The New York State Education Department’s Office of Bilingual Education and Foreign Studies has published their “Blueprint for English Language Learners (ELLs) Success.” This document contains 8 key principles that were “developed as a statewide framework aimed to clarify expectations for administrators, policymakers, and practitioners to prepare ELLs for success”. These principles include some excellent foundational ideas to be implemented, including “All teachers are teachers of English Language Learners, and need to plan accordingly”; “All school boards and district/school leaders are responsible for ensuring that the academic, linguistic, social, and emotional needs of ELLs are addressed”; and “Districts and schools recognize that bilingualism and biliteracy are assets, and provide opportunities for all students to earn a Seal of Biliteracy upon obtaining a high school diploma.”

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The Title I Monitor from March 2014 (Vol. 19, No.3), a publication of LRP, carried an article related to recent Title III monitoring findings. The LRP article looked at the five most recent Title III Monitoring reports posted on the USED’s site. Many of the issues cited in this article are the same issues that I saw over the two and a half years I contracted with the US Department of Education (USED) to help monitor state’s Title III programs (visiting five states). In particular, the supplement not supplant issues related teacher salaries and translation/interpretation, were some of the most common findings by Title III at USED.

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The opt-in deadline for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) option for determining eligibility for the National School Lunch Program deadline has been extended. The original deadline of June 30^th has been extended to August 31^st.

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