Federal

Ed. Dept. Still Seeking Input on English-Learner Programs

By Lesli A. Maxwell — October 31, 2013 1 min read
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The U.S. Department of Education is extending the deadline for the public to weigh in on how it can improve its services for English-language learners.

Respondents now have until Nov. 12 to submit ideas and comments on how the federal agency can do a better job for the ELL community in public schools. The department is specifically asking for feedback on its Title III technical assistance to state and local education agencies and the information and services offered by the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition, or NCELA.

The original deadline was Sept. 25, but the Education Department announced in today’s Federal Register that it was still in search of feedback.

While the notice in the Federal Register says nothing about why the deadline was extended, I suspect the department didn’t get as much feedback as it wanted. The department may have also wanted Libia Gil, the new assistant deputy secretary and director of the Office of English Language Acquisition, to have a chance to start her job and be closely involved in the review of feedback.

We can’t blame the government shutdown either, as that two-week halt in most federal functions happened after the original deadline.

Comments have to be sent in via the federal eRulemaking portal or through the U.S. mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery.

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A version of this news article first appeared in the Learning the Language blog.