ED Officials Working To Spread Word About ELLs

Education Week (5/18, Zehr) reports, "The leaders of the office of English-language acquisition of the US Department of Education haven't been churning out new federal policies regarding ELLs, but they're working hard to raise awareness about the needs of ELLs within the department and to build links with school districts across the nation." The piece relates portions of interviews with director Rosalinda B. Barrera, and deputy directory Joanne H. Urrutia, noting that "Barrera has focused on building an infrastructure (that means stepping up collaboration between her staff and the staff in other divisions of the department and getting a place at high-level meetings) so that ELLs are included in Education Department initiatives, and conducting 'national conversations' on ELL issues in the five states that educate the most English-language learners: California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas."