Contents
Executive Summary
As part of the Texas Dual Language Project, a project funded by a United States Department of Education National Professional Development Grant, Ensemble Learning partnered with Manor ISD, a medium-sized district outside of Austin, TX. This partnership expanded in subsequent years resulting in a rich set of data to examine the correlation between Ensemble Learning support and teacher and student performance.
We found that participants overwhelmingly approved of the services Ensemble Learning was providing and thought that Ensemble Learning was meeting its objectives during professional development sessions. Additionally, we found that two cohorts of emergent bilingual students attending schools supported by Ensemble Learning showed more growth year over year than their peers in school not supported by Ensemble Learning. Emergent bilingual students in schools supported by Ensemble Learning also showed a smaller decrease in attendance and a smaller increase in chronic absenteeism than their peers in schools not supported by Ensemble Learning.
Taken together, these data points suggest a positive impact of the support provided by Ensemble Learning on the emergent bilingual population in the district.
About Manor ISD
Manor ISD is a medium-sized school district outside of Austin, TX serving over 9,000 students across 16 campuses. Committed to providing diverse and innovative learning opportunities, the district offers nine dual language campuses, early college programs, and specialized instructional models designed to support student success. The district has been rapidly growing over the recent years spurred in part by the tech boom in Austin as well as many Austinites moving out of the city to find a more affordable cost of living.
Manor ISD serves a diverse student population, with a population that is 65.6% Hispanic, 20.2% African American, and 44.7% classified as Emergent Bilinguals (EBs). Additionally, 79.1% of students are economically disadvantaged, highlighting the need for strong instruction that serves all students.
Both in support of their large EB population and in response to the legal framework in Texas that supports dual language instruction for EBs, Manor ISD has begun the process of transitioning all of their elementary schools to dual language (DL) instruction.
State of Texas Legislative support for DL
Texas is leading the nation in support for DL and bilingual instruction. Texas has long been a key place for innovation in DL instruction supported by a strong legal framework supporting DL education and EB students. This is guided by key legislation such as Chapter 29 of the Texas Education Code and Texas Administrative Code Chapter 89, Subchapter BB. These policies mandate that all districts with 20 or more EBs must provide bilingual education as an option in addition to English as a Second Language (ESL) programs for EB students. House Bill 3 (2019) further strengthened support by increasing weighted funding for bilingual and DL programs, incentivizing districts to expand high-quality DL instruction.
In 2023, the Texas legislature approved Senate Bill (SB) 560 requiring the development of a strategic plan to improve and expand bilingual education. The authors of SB 560 charge the Texas Education Agency (TEA), The Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) and the Texas Workforce commission (TWC) to act on several points that would expand and improve bilingual education for emergent bilingual (EB) students in Texas. This bill resulted in the development of the Texas Dual Language Framework that set the stage for the partnership between Ensemble Learning and Manor ISD.
Ensemble Learning Partnership
The partnership between Ensemble Learning and Manor ISD began during the 22-23 school year when Manor signed 5 of their schools up to be a part of the Texas Dual Language Project (TDLP), a federal grant-funded project to improve the quality of Dual Language instruction across the state. The TDLP was designed specifically to support the efforts of TEA to support EB students. Ensemble Learning partnered with TEA to create the Texas Effective Dual Language Standards and federal funds were awarded to expand that work to support quality instruction in alignment with these standards.
The TDLP has the following goals:
- Goal 1: Improve reading outcomes for English learners (ELs)/EBs in a DL setting.
- Goal 2: Increase the reading instructional expertise of teachers in DL schools.
- Goal 3: Increase school administrators’ capacity to support reading instruction in DL schools.
- Goal 4: Increase the capacity of TEA to support English learners in high quality DL schools.
Under the TDLP, participating schools receive two days of professional learning for their dual language staff during the summer, 15 hours of instructional coaching for up to 5 teachers, facilitated classroom observations four times a year for school and district leaders, and access to a dual language school leader professional learning community.
During the 23-24 school year, Manor ISD added an additional two schools to the Texas Dual Language Project and opted to pay for continuing support for two of the original partner schools. This support has continued into the 24-25 school year with additional schools receiving instructional and leadership coaching.
School Demographics
Ensemble Learning has collaborated with several Manor ISD campuses to strengthen bilingual instruction and improve outcomes for EBs. For the purpose of this case study, Ensemble Learning analyzed data for nine schools in Manor ISD. Six schools partnered with Ensemble Learning and three schools served as the comparison. Ensemble Learning supported a 10th school (School 10), but that school is excluded from this analysis as it does not go beyond Grade 2 and STAAR testing begins in Grade 3. Below, we have summarized the demographic ( 23-24 Texas Academic Progress Reports) and programmatic data (supplied by the district) for the nine schools included in this analysis.
Methodology
Ensemble Learning employed a holistic, mixed-methods approach to this case study of Manor ISD. We examined and analyzed a variety of data points, including survey results from teachers and leaders, district-provided student assessment data, student attendance rates, and anecdotal stories about the work.
All data were reviewed and verified by a third party to ensure accuracy of reporting.
Survey Data
Surveys (copies of the survey instruments can be found in Appendix A) to assess the quality of Ensemble Learning’s professional development were conducted in the summer or early fall of each school year. Surveys to assess the quality of our instructional coaching were conducted in the spring of each year. Surveys assessed participant’s belief that the objectives were met and asked for open-ended responses to assess what went well and what needs improvement.
All participants who attended the professional development sessions completed the post-event survey. All teachers who received instructional coaching were asked to complete the instructional coaching survey, but only about half provided responses. All survey responses were analyzed by Ensemble Learning’s Vice President of Research and Operations and their accuracy was verified by an independent third party.
Quantitative Data
Student state assessment data were provided by the district without identifying factors. The data were cleaned by the district, but all coding and analyses were conducted by Ensemble Learning’s Vice President of Research and Operations.
Analyses consisted of averaging student scale scores by group (Ensemble Learning partner or comparison group), then subtracting the difference in 2023-2024 average scale score and 2022-2023 average scale score. All available data points were included in the calculations. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the data provided Ensemble Learning was unable to pair student scores year over year, so analyses providing statistical significance were not available.
The data analyses and coding were recreated and checked by an independent third-party to verify accuracy. They were provided the same raw data provided by the district to independently verify the results.
Attendance data were gathered from the 23-24 Texas Academic Progress Reports.
Anecdotal Data
Anecdotal data were gathered from Ensemble Learning’s instructional coach for Manor ISD.
Anecdotes were edited for space and grammar, but their meaning was not altered in any way.
Survey Results
Professional Development: Objectives Met
For the Professional Development, 96% of participants indicated that the Ensemble Learning team had met their objectives and 4% indicated the objectives were at least partially met. No participants responded that the objectives were not met.
Our objectives for the training were:
- Understand who we serve in bilingual programs
- Determine routines and schedules to strengthen the language of instruction
- Plan strategic use of language that will set the foundation for strong literacy instruction
- Engage in an interactive read aloud
- Discuss the importance of multilingual perspectives within writing instruction
- Review the strategic use of cross-linguistic connections
- Review dual language program and framework to foster parent and community engagement
Professional Development: Use of Biliteracy Strategies
We also asked participating teachers what two strategies they would implement from the professional development session. The four most popular responses were:
Picture Walk – Oracy & Background Knowledge
A Picture Walk is a pre-reading strategy where students explore a series of images from the text they are about to read. Each image is accompanied by differentiated sentence stems that guide student pairs or groups in discussing the visuals. These sentence stems can include prompts like “I see…,” “I think…,” or “This reminds me of…” Students work together to discuss the images, and the teacher circulates to facilitate the discussion, ensuring that students use the language of instruction (either English or Spanish). To finish, the teacher will ask students to make predictions about the story based on the images and their discussion with peers. The teacher holds students accountable for using vocabulary and sentence structures from the sentence stems, ensuring that all students are supported in understanding key concepts.
A Picture Walk is designed to: (a) activate prior knowledge and build connections between visuals and language; (b) provide a scaffolded opportunity for students to understand key concepts before reading the text; (c) encourage language use in both the home language and the target language (English/Spanish); (d) foster student collaboration and peer discussions to strengthen vocabulary, sentence structures, and content understanding; and (e) prepare students to engage with the text and support those who are still working to decode language.
Concept Attainment – Oracy and Background Knowledge
Concept attainment is a constructivist strategy wherein students construct an understanding of a new concept through a series of hints or examples of the concept. This is in contrast to the more teacher-centered and abstract approach, where the teacher tells the students the concept they will be studying, and then describes the concept to the students.
Concept attainment is designed to (a) provide students with an experience where they describe and identify a concept through an interactive, teacher-led process that is deductive, and (b) elicit student language about a concept they know, and to use that language to describe a new concept.
Below is an example of Concept Attainment:
- Step 1: The teacher puts illustrations in two columns, Column A and Column B. Column A has a square with a black border and the same square with a blue border below it. Column B has a black square that is filled in on the top and then a square with a black border and blue filling on the bottom.
- Step 2: As the teacher shares these illustrations, students use sentence prompts (see example of sentence prompts below) to identify the shape (What is it?) and what happens to it (What happened to it?) from top to bottom in Column A.
- Step 3: The same happens with Column B where the shapes are filled in. Students talk in pairs using these prompts, and the teacher records their descriptors of what has happened to the shapes.
- Step 4: Once enough descriptions have been shared, the teacher explains that Column A is called Perimeter, and Column B is called Area.
- Step 5: Because the students described and identified each concept, they understand its meaning without the teacher having to explain or lecture.
- (optional) Step 6: TPR can be added after the concept has been attained (all students “show” perimeter by drawing a square in the air, and area by coloring it in.)
Adapted Reader’s Theater –Oracy and Background Knowledge
As the name implies, adapted Readers’ Theater, or ART, is an adaptation of readers’ theater. In this adaptation, the teacher summarizes or paraphrases a text while the students act it out. The concepts and vocabulary are previewed through the teacher’s narration and the interaction and movement of the students.
Adapted Reader’s Theater is designed to (a) make a text or big idea comprehensible by acting it out; (b) introduce new academic language within a risk-free and highly comprehensible context; and (c) allow students to act out the story with the teacher silently or join the narration using the key academic vocabulary.
Below is an example of Adapted Reader’s Theater:
- Step 1: Using justice as a theme, the teacher would paraphrase the text from the social studies book or other resource that the students will be reading.
- Step 2: As the teacher narrates, they use language that will be comprehensible to students, and introduce new vocabulary supported by pictures or realia.
- Step 3: The students can be engaged in acting out gestures associated with the big ideas of the theme.
Language Experience Approach – Reading Comprehension and Writing
Language Experience Approach (LEA) is a pedagogical technique where students experience something meaningful together (go on a field trip, conduct an experiment, read a story). The students tell the teacher about the meaningful experience. Using sentence prompts and elbow buddies, the teacher asks pairs to suggest sentences as part of the telling. The teacher writes down what they say. The transcription is then used as a literacy source. For example, students retell group experiences such as a field trip, a science experiment, a story, or a project in which they all participated.
LEA is designed to (a) help students learn to read using their own words; (b) teach writing conventions (c) focus on reading skills while building on student oral language; and (d) develop comprehension
The LEA is based on personal experiences and is developed by students, resulting in highly meaningful and comprehensible reading materials. LEA applications can be used for many different kinds of activities and are applicable to all proficiency levels.
Instructional Coaching
Instructional coaching is a key component of the partnership with Manor ISD. Below is an overview of the coaching cycle implemented from 2022 through 2025. This cycle begins with a baseline observation of the teacher that is then used to set individual goals. In subsequent meetings, coaches observe teachers, provide suggestions, model, co-plan, and bring in artifacts, culminating in another formal observation to assess progress towards goals and set new goals for subsequent coaching cycles.
Teachers receiving instructional coaching were asked to respond to a survey about their experiences. Only about half of the teachers responded, but the responses were overwhelmingly positive.
Teachers reported that their coach provided constructive and actionable feedback, promoted research-based best practices, and used a data-informed approach to monitor progress towards goals. Additionally, teachers reported that the feedback provided by their coach after conducting classroom observations was particularly helpful to growing their practice.
Quantitative Data
Summary
To examine the relationship between Ensemble Learning’s support to teachers and school leaders and student performance, we analyzed the data of the 9 elementary schools in Manor ISD.
Schools were assigned as either partnering with Ensemble Learning, or not partnering with Ensemble Learning. This assignment was done based on if they received any targeted instructional or leadership coaching. In Manor ISD, all elementary schools were invited to attend the two-day professional development in the summer, but attendance was not taken, so it is possible that some schools in the “comparison” group received all or a portion of the professional development and were cross-contaminated, but were not provided the additional support for implementation.
We examined students’ State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) scale scores in both math and reading. We found that for the two cohorts of students we were able to follow, EBs in schools who received support from Ensemble Learning showed more growth than students in the comparison schools. This pattern held across both Reading and Math.
Additionally, we examined school-wide attendance rates for EBs as well as chronic absenteeism rates for this population. We found that although attendance rates dropped in both groups of schools, the schools receiving support from Ensemble Learning reported a smaller decline in attendance. Similarly, both groups of schools saw a rise in EBs’ rates of chronic absenteeism (missing 10% or more days of the school), but the schools receiving support from Ensemble Learning reported a smaller increase in chronic absenteeism.
Limitations
This case study is neither a randomized controlled trial nor a quasi-experimental design. Because we are unable to control other confounding factors, we cannot definitively state that the data we present here are a direct result of Ensemble Learning’s support. We can only present the data accurately for examination. These data represent a correlational relationship, not necessarily a causal relationship. Further studies will be required to tease out causality.
STAAR Results – Cohort 1 (third graders in 2023)
For Cohort 1, we found that EBs in schools supported by Ensemble Learning showed an average of 29 more points of growth on the reading assessment and 33 more points on the math assessment.
To maintain a passing rate on the STAAR reading assessment from third to fourth grade, students would be required to grow 85 points. Using this metric, EBs in schools supported by Ensemble Learning showed 20% more than a year’s worth of growth, on average.
To maintain a passing rate on the STAAR math assessment from third to fourth grade, students would be required to grow 86 points. Using this metric, EBs in schools supported by Ensemble Learning showed slightly more than a year’s worth of growth, on average.
STAAR Results – Cohort 2 (fourth graders in 2023)
For Cohort 2, we found a similar pattern: EBs in schools supported by Ensemble Learning showed an average of 13 more points of growth on the reading assessment and 34 more points on the math assessment.
To maintain a passing rate on the STAAR reading assessment from fourth to fifth grade, students would be required to grow 40 points. Using this metric, EBs in schools supported by Ensemble Learning showed 75% more than a year’s worth of growth, on average.
To maintain a passing rate on the STAAR math assessment from fourth to fifth grade, students would be required to grow 77 points. Using this metric, EBs in schools supported by Ensemble Learning 8% more than a year’s worth of growth, on average.
Attendance
In addition to student academic performance, we were interested in understanding the impact of Ensemble Learning on school culture and students’ sense of belonging. We hypothesized that EBs in schools supported by Ensemble Learning would attend school more frequently.
In both the comparison and partner schools, attendance decreased amongst EBs from 21-22 to 22-23; however, this decrease was less than half the size for schools that partnered with Ensemble Learning (0.8 percentage points versus 0.3 percentage points).
Similar to the attendance rate, the rate of chronic absenteeism in EBs increased for both comparison and partner schools from 21-22 to 22-23; however, partner schools saw a much smaller increase (4.6 percentage points vs. 2 percentage points).
Anecdotal Data
Background:
MP, a pre-K teacher at School 10, has been participating in the TDLP for two years in different capacities (2023-2024 and 2024-2025). Her participation in this program has significantly shaped her development as a bilingual educator. Her energy and insights have shed light on the intricacies and complexities of PK in a dual language setting, a grade often overlooked in districts nationwide due to the challenges of navigating students’ first exposure to a second language and their transition into becoming bilingual students.
Year One: Introduction to Updated District DL Program
MP’s first year as a TDLP participant was challenging. MP struggled with understanding the foundational changes to her district’s dual language program. Manor ISD went from an 80/20 dual language content allocation model (80% of the school day in Spanish and 20% in English) that relied heavily on a Spanish-to-English daily bridge to an 80/20 theme-based program that integrated Spanish language arts with science and social studies. The most significant shift in this program was that the bridge was implemented at the end of a unit, rather than integrated throughout, and was focused on content mastery while avoiding direct translation.
Previously, MP relied heavily on direct translation to support her young learner’s understanding of content. As the year progressed, MP began to understand that she did not have to rely on leveraging language but, rather, on leveraging content to construct understanding for their students. By understanding the district’s recommended “High Leverage” biliteracy strategies”, (specific techniques that maximize the use of both languages in the learning process) MP’s mindset shifted as she saw her students’ confidence and level of participation shift.
MP mentioned that her PK students had richer discussions, better engagement, and a greater understanding of the content during her language arts block. Ultimately, her passion and purpose for providing a safe space for her EBs drove her to overcome these challenges and seek to understand the fundamental logic behind the program’s success.
Year Two: DL Leader and Advocate
In the second year of the TDLP (2024 – 2025), MP emerged as a leader in DL. She piloted Spanish foundational skills resources, advocated for program visibility on her campus, and trained teachers at district and regional bilingual conferences. Her infectious energy and willingness to try new strategies inspired her colleagues, encouraging them to explore these approaches despite their programmatic differences. She did not shy away from DL biliteracy strategies and successfully met all her coaching and instructional goals, despite their increasing rigor.
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Footnotes:
1 “Espinosa 2013 stated that “[r]esearch suggests that the early stages of dual language acquisition can be particularly challenging because young children are simultaneously navigating mastering their first language while also being exposed to a second language. The complexities of this process include understanding how children acquire and develop two languages concurrently, which requires careful consideration of both linguistic and cognitive development.” (Espinosa, 2013)
2 “The bridge is that part of the lesson or unit where the focus is on instructing students in how to transfer what they have learned and stored in one language into the other language. The focus moves from teaching content, to teaching the language of content in both of the students’ languages. It is the part of the lesson or unit that explicitly allows students to meet the goal of bilingualism and biliteracy.” (Beeman & Urow, 2022)
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MP’s participation in the TDLP has been transformative professionally and personally. Her commitment to the DL approach has significantly improved her teaching practice and helped her spark change on her campus. By the second year, MP had become a champion for DL education, successfully meeting her goals and inspiring fellow educators. Her passion for bilingual education and innovative, research-based strategies endorses her continued success as a bilingual educator and advocate for dual language programming.
Background:
CL, a 2nd grade teacher at school 6, initially struggled with implementing biliteracy strategies that supported student to student engagement. However, through regular coaching and support, she demonstrated significant progress in meeting her oracy goals.
Year one: a skeptic
CL began the TDLP programming as a skeptic. She struggled to understand the rationale behind the district’s dual language programming changes and the “why” of the content and language allocations. She expressed concerns with the significant shift toward more Spanish language integration without having a clear transitional bridge time afterward to ensure that her students grasped the content just taught. This dependence on language as a medium for content comprehension seemed to keep her from improving her instruction.
By the end of the first year, CL’ perspective on biliteracy dramatically changed. Through targeted professional development in language planning and high-leverage biliteracy strategies, CL realized that her previous ideology toward content instruction needed to evolve. Instead of thinking of language as an obstacle to authentic understanding, she began to embrace it as an instrument to develop and support student engagement and understanding. CL and her coach worked on creating multiple ways to make the content comprehensible by using Total Physical Response (TPR), images, realia, and structured student-to-student discussions, significantly improving student engagement and transforming students’ feelings toward the language and content they were experiencing.
Year two: a leader
CL’s effort and commitment over 13 months led to her becoming a district content creator for the newly developed Spanish Language Arts biliteracy curriculum. Furthermore, she became a community advocate for dual language education and was named her campus’s Teacher of the Year. CL’s journey exemplifies the power of targeted professional development and the commitment to student-centered teaching practices in a dual language setting.
Through her experience, CLs has contributed significantly to her district’s developing approach to dual language education. She has grown into a leader within her scholastic community, highlighting the critical role of teacher support, reflection, and modification in successfully implementing biliteracy instruction, ultimately benefiting both bilingual educators and students alike.
Conclusion
These data represent only a slice of the work completed by Ensemble Learning as part of the TDLP. At the end of the grant period (Fall 2026), a full evaluation of the TDLP (including participants from Manor ISD) on participants will be completed and published by an external evaluator. This evaluation was designed as a quasi-experiment to meet What Works Clearing House standards.
Taking this data as a whole, it is clear that Ensemble Learning’s services have had a transformative impact on the staff and EBs in Manor ISD. In the future, we will continue to observe the students at Manor ISD and update this report.
Appendix A: Surveys
Ensemble Learning administered two surveys to TDLP participants: one for professional development and one for instructional coaching.
Professional Development Survey:
1. How well did we meet our objectives today? (did not meet, partially met, met well)
- Understand who we serve in bilingual programs
- Determine routines and schedules to strengthen the language of instruction
- Plan strategic use of language that will set the foundation for strong literacy instruction
- Engage in an interactive read aloud
- Discuss the importance of multilingual perspectives within writing instruction
- Review the strategic use of cross linguistic connections
- Review dual language program and framework to foster parent and community engagement
2. What are two things about this professional development that went well today?
3. What are two things about this professional development that could have gone better?
4. What are two strategies discussed today that you plan to implement in your classroom/school this year?
5. What challenges, if any, do you anticipate facing when using what you learned today in your classroom/school?
6. What is something from today’s learnings that you want to learn more about?
7. If there is anything else you’d like Ensemble Learning to know, please put it here:
Instructional Coaching Survey:
1. Who is your instructional coach?
2. What district do you teach at?
3. For the following questions, please rate how much you agree or disagree with the statements (disagree, agree somewhat, agree)
- Your coach has built an authentic and supportive relationship with you
- Your coach has helped you navigate dual language instruction
- Your coach provides constructive feedback aligned to your goals
- Your coach promotes research-based best practices
- Your coach uses a data-informed approach to monitor progress towards goals and/or growth
- Your coach’s work is aligned to the TxEDLIF (Texas Effective Dual Language Immersion Framework)
- Your coach addresses both instruction and culture in your classroom (and if they address only one or the other,
4. My coach addresses the following in our coaching:
-
- Instruction
- Culture
- Both
- Neither
5. Please check all of the coaching activities you have done with your coach (check all that apply):
-
- Observation
- In-person meeting
- Virtual meeting
- Co-planning
- Co-teaching
- Demo/model lesson
- Coach provides resources
6. Which coaching activity has been most impactful to your practice?
-
- Observation
- In-person meeting
- Virtual meeting
- Co-planning
- Co-teaching
- Demo/model lesson
- Coach provides resources
7. Please list two things that are going particularly well with your instructional coaching experience
8. Please list two things that could be improved about your instructional coaching experience.
9. Overall, how satisfied are you with the coaching support you’re receiving from Ensemble Learning?
10. Is there anything else you’d like Ensemble Learning to know about your experience with instructional coaching?
