies to effectively serve emergent bilingual students across content areas.

2. Implementing Research-Based Instructional Approaches

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TEA's plan prioritizes evidence-based instructional practices for multilingual learners. Gran Vía's professional development aligns through:

• Sheltered Instruction Training: Candidates for ESL 154 certification receive training in the latest sheltered instruction strategies that TEA endorses for making content comprehensible.

• Contemporary Biliteracy Approaches: Gran Vía emphasizes cutting-edge biliteracy education strategies that align with TEA's goal of developing students' literacy skills in both languages.

• Crosslinguistic Methodologies: Training in strategic approaches like bridging and translanguaging reflects TEA's emphasis on leveraging students' complete linguistic repertoires.

3. Supporting Secondary Newcomer Success

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TEA's strategic priorities include ensuring older multilingual students can access grade-level content while developing English proficiency. Gran Vía supports this through:

• Specialized Secondary EL Training: The "Newcomer Strategies for Secondary English Learners" course equips educators with tools to help students gain content understanding through comprehensibility.

• Academic Achievement Focus: Gran Vía prepares educators to position secondary newcomers for success on critical exams, aligned with TEA's goal of ensuring multilingual learners meet the same high academic standards.

4. Culturally Responsive Education

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TEA's plan recognizes the importance of culturally responsive teaching practices. Gran Vía's alignment includes:

• Promoting additive bilingualism rather than subtractive approaches, viewing students' home languages as strengths rather than deficits and using terms like "emergent bilinguals" instead of deficit-focused terminology.

• Incorporating the work of educational theorists like Gloria Ladson-Billings, emphasizing that culturally responsive teaching leads to academic achievement, improved attendance, greater interest in school, and positive racial-ethnic identity.

• Teaching educators to utilize authentic heritage language activities with social interaction, value students' funds of knowledge, and implement bridging and translanguaging practice

• Addressing all three goals of effective dual language education: bilingualism/biliteracy, academic achievement, and sociocultural competence.

• Asset-Based Approaches: Training that values the diverse cultural and linguistic resources families bring aligns with TEA's emphasis on strength-based approaches to multilingual education

5. BIL and ESL Certification and Comprehensive Professional Development

Gran Via provides certification preparation for BTLPT 190, BIL 164, ESL 154, and TOEFL that ensures educators can effectively serve students

TEA emphasizes ongoing professional learning for educators. Gran Vía aligns through:

• Bilingual and ESL certification training in the target language of the test.

• Instructional foundations and pedagogical techniques of multilingual classrooms is embedded into our content exam preparation. 

• TEA-Approved CPE Provider Status: As a TEA-approved Continuing Professional Education provider, Gran Vía ensures high standards and allows participants to earn CPE credits that meet TEA requirements.

• Flexible Delivery Options: Training available virtually, face-to-face, or in hybrid formats ensures educators throughout Texas can access professional development, regardless of location.

• Accountability and Program Enhancement - Showcasing your 25+ years of experience providing evidence-based approaches that help position English learners for success

6. Community and Family Empowerment

• Family and Community Engagement - Focusing on your "Title III Family and Community Empowerment" program that uses an asset-driven approach, community asset collaboration, and multilingual pláticas to support families.

Conclusion

Gran Vía Educational Consulting's certification support and professional development offerings demonstrate strong alignment with TEA's Strategic Plan for English Learners. By preparing qualified bilingual and ESL educators, promoting research-based instructional approaches, and emphasizing cultural responsiveness, Gran Vía directly contributes to TEA's goals of improving educational outcomes for emergent bilingual students across Texas.

With over 25 years of education experience and a focus on practical field expertise, Gran Vía represents an invaluable partner for Education Service Centers seeking to support districts in meeting TEA's strategic priorities for multilingual education.