The LPAC year, one pattern from start to finish
New and returning students are handled the way districts actually run the year. Each cycle reuses the same layout, so educators learn one pattern for the whole year.
Identify
Home Language Survey and identification assessment for students never tested or transferring in.
Continue
Returning students' plans and placements picked up where last year left off.
Review
Progress review, linguistic accommodations, and assessment decisions.
Decide
Reclassification and exit decisions recorded on the same familiar screens.
Follow through
Post-exit monitoring reviews so every reclassified student stays on track.
Texas Edition · how programs shifted
Ten years of program models, in motion
ESL pull-out more than doubled, to 437,946 students. Two-way dual language grew 49 percent. Transitional bilingual programs fell by two-thirds, and alternative language programs rose to nearly 284,000 students because there are not enough certified teachers. Every band is a program model, drawn in year by year.
Source: TEA, Enrollment in Texas Public Schools 2025–26, Table 16. Alternative language programs were first reported in 2019–20.
Texas Edition · the LPAC triptych
Beginning, middle, and end: every official LPAC step
Three panels, one year. A lenticular wave sweeps left to right and flips each panel to its next official step, following TEA's LPAC guidance for the beginning, middle, and end of the year. DRC Navigate carries every one of these steps for every student by name.
- EnrollmentHome Language Survey
- Within 4 weeksAssess, convene LPAC, place
- First 30 daysProgress notices to families
- Before testingSTAAR and TELPAS decisions
- SpringEOY review and reclassification
- SummerFollow through on pending results
- FallParental approval of exit and monitoring
Grounded in TEA guidance and DRC resources
- TEA LPAC Guidance: Beginning of the Year Procedures (July 2025)
- TEA LPAC Guidance: Middle of the Year Procedures (October 2024)
- TEA LPAC Guidance: End of the Year Procedures (February 2025)
- TEA changes to EB identification and reclassification practices (July 16, 2026)
- Texas LPAC Resources and the LPAC initial-information worksheet
- DRC Relative Language Proficiency matrices and MTSS strands
- DRC strategies associated to Relative Language Proficiency
- DRC instructional strategies basics and EL and dual language program models
- LAS Links and preLAS parent letters in 19+ languages
- DRC Product Guidance Team decks: Phase 1 Compliance and LPAC webpage graphics
Texas Edition · a decade of growth
One in four Texas students. Where the next five years go.
Texas emergent bilingual enrollment grew by roughly a third in a decade, reaching about one in four students before its first real decline in 2025–26. The bars build from data points, the share line draws in, and three forecast scenarios fan out through a lenticular forecast zone.
See the data and the forecast method
| School year | All students | EB students | EB share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015–16 | 5,299,728 | 980,487 | 18.5% |
| 2016–17 | 5,359,127 | 1,010,756 | 18.9% |
| 2017–18 | 5,399,682 | 1,015,453 | 18.8% |
| 2018–19 | 5,431,910 | 1,055,243 | 19.4% |
| 2019–20 | 5,493,940 | 1,113,587 | 20.3% |
| 2020–21 | 5,371,586 | 1,108,858 | 20.6% |
| 2021–22 | 5,427,370 | 1,175,393 | 21.7% |
| 2022–23 | 5,518,432 | 1,270,562 | 23.0% |
| 2023–24 | 5,531,236 | 1,345,961 | 24.3% |
| 2024–25 | 5,544,255 | 1,345,042 | 24.3% |
| 2025–26 | 5,467,642 | 1,290,293 | 23.6% |
Forecasts are illustrative scenarios prepared for this page, not TEA projections. Base: the 2025–26 EB share (23.6%) holds while total enrollment declines 0.8% a year. Growth: total enrollment holds and the EB share rises 0.35 points a year. Decline: total enrollment falls 1.2% a year and the EB share falls 0.4 points a year.
Sources: TEA, Enrollment in Texas Public Schools 2025–26 (June 2026), Tables 14 and 16; TEA Emergent Bilingual Support Division, Charter Application Webinar 2025–26 (PEIMS 2017–18 through 2024–25, dually identified, school systems); Texas 2036, Texas Public School Enrollment Trends, May 2026 (2025–26 EB enrollment, Hispanic overlap).
Texas Edition · who Texas EB students are
1,290,293 students. 1,000 dots.
Each dot stands for about 1,290 emergent bilingual students. The dots burst in, sort themselves, and regroup three ways: by race and ethnicity, by economic disadvantage, and by the language program they receive.
Source: TEA, Enrollment in Texas Public Schools 2025–26, Tables 14, 16, 18, and 19. Percentages are rounded to the nearest dot.
Texas Edition · connected by LAS Links
The assessments behind every Texas EB decision
Every one of those 1.29 million students starts with an identification assessment. In Texas that means preLAS for the youngest learners and LAS Links from grade 1 on. DRC Navigate turns every score into a plan, a notice, a lesson, and a next step.
LAS Links
Measures listening, speaking, reading, and writing, with proficiency levels and item-level maps of subskills and objectives. In Texas, LAS Links identifies EB students from grade 1 through grade 12, and LAS Links Español measures home-language proficiency for Spanish-speaking students in elementary bilingual programs.
preLAS
Measures oral language proficiency and early literacy for the youngest learners, with subskill performance to guide instruction. In Texas, preLAS identifies EB students in prekindergarten and kindergarten, and DRC Navigate connects results to the 2022 Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines.
Educators decide. DRC Navigate guides.
The LPAC decidesCandidate evidence is labeled as evidence, never as an eligibility determination.
Educators approveNothing reaches a family without an educator's sign-off.
Honest trackingA missing record means "confirm applicability," not a violation.
Drafts stay draftsReviewing a draft never signs, approves, finalizes, or delivers a document.
Texas Edition · trends in motion
Ten years of Texas data, racing and bursting
Lines race across eleven school years and burst at every new high; then three stats at a time slide in from both directions and settle into crisp, glossy panels.
Sources: TEA, Enrollment in Texas Public Schools, 2015–16 through 2025–26. Growth lines are indexed to 2015–16.
Texas Edition · connected by LAS Links
The learning DNA of every child
preLAS and LAS Links are the state-approved English language proficiency assessments Texas relies on to identify emergent bilingual students, from prekindergarten through grade 12. Every result maps a child's listening, speaking, reading, and writing, domain by domain and skill by skill. DRC Navigate takes that learning DNA and connects it to every educator, family, culture, and language around the child.
Texas identifies with it
Every Texas public school uses a state-approved English proficiency test to identify emergent bilingual students: preLAS in PK and K, LAS Links in grades 1 through 12.
Built on psychometric rigor
Standardized, research-based assessments developed and refined over decades by DRC's assessment and psychometric teams.
DRC Navigate puts it to work
The same results flow into LPAC decisions, language plans, daily instruction, and family communication, so nothing is typed twice.
Texas already trusts DRC to identify and assess its emergent bilingual students. Now let DRC Navigate help you connect with and support every student, educator, and family in more ways than ever.
Texas Edition
Built for the way Texas runs its emergent bilingual programs
DRC Navigate Texas Edition is anchored to the English Language Proficiency Standards, fluent in TELPAS, and ready for every LPAC meeting. It carries LAS Links evidence into daily work and follows 19 TAC Chapter 89 and TEA's bilingual and ESL program requirements, including TEA's July 16, 2026 changes to identification and reclassification practices.
Texas Edition · one ecosystem
One workspace for the whole EB program
Twelve connected activities share one student record. Watch the ecosystem come alive: each area introduces itself, then one student flows across all twelve with Doppler bursts at every touch point, connection lines light the network, then all twelve tiles combine as a single projected image of DRC Navigate Texas Edition — flow, continuity, and compliance in one living picture.
Each tile is one activity in DRC Navigate Texas Edition. Twelve areas, one student record, zero restarts.
Texas Edition · the official EB path
Every student's path, from survey to English proficient
TEA's emergent bilingual identification and reclassification flowchart, brought to life. Each moving dot is a student taking a different route, and DRC Navigate tracks every one of them by name, step by step.
Read the flowchart as text
Every student entering a Texas public school for the first time receives the Home Language Survey. If the survey shows English only, the student is not emergent bilingual. If it shows English and another language, or only languages other than English, the student takes a state-approved English proficiency test: listening and speaking in PK through grade 1, and all four domains in grades 2 through 12.
The LPAC meets to decide. A student who is not EB goes to a general education classroom. An EB student's parents are notified and asked to approve placement in a bilingual program (dual language one-way or two-way, transitional bilingual late or early exit) or an ESL program (content-based or pull-out). If a parent declines, a parent denial conference is held; if the parent still declines, the student remains EB with parent denial and does not receive program services.
Either way, the LPAC monitors academic and language progress, recommends linguistic supports, ensures TELPAS participation, and makes state assessment decisions. When the student meets reclassification criteria and the LPAC recommends it, the student is reclassified as English proficient and two years of monitoring begin. The parent then approves exit from the program or requests continuation. Only students in two-way dual language immersion generate funding after reclassification.
Source: Texas Education Agency, Emergent Bilingual Support Division, Emergent Bilingual Identification/Reclassification Flowchart, February 2026.
Texas Edition · one student's journey
From Tegucigalpa to Houston, through every LPAC step
Follow one family's flight from Honduras to Houston, then watch the process unfold step by step: enrollment, the Home Language Survey, LAS Links, the four-week clock, the LPAC meeting, a notice in Spanish, placement, growth year by year, and reclassification.
Every step at Houston ISD, three ways
Once Sofía lands, fourteen steps follow, each with the Texas requirement behind it, marked with a star. Watch them on a Texas school calendar with the four-week clock, on a walk through her campus, or inside a DRC Navigate screen as each checkpoint is completed.
An illustrative story; Sofía is fictional and the DRC Navigate screen shows demonstration data. Texas requirements are simplified from 19 TAC Chapter 89, Subchapter BB, and TEA LPAC guidance, and should be confirmed against current TEA guidance.
Another way to see it: the game board
Fifteen squares from arrival to reclassification. Sofía hops from square to square, and every landing lights up what DRC Navigate handles at that step.
Texas Edition · every LPAC flow
Where 1.29 million students go, and every path the LPAC runs
First, where Texas EB students are actually served: every ribbon is a real 2025–26 count, and the moving points are students flowing from identification into their program.
Source: TEA, Enrollment in Texas Public Schools 2025–26, Table 16. No services includes students whose parents denied program services.
The LPAC transit map
Three transit maps: the official LPAC processes, the DRC Navigate workflows, and the Texas state process. On the first, seven LPAC processes run as transit lines. Trains keep moving on every line; lines meet where processes share a station, like the LPAC meeting, program placement, and parent approval. Pick a line to follow it.
- Intake and identification
- Compliance engine
- Instruction
- Family communication
- Sophia, your DRC companion
- One student record
A simplified view of how DRC Navigate Texas Edition connects its workflows; every line runs through one student record.
- Policy and guidance
- State data
- Assessment
- Families
- Program evaluation
- The LPAC connects every layer
A simplified view of the Texas state process for emergent bilingual students, based on 19 TAC Chapter 89, Subchapter BB, and TEA LPAC guidance. Steps and dates should be verified against current TEA guidance.
The LPAC year clock
One school year around a dial. As the hand sweeps from August to July, each LPAC window lights up and explains what happens.
Sources: TEA LPAC Guidance for the Beginning (July 2025), Middle (October 2024), and End (February 2025) of the Year, compiled in DRC's Language Hub; TEA, Enrollment in Texas Public Schools 2025–26. Month placement for spring windows is approximate.
Compliance you can see and trust
A Compliance Command Center brings federal and TEA obligations into one queue: triage by urgency, open the exact workspace, resolve, and return. Every obligation is cited to its source.
Castañeda v. Pickard
Program design, resources and staffing, and results evidence surfaced for district review.
EEOA §1703(f)
Obligations to address language barriers tracked alongside the students they affect.
ESSA Title III
English learner program obligations kept in the same action queue.
19 TAC Chapter 89 and LPAC procedures
Eight procedural checkpoints per student, from Home Language Survey review to EB and special education coordination.
A Form Generator built on a TEA-sourced catalog
45 catalog entries in five groups, filled in for one student or a whole caseload and delivered as ZIP and PDF files at the class, school, or district level. Every entry cites its source and its trigger.
Every family hears from you in their language
Family messages and documents are drafted in the home language and reviewed by the educator before anything is sent. Multilingual forms are flagged for translation review rather than assumed final.
Texas Edition · across all 20 ESC regions
From El Paso to Brownsville, the record moves with the student
Texas families move, and EB students move with them. Follow Mateo from El Paso to San Antonio to Brownsville: at each new school his record arrives through TREx, his prior identification is honored, and his services continue without starting over. The second view shows why this matters statewide: enrollment is shifting between regions, orange where it grew over ten years and blue where it fell, so the students an EB program serves keep changing.
Mateo is a fictional student and the moves are illustrative; transfer steps are simplified from TEA LPAC guidance for students transferring from a Texas school. Heat map source: TEA, Enrollment in Texas Public Schools, 2015–16 through 2025–26, by ESC region; regions are placed at their headquarters city.
Texas Edition · prototype screens
Inside DRC Navigate
Screens from the working Texas Edition prototype, built with DRC's Product Guidance Team. A lenticular sweep flips between them; select any screen below to see it full size. All student data shown is fictitious demonstration data.
The new DRC Navigate mark in the app sidebar: a live compass whose needle swings and settles on north, an orbiting dot, a rotating dashed ring, and a light sheen that sweeps across the wordmark. Shown here and on every screen below.
LPAC district dashboard
A morning brief for the district EB director: the four LPAC cycles with open counts, the day's critical items, and the next 30-day notice date.
New Student BOY cohort meters
Not started, in progress, and complete, with every student listed by name, grade, campus, home language, and days left on the state clock.
Where do you want to start?
Plain-language cycle cards show what is finished and what is waiting on you, with Sophia, your expert DRC companion, ready to answer.
Role-based professional dashboards
Each educator sees a dashboard for their role and level, from district EB director to campus principal, with credentials and TEA LPAC training on record.
Todo el cumplimiento, en español
One tap switches the interface between English and Spanish, including forms, notices, and the legal and legislative analysis.
What matters most right now
Six findings that connect risk to children with funding strategy: past-due students, reclassification risk, TELPAS speaking, dual-language access, PEIMS coding accuracy, and held SHARS claims.
Texas Edition · the wall
Six rows. Thirteen marks. One brand in motion.
Every expression of the DRC Navigate mark — high gloss, orange flame, gold shimmer, bright green, gradient sweep, and pixel matrix — rolling in six endless streams. One brand. One platform. 1.29 million students.
Texas Edition · the team behind every EB student
Ten roles. One connected workflow.
Every LPAC decision involves more than one person. Watch the ten roles that touch an EB student's record move through the workflow — evidence enters once, each role sees only what it needs, and the record closes complete.
Roles and responsibilities are illustrative of typical Texas district LPAC structures. Actual role assignments vary by district size and organization.
Round 14, retold · one child, one flight
The butterfly is a child. The ripple is every LPAC step.
Sofía and her family fly from Tegucigalpa to Houston. When she lands, the process begins: the Home Language Survey, LAS Links, the LPAC decision, a notice in Spanish, placement, TELPAS and STAAR supports, and reclassification. Three ways to watch the same story; they rotate on their own, or pick one.
Sofía is a fictional student. Houston ISD campus dots are representational and enrollment is approximate; the statewide count is from TEA, Enrollment in Texas Public Schools 2025–26. LPAC steps are simplified.
Texas Edition · your companion
A companion through every Texas requirement
Texas EB and LPAC compliance is a sea of deadlines, forms, and codes. DRC Navigate spots each one early, tells the educator what to do next, and keeps Sofía moving. First, the voyage; then ten moments that show exactly what DRC Navigate does for her at each step.
An illustrative story; Sofía is fictional. Texas requirements are simplified and should be confirmed against current TEA guidance.
Texas Edition · a Houston ISD educator
A day with Maria, told with the real prototype
Maria Alvarez leads multilingual programs for Houston ISD in the working prototype. Follow her from the 7:30 morning brief through the four LPAC cycles, a new student's clock, a question for Sophia, and the findings that matter most, on the actual DRC Navigate screens.
Prototype screens with fictitious demonstration data; Maria Alvarez is the prototype's demonstration educator.
Texas Edition · forecasting and predictive analytics
Forecast every student like a hurricane or a launch
Weather forecasters run thousands of simulations and draw a cone of uncertainty. Mission controllers poll every system before launch. DRC Navigate brings the same ideas to Texas EB programs: ensemble forecasts of each student's path to English proficiency, radar for the deadlines moving across the state, and a go or no-go board for every LPAC step.
Illustrative simulations with fictional data. The forecast model, threshold, and what-if effect are placeholders to show the approach and would need to be calibrated and validated on LAS Links and TELPAS data before use. DRC Navigate is not affiliated with NASA or NOAA.
Ready to see it with your district's data?
DRC Navigate Texas Edition is built for your district.
One workspace. Every LPAC step. Every student by name. Every Texas requirement — from the Home Language Survey to the reclassification decision — tracked, documented, and ready for the next educator who needs it.
- ✦ Eight official LPAC steps per student, automated and cited to TEA guidance
- ✦ 45 form catalog entries, TEA-sourced, filled for one student or a whole caseload
- ✦ Sophia, your AI compliance companion, answers any LPAC question in plain language
- ✦ Family notices in Spanish, Vietnamese, Arabic, and 10+ more home languages
- ✦ Student record travels through TREx — no restart at the next campus
- ✦ LAS Links and preLAS scores connected to every plan, notice, and next step
Get started · Texas Edition
Request a demo or start a conversation
Tell us about your district and we'll show you DRC Navigate Texas Edition with your data. No commitment — just a look at what's possible for your students.
For your district
Your information stays within DRC and Agentic Learning. No spam, no third parties.
What you'll see
Eight official steps per student — from Home Language Survey to reclassification — automated and cited to TEA guidance.
Ask any LPAC question in plain language. Sophia knows your students and your deadlines.
TEA-sourced catalog filled for one student or a whole campus. Every entry cites its source and trigger.
Every score becomes a plan, a notice, a lesson, and a next step — automatically.
Already a DRC partner? Contact your DRC representative directly to schedule a Texas Edition preview with your district's own data.