NH Title III & ESOL Office Updates: ELLs and the Law

1. NH Title III & ESOL Office Updates: ELLs and the Law Aaron Hughes, Director of Title III & ESOL Office April 16, 2016

2. Contents • NH Demographics • Overview of Key Legislation • 2015 “A Monumental Year” • Title III and NH ESOL Programs • Overview of NH’s Strategy for ESSA

3. Demographic Shifts Racial/Ethnic minority groups produced • 50% of NH’s gain from 2000-2010 Minorities represent 8% of NH’s population (4.9% in 2000) New Hampshire is becoming more multicultural! ELL teachers have the linguistic and cultural competence to support our changing communities.

4. NH’s Population by Race & Ethnicity Children, under 18 Adults, 18 and over 6.3% Minority 12.2% Minority

5. NH’s Growing Racial / Ethnic Diversity Percent minority by census tract Percent minority under 18 by census tract

6. Area Studies • How Racially / Ethnically Diverse Are We? • Berlin = ?% • Concord = ?% • Hanover = ?% • Manchester = ?% • Nashua = ?%

7. Adults (18 and over) • How Racially / Ethnically Diverse Are We? • Berlin = 5% • Concord = 10% • Hanover = 26% • Manchester = 18% • Nashua = 21%

8. Children (under 18) • What About the Schools? • Berlin = 8% • Concord = 18% • Hanover = 21% • Manchester = 36% • Nashua = 36%

9. Data Collection Civil Rights Data Collection • http://ocrdata.ed.gov/StateNationalEstimations/Estimations_2011_12 • NH 5,354 ELLs US 4,745,918 Arabic اللغة العربية Bosnian Bosanski Chinese 中国 French Français Indonesian Bahasa Indonesia Nepali नेपालीमा टाईप गर्नुस Portuguese Língua Portuguesa Russian Pусский язык Somali af Soomaali / اَف صَومالي˜ Spanish Español Swahili Kiswahili / كِسوَهِل VietnameseTiếng Việt / 㗂越 78% 95+ languages in NH schools

10. The Right to an Education “There is no equity of treatment merely by providing students with the same facilities, textbooks, teachers and curriculum; students who do not understand English are effectively foreclosed from any meaningful education.” • US Supreme Court • Lau vs. Nichols (1974)

11. Civil Rights Movement • Civil Rights Act (1964) • Outlawing discrimination, and all forms of segregation and inequitable treatment (Title VI holds that if an agency violates this provision on the act it will lose its federal funding) • Bilingual Education Act (1968) • To help language-minority students overcome linguistic barriers

12. LAU vs. Nichols Ruling • May 25 Memorandum (1970) • School systems are expected to help students overcome language barriers (otherwise violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) • Equal Education Opportunities Act (1974) • Failure to help students overcome language barriers amounts to discrimination and is therefore prohibited (official confirmation of May 25 Memorandum and Lau v. Nichols ruling)

13. US Department of Education • Department of Education Organization Act (Oct 17, 1979) ED’s mission: • Strengthen the federal commitment to assuring access to equal education opportunity for every individual; • Supplement and complement the efforts of states, the local school systems and other instrumentalities of the states, the private sector, public and private nonprofit educational research institutions, community-based organizations, parents, and students to improve the quality of education… “There is a continuing need to ensure access for all Americans to educational opportunities…”

14. Supreme Court Rulings Confirm • Casteñada v. Pickard (1981) • Equal opportunities to participate in public education • An “appropriate” bilingual education program must satisfy three specific criteria: • Based on sound education theory • Supplied with sufficient resources (time, personnel…) • Discontinued if after “enough time” linguistic barriers are not being overcome • Plyler v. Doe (1982) • States are obligated to provide free public education to all children in their jurisdiction regardless of a student’s country of origin or immigration status

15. ED Reconfirm Commitment • The Provision of an Equal Education Opportunity to Limited-English Proficient Students (Revised August 2000) • Summarized previous rulings and laws • Reconfirming education as a Civil Right

16. Title III Reauthorization • 2001No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was intended to close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, and choice, so that no child is left behind. • 2015 The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed by President Obama on December 10, 2015, and represents good news for our nation’s schools. This bipartisan measure reauthorizes the 50-year-old Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the nation’s national education law and longstanding commitment to equal opportunity for all students.

17. Office of English Language Acquisition OELA • Under Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, as amended the Office is responsible for: • Administering discretionary grant programs that (1) help English learners develop proficiency in English and meet high standards for academic achievement and (2) help teachers and other educational personnel meet high professional qualifications to better serve English learners; • Supporting research and evaluation studies to inform policy and technical assistance; and • Disseminating information about language instruction educational programs to meet the needs of English learners. http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oela/index.html

18. OELA POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS • Teacher training and licensure—States should facilitate and/or require all teachers to be trained to some extent in ESL [English as a Second Language] strategies and language acquisition. Further, policies should be in place that require any teacher who serves at least one EL to be trained in the appropriate ESL or bilingual education strategies necessary in order to meet the language development as well as academic needs of the students. National Association of State Directors of Special Education as part of a publication dedicated to policies related to ELs with disabilities.

19. 2015 A monumental year for Teaching English Language Learners • The Dear Colleague Letter of January 7th. • The completion of the EL Toolkit in September. • The reauthorization of ESEA [ESSA] in December!

20. Dear Colleague EL Toolkit • Dear Colleague—co-authored by the Office Civil Rights and the Department of Justice • Office of English Language Acquisition [USED] • Identifying English Learner Students, Providing Language Assistance, Staffing and Supporting EL Programs, Providing Meaningful Access to Core Curriculum, Creating an Inclusive Environment, Avoiding Unnecessary Segregation, Addressing Learners with Disabilities, Serving Learners who Opt-Out, Monitoring and Exiting, Evaluating the Effectiveness of Programs, Ensuring Meaningful Communication with Parents

21. ED Laws & Regulations • Education Laws • Are passed by the legislature at the state or federal levels. • Education Regulations • Are created by Departments of Education • Are complementary to the law • Are the rules to implement, interpret, or make specific the law to be enforced or administered at the state or federal level.

22. FY 2015 Title VI Resolutions Harmony Public Schools (TX): In January 2015, OCR: • Resolved an investigation regarding equal access to charter schools for English learners and students with disabilities • Investigation revealed that the enrollment rates for English learners and students with disabilities in charter schools were significantly lower than those in other local districts. • OCR identified concerns that the district’s admissions and enrollment policies may exclude students with disciplinary records and require students to provide enrollment documentation that may chill or discourage the participation of students based on their or their parents’ or guardian’s citizenship or immigration status The district agreed to: • Develop a communication plan for EL students and LEP parents regarding the admission and enrollment process, including through interpreters • Provide training to administrators on admissions and enrollment policies and procedures, communications with LEP parents, and language assistance services for EL students • Ensure appropriate placement procedures for students with disabilities

23. NH Title III OPT-IN • School districts in NH 120+ • Title III Districts 25 • Consortia: 6 • Single entities: 8 • Receiving 27-month grants $12,746.16 $376,466.94

24. Grant Funded Activities 1) To increase the English proficiency of LEP [EL] children by providing high-quality language instruction educational programs that are based on scientifically based research demonstrating the effectiveness of the programs in increasing English proficiency and student academic achievement in the core academic subjects; 2) To provide high-quality professional development to classroom teachers (including teachers in classroom settings that are not the settings of language instruction educational programs), principals, administrators, and other school or community-based organizational personnel, that is

25. NH DOE Title III

26. Grant Funded Activities • Must supplement the level of federal, state, and local public funds, not supplant them. If the LEA would be required to pay for this service or item in the absence of Title III funding, then local funds rather than Title III funds should be used. LEAs may not use more than 2% of funds for direct or indirect costs.

27. Resources • Brown University. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from The Education Alliance: https://www.brown.edu/academics/education-alliance/ • National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from Demographics and Stats: http://www.ncela.us/ • New Hampshire Department of Education. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from Bureau of Integrated Programs: Title III: http://education.nh.gov/instruction/integrated/title_iii.htm • New Hampshire Department of Education. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from Bureau of Integrated Programs: ESOL: http://education.nh.gov/instruction/integrated/esol/index.htm • United States Department of Education. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from Office of English Language Acquisition: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oela/index.html • United States Department of Education. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from Office of Civil Rights Data Collection: http://ocrdata.ed.gov/ • United States Department of Education. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from Laws and Guidance: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/landing.jhtml?src=image • United States Department of Justice. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from Justice News: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-departments-justice-and-education-release-joint-guidance-ensure-english-learner • University of New Hampshire. Retrieved April 15, 2016, from Carsey Institute of Public Policy: http://carsey.unh.edu/