Instruction and Assessment · 3 min read
Program Models, Standards, and the TEKS for LOTE
Topic 1.1
Program Models for Spanish Instruction
Competency 001 expects candidates to recognize the main program models used to teach Spanish in grades EC–12 and to match each model to its goals, time allocation, and expected outcomes. Scenario questions often describe a program in a brochure or a district plan and ask which model it represents or which activity suits it.
| Model | Time in Spanish | Main goal | Expected outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| FLEX (Foreign Language Experience / Exploratory) | Short, limited exposure; often a few weeks or a rotation | Awareness of language and culture; motivation for later study | Limited proficiency; not designed to be sequential |
| FLES (Foreign Language in the Elementary School) | Regularly scheduled, sequential classes several times a week | Listening and speaking skills plus cultural knowledge | Steady, measurable proficiency growth across grades |
| Partial immersion | About half of the school day; some content subjects taught in Spanish | Functional proficiency and grade-level content learning | Higher proficiency than FLES; content mastery maintained |
| Total immersion | All or nearly all instruction in Spanish in the early grades | Functional proficiency through content instruction | Highest proficiency of one-way models |
| Two-way (dual language) immersion | Content taught in both languages to native speakers of each | Bilingualism, biliteracy, and cross-cultural competence for both groups | Both groups become bilingual and biliterate |
| Spanish for heritage speakers | Courses designed for students with a home background in Spanish | Literacy, register expansion, and language maintenance | Stronger academic Spanish and written accuracy |
Exam Tip
If a program offers only brief, non-sequential exposure aimed at interest and awareness, it is FLEX. If Spanish is the medium for teaching content such as mathematics or science, it is an immersion model.Topic 1.2
Standards, Modes of Communication, and the TEKS for LOTE
Competency 003 asks candidates to plan instruction and assessment that implement the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for Languages Other Than English (19 TAC Chapter 114). The TEKS for LOTE organize student expectations around the three modes of communication and describe proficiency-based expectations aligned with the ACTFL proficiency scale.
Interpersonal
Two-way, spontaneous exchange in which meaning is negotiated: conversations, text chats, role-plays, information-gap tasks.
Interpretive
One-way understanding of an authentic text without the chance to ask the author or speaker: reading an article, listening to a podcast, viewing a video.
Presentational
One-way, planned production for an audience: a speech, a written report, a video presentation, a poster with oral explanation.
| Goal area | What students do | Classroom example |
|---|---|---|
| Communication | Communicate in the three modes | Students interview a classmate about weekend plans |
| Cultures | Relate cultural practices and products to perspectives | Students explain why the sobremesa reflects values about family time |
| Connections | Use Spanish to learn content from other disciplines | Students read a Spanish infographic about the water cycle |
| Comparisons | Compare languages and cultures with their own | Students compare the use of tú and usted with English forms of politeness |
| Communities | Use Spanish beyond the classroom and for lifelong learning | Students volunteer at a bilingual library story time |
Backward design for a Spanish unit
Identify desired results (TEKS student expectations and can-do statements)
▶
Determine acceptable evidence (performance tasks such as an integrated performance assessment)
▶
Plan learning experiences and instruction that prepare students for that evidence
Exam Tip
When a question asks what a teacher should do first in planning, the answer is usually to identify the TEKS-based outcome or the performance students must demonstrate, not to choose activities or materials.Finished reading?
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