English Learner (EL) Tool Kit

In January 2015, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released the English Learner (EL) Tool Kit. These guidelines are a companion to the 40-page “Dear Colleague Letter,” (DCL) that was released at the same time. The DCL was prepared by the ED’s Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice.

The purpose of both is to remind schools, school districts and states of their obligations, as governed by federal law, ensuring that ELs have the opportunity to meet their full education potential and have equal access to learning as other students in the system, reported ED.

The DCL identifies and addresses ten civil rights issues such as failing to support EL programs, not providing adequate staff and unnecessarily segregating English Learners, said a report by the Council of Great City Schools. Along with the Tool Kit and DCL, ED provides fact sheets in close to a dozen languages to help schools in identifying English Learner students.

The Tool Kit, itself, is comprised of 10 chapters (one pertaining to each section of the Letter) and has an overview, a variety of resources and sample tools, as well, says the Department. These resources and tools are free and accessible on the Internet.

While also making sure it meets college and career-preparation guidelines, the Tool Kit was developed to assist local and state education agencies in meeting their legal obligations to ELs and in providing them with the necessary support to learn the language. The Tool Kit is mostly for school administrators, school districts, states and teachers but can also be for interested stakeholders, too.

In terms of the parent involvement component of Title I and Title III, the Latino Family Literacy Program is the perfect fit. The Project is an amazing outreach program that helps Hispanic families to set-up a thriving, at-home bilingual reading routine for the kids. In helping to improve an EL student’s reading, it’s a win-win for both schools and families. Teachers can attend a one-day, program training at a workshop near them or via an online webinar.