Bilingual Education

Multilingual Education at Austin ISD

The Multilingual Education Team puts into action the Austin ISD belief that the linguistic and cultural richness of our students is a resource that should be recognized and developed.

Vision / Visión

Austin ISD schools will be inclusive communities that celebrate all languages and cultures, where exemplary multilingual instructional programs provide high-quality teaching and learning so that all students excel and graduate prepared for active engagement in a global, multicultural society.

Las escuelas de Austin ISD serán comunidades incluyentes que celebran todos los idiomas y culturas donde los programas ejemplares de educación multilingüe ofrecen enseñanza y aprendizaje de alta calidad para que todos los estudiantes destaquen y se gradúen preparados para ser parte activa de una sociedad global y multicultural.

Mission / Misión

The mission of the Multilingual Education Team is to promote academic excellence by addressing the linguistic, cognitive and affective needs of multilingual learners.

La misión de la Educación Multilingüe del Austin ISD es promover la excelencia académica mediante la atención dada a las necesidades lingüísticas, cognitivas y afectivas de los aprendices multilingües.

What We Do

The Multilingual Education team administers district bilingual and English as a Second Language programs to support the linguistic, cognitive and emotional needs of English learners in compliance with Chapter 89 of the Texas Education Code, including one-way and two-way dual language programslate-exit and transitional bilingual programs and ESL.

We work with our schools and families to develop and expand two-way dual language opportunities for native English speakers at the elementary, middle and high school levels, and we support World Languages programs.

The Multilingual Education Team also collaborates with other district teams and community partners to assist families who have recently arrived in the United States. Supports include the International Welcome Center, the Refugee Family Support Office and campus-based staff.

About Our Students

Of the district's nearly 81,000 students, more than 21,000 are English learners. Nearly 15,000 are in our elementary schools, 3,600 are at our middle schools and almost 3,500 are in high school. More than 90 languages are spoken in schools throughout the district. 

For more information, please contact the Austin ISD Multilingual Education team at 512-414-4734.

Reports & Compliance

For reports and statistics on student performance, survey results and staff work related to multilingual education programs, please visit the reports publications page on austinisd.org.

Advisory Committee

Austin ISD’s Multilingual Education Advisory Committee—commonly referred to as MEAC—works to inform and advise the board of trustees on matters related to English-language learners. For more information on membership, meetings and more, please visit MEAC online.