Skip to content

A Year in the Life of Educators Who Support English Learners

A look at time & energy spent managing the LPAC process



We surveyed Texas educators and administrators working with English learners (ELs) to understand seasonal stressors, challenges and time use. Here's what we found out.

Which time of year is the administrative side of working with ELs most overwhelming?

*Note: percentages may add up to more than 100% since respondents were able to select multiple answers for these questions.

In spring, staff working with ELs are in the thick of it. Survey respondents said that spring is by far the most overwhelming time of the year, followed by fall, then summer and winter.


 
 

  Spring  

Q: What are your top three concerns when it comes to managing LPAC paperwork in the spring?

For the best viewing experience please use a computer to view the following charts:

Four springtime challenges stood out to survey respondents as the major stressors at year-end:

  1. Storing and reviewing STAAR, TELPAS and oral language proficiency test data
  2. Managing end-of-year meetings
  3. Collecting and reviewing subjective teacher assessment data
  4. Monitoring the progress of exited students

Q: How much time do you typically spend on LPAC paperwork a day in the spring?

Insight: With many EL educators spending over three hours a day on EL paperwork in the spring – a significant chunk of which is managing end-of-year meetings – consider preemptively making sure you have all the data you need for a successful end-of-year meeting, including STAAR, TELPAS, oral language proficiency test data and subjective teacher assessment data.

 

  Fall  

Q: What are your top three concerns when it comes to managing LPAC paperwork in the fall?

Kicking off the next school year carries with it a whole new set of challenges for EL educators. These are the top three:

  1. Ensuring appropriate identification and placement of ELs by campus LPACs
  2. Preparing for the initial LPAC placement meeting
  3. Transferring EL paperwork between districts or schools

Q: How much time do you typically spend on LPAC paperwork a day in the fall?

Insight: EL educators are starting the new school year already bogged down by a lot of paperwork and meetings. Over 38% reported spending 3+ hours a day on paperwork and over 34% said they spent 1-2 hours a day on paperwork. To reduce time spent on the paperwork shuffle during this busy season, consider leaning more heavily on technology that can help you transfer data between other districts and schools.

 

  Winter  

Q: What are your top three concerns when it comes to managing LPAC paperwork in the winter?

Winter brings with it the chance to really dig into your EL data to see how each student is doing... this also means more paperwork in the form of mid-year meetings. These were the top wintertime stressors for EL educators:

  1. Managing monitoring meeting paperwork
  2. Measuring EL/bilingual program efficacy thus far for each learner
  3. Managing program-change meeting paperwork

Q: How much time do you typically spend on LPAC paperwork in the winter?

Insight: Survey data for winter show that more educators are spending closer to 1-3 hours a day on EL paperwork instead of 3+ hours which was the majority for spring and fall. However, time is still tight ― over 38% still said they spend 3 hours or more per day on EL paperwork in winter.

Dashboard Insights

Here’s How Technology Can Help

Serving English learners is a complex process and it begins with supporting the adults who guide students. However, staying on top of all the meetings and data is a major stressor for already overtaxed educators. Therefore, you need help with the administrative heavy lifting so you can focus on improving student support in the classroom.

Frontline EL/LPAC was designed to save your team time and energy in collecting, transferring and reporting on EL data.

You can use it to

  • Keep track of your ELs and the progress they make
  • Spend fewer resources on translation with integrated tools
  • Improve collaboration with colleagues and communication with parents
  • Supercharge your existing workflow and reporting capabilities

See how our EL/LPAC management software can help your team.

Please fill out the form and we’ll be in touch shortly with more information!