Study Calls For Better Identification Of ELLs For Federal Funding

Sarah D. Sparks wrote in a blog for Education Week (1/10), "Federal support of programs for English-language learners depends on a formula based on the number of ELL students in each state and district, but a long-awaited national study suggests officials need a more comprehensive way to identify the students who need help. The final report, developed by Washington-based National Research Council for the US Department of Education, calls for federal policymakers to change the funding formula for ELL grants to incorporate state-level counts of students with limited English proficiency in addition to the Census Bureau data now used to identify them."