LEP and non-LEP students TAAS and TAKS reading scores from 1998--2003 in Starr County school districts: A comparative study

The purpose of the study was to compare and describe Non-LEP and LEP students Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) and Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) reading scores from 1998-2003 in the Rio Grande Independent School District, the Roma Independent School District, and the San Isidro Independent School District for grades 3, 5, 7, and 10 to determine if these students were meeting the minimum expectations set forth by the State of Texas.{09}The subjects of the study were 89,812 LEP and 232 Non-LEP. The percentage of LEP students in Starr County was over 50 percent of the total student population. Roma ISD had the highest percentage of LEP students with 61.4 percent in 1998. Rio Grande ISD had an average of 51.1 percent of the total student population that were classified as LEP over the six years of this study. San Isidro ISD had 51.5 percent of the total student population classified as LEP over the six years of this study.; The Rio Grande ISD had the greatest difference between students on the TAAS test with an average of 25.6 percent between the two groups. Roma ISD had a 30 percent difference between LEP and Non-LEP students in the 1998 school year. San Isidro ISD did not have any Non-LEP students taking the test during the allotted years, therefore, the data were inconclusive.; On the TAKS test, Rio Grande ISD had a 43.2 percent difference between the two groups in 2003. Roma ISD did not have any Non-LEP students taking the test during those years so the data was inconclusive. San Isidro ISD had a 24.8 percent difference between the two groups. In essence, LEP students are not meeting minimum expectations set forth by the state on the reading section of their standardized tests while Non-LEP students were meeting the minimum expectations set forth by the State of Texas on the reading portion of the TAAS and TAKS standardized tests.; The school districts in Starr County do not provide adequate funding to the Bilingual Education or Limited English Proficient programs in their school districts. The average funding was 4 percent of the total budget allotted to the Bilingual Education or Limited English Proficient programs that are set up to meet their educational needs.{09}The Rio Grande ISD's Bilingual Education and LEP Program had an average of 2.3 percent of the total budget allotted to the school district budget over the six years.{09}Roma ISD's Bilingual Education, or LEP Program had an average of 4.9 percent of the total school budget over the six years.{09}San Isidro ISD's Bilingual Education and LEP Program had an average of .3 percent of the total school budget over the six years.