Annual share of public-school students classified as English Learners.
Between 2011 and 2024, the classified-EL share rose from 14.9% to 24.3%. Observations through fall 2021 are from NCES; observations for fall 2024 are from the Texas state education agency (Texas Education Agency, Enrollment in Texas Public Schools 2024-25). State-agency methodology may differ from NCES; see the note below.
NCES Digest, Table 204.20
Texas state education agency
Methodology note
Texas Education Agency, PEIMS last-Friday-in-October snapshot. Reflects Emergent Bilingual (EB) classification under Texas Education Code §§29.051-29.064; SB 2066 (2021) replaced the term "English Learner" with "Emergent Bilingual" for the same student population. The figure runs approximately 4 percentage points above NCES's fall 2021 value (20.2%) and is consistent with the upward trajectory NCES recorded across 2018-2021. TEA reports EB classification (LPAC identification), not bilingual/ESL program enrollment.
Each point is the fall-enrollment share of students classified as English Learners in Texas's public schools.
Observations through fall 2021 are drawn from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Digest
of Education Statistics, Table 204.20, the canonical national series; NCES has not yet republished this table for
school years after 2021-22.
For fall 2024, the catalog falls back to figures published directly by the Texas state
education agency. State-agency methodology may differ from NCES — the methodology note above the data
table records the difference, and the dashed line and hollow markers in the chart mark the boundary.