SUPPORTING ENGLISH LEARNERS

English Learners (ELs) are the fastest-growing major student population in the United States, and 

America’s long-term prosperity is linked to whether these students graduate from high school with 

the skills and knowledge they need for college and careers. ELs face the dual challenges of learning 

English and learning academic content at the same time. Results from the most recent National 

Assessment of Educational Progress show that those competing challenges lead to performance 

levels far below those of their English-proficient peers in mathematics, reading, and science. 

Moreover, the areas of the country with the greatest increases in the number of ELs are often those 

that have less experience serving these students, and we must ensure that these States, districts, and 

schools are able to meet the needs of ELs.

 The President’s 2013 budget request recognizes the need for a thoughtful approach to the 

education of ELs by incorporating their needs throughout various programs, providing

significant investments in their education, and funding the implementation of key reforms to 

support innovative, effective, and promising programs outlined in the Administration’s 

Blueprint for the Reform of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). 

 $732 million for English Learner Education. The Administration is maintaining its 

commitment to supporting States and districts in operating high-quality language instruction 

educational programs by continuing to provide significant formula funding to all States for 

English Learner Education. This request would also provide grants for the preparation and 

training of teachers of ELs, and would fund evaluation activities and a clearinghouse for the 

dissemination of research-based information and data on effective methods, programs, and 

strategies for ELs. 

 Strengthening English Learner Education through the ESEA reauthorization. The 

President’s ESEA proposal would strengthen this program by ensuring States’ 

implementation of valid and reliable assessments of English language proficiency, consistent 

identification of ELs within States, and a system to evaluate the effectiveness of programs 

for ELs. It would also provide new competitive grants to support innovative, effective, and 

promising practices, including dual-language programs that promote literacy in both English 

and the student’s home language.

 Improving assessments for ELs. Through the Race to the Top Assessment program, the 

Department provided $350 million to two consortia of States to develop high-quality 

assessments aligned with common, college- and career-ready standards in reading or 

language arts and mathematics. The designers of these assessments will ensure, from the 

very beginning, that they are reliable and valid for ELs. 

 Including ELs in key programs. The President’s 2013 budget requests for high-priority 

programs will help improve outcomes for all students, including ELs. These requests include 

the $14.5 billion for the College- and Career-Ready Students program (formerly Title I 
Grants to Local Educational Agencies), which requires States, districts, and schools to focus 

on closing achievement gaps between ELs and other students, and $11.6 billion for the 

IDEA Part B Grants to States program, which requires States to report disaggregated data 

on ELs with disabilities. In addition, the Administration’s 2013 budget includes:

o Race to the Top (RTT) ($850 million), to continue to provide incentives for both 

States and districts to implement bold reforms that will improve outcomes for 

students and close achievement gaps, including gaps between ELs and their peers. 

Twenty states and DC have been awarded grants through Race to the Top, which 

includes the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge. Many winners included 

strategies focused on ELs. For example, New York’s plan included the development 

of specific strategies for ELs in its implementation of college- and career-ready 

standards, and Rhode Island, Maryland, Georgia, and Ohio will use incentives and 

targeted teacher preparation programs to address shortages of teachers of ELs. In 

addition, California, the State with the largest population of ELs, is one of the nine 

winners under the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge.

o Investing in Innovation (i3) program ($150 million), to promote the 

development and expansion of innovative practices with evidence of effectiveness in 

improving outcomes for students. In 2011, the i3 program included a competitive 

preference for applicants that focused on serving ELs, and several winning 

applicants addressed this priority. The Department would continue to give this same 

priority to applicants in 2013.

o Promise Neighborhoods program ($100 million), to support projects that 

significantly improve the educational and developmental outcomes of children and 

youth by providing a cradle-to-career continuum of ambitious, rigorous, and 

comprehensive education reforms, effective community services, and strong systems 

of family and community support – with high-quality schools at the center. Grantees 

will plan and implement these projects for all children and youth in the community, 

including ELs and their families, and many of the current grantees serve 

communities with high percentages of ELs. Of the 21 current grantees, seven are 

working with schools where more than 25 percent of students are ELs, and another 

three are in communities where more than 40 percent of the residents speak a 

language other than English at home.

o Presidential Teaching Fellows program ($190 million), to fund formula grants 

to States to support scholarships for talented teaching candidates to attend top-tier 

teacher preparation programs, receive training in high-need areas such as teaching 

ELs, and teach in a high-need school. This new program would help ensure that 

low-income students, minority students, ELs, and students with disabilities have 

access to effective teaching in academic content areas and in language instruction 

educational programs.