Katy ISD Secondary ESL seeks to provide a quality program that differentiates and scaffolds instruction according to each secondary Emergent Bilingual's level of language proficiency across all content areas while supporting their affective, linguistic and cognitive needs.

Goal 1: Affective - Emergent Bilingual students in an ESL program are provided instruction using content-based language instructional methods in English to introduce students to the school environment and to develop academic language skills, which instills confidence, self-assurance, and a positive identity with their cultural heritages. The program is designed to incorporate the students' primary languages and learning experiences with the cultural aspects of the students' background.

Goal 2: Linguistic – Emergent bilingual students in an ESL program are provided targeted and intentional academic language instruction to develop proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in the English language. The instruction in academic content areas is structured to ensure that the students master the required essential knowledge and skills and higher order thinking skills in all subjects, providing individualized linguistically accommodated content instruction commensurate with the students' language proficiency levels. The ELPS student expectations are provided for English development in conjunction with the TEKS.

 Goal 3: Cognitive – Emergent bilingual students in an ESL program are provided instruction in English in reading and language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies using content-based language instructional methods. The instruction in academic content areas is structured to ensure that the students master the required essential knowledge and skills and higher-order thinking skills.

Emergent Bilinguals are entitled to receive all English Language Arts/Reading instruction with an ESL-certified language arts teacher.  In addition, linguistic accommodations in all content classes provide the support needed to comprehend the grade-level content material while acquiring the English language.  A student's course placement is based on his/her English proficiency level as seen below: