Supporting Emergent Bilingual Students and Their Families with LAS Links Español

In this success story, Janna Jackson, Director of State & Federal Programs at Georgetown ISD in Texas, shares the many ways her district uses LAS Links® Español—from helping students on their path toward Spanish language proficiency, to supporting professional learning opportunities for teachers, and providing resources for parents on student progress and growth.

Why did your district select LAS Links?

We needed a way to assess how all our Dual Language (DL) students were progressing in the four domains and to show their strengths and weaknesses so we could target instruction and professional learning.

How is LAS Links used in your organization?

We use LAS Links Español to help our teachers celebrate individual student strengths and pinpoint needs, as well as to identify trends as a whole across the campus and district. We test the students, then meet with teacher teams to discuss the data and how to improve our teaching practice to support student needs. We also share the fifth-grade results with our middle school Spanish teachers so they can anticipate needs for differentiated instruction.

We appreciate that the program assesses all four domains in Spanish, similar to TELPAS (Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System) for English. The test scoring and reporting services have been helpful in that it provides quick results and objectivity. The individual reports are detailed and user friendly for educators and parents.

What strategic plans do you have in mind as you move forward with LAS Links progress monitoring?

We use Links Español as part of our overall program evaluation for Dual Language. We also use it as we plan professional learning opportunities for those teachers as well as our middle school Spanish teachers who are teaching former DL students.

What LAS Links data/report(s) do you find most useful to your organization?

The score reports are very detailed and easy for teachers and parents to understand. We love being able to share the growth of our students in dual language with the community.

The LAS Links Student Report is available in English and Spanish, and may be used as a home report if desired. A number of resources are available for parents in both languages, including a personalized reading list of suggested books to help improve their child’s reading skills.