Earlier this spring, the Trump administration cut the staff in the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) from fifteen down to one employee. Just last week, the White House announced even more dramatic cuts in a budget proposal that would eliminate the office’s $890 million in funding. This risks abandoning decades of research and evidence, and will cut millions of children and families across America off from access to congressionally mandated services.
While sudden, severe staff reductions have become this administration’s calling card, it is surprising that this office received some of the deepest cuts in the Department of Education (ED). OELA supports one of the administration’s stated goals, as asserted in its March 1 executive order declaring English the official language of the United States: the efficient and effective transition of English learners (ELs) to English proficiency to “create a more cohesive and efficient society.”
Why the Work OELA Does Is So Valuable
The classroom instruction that OELA supports is one of the few federal K–12 education projects with bipartisan support. That’s because OELA supports bilingual learning, which in turn serves all of our interests. Supporting ELs to achieve academically while transitioning to English fluency is good for these students academically, socially, and emotionally, and is also economically fruitful for everyone in the country. Fully bilingual students gain increased cognitive flexibility, greater career opportunities, and higher future earnings than they would if they lost their home languages. Moreover, creating more bilingual graduates creates a stronger workforce, and benefits the entire economy. Lawmakers of all political backgrounds should recognize the value of common-sense educational approaches that prepare all kids to succeed in our multilingual twenty-first-century economy.
Supporting ELs to achieve academically while transitioning to English fluency is good for these students academically, socially, and emotionally, and is also economically fruitful for everyone in the country.
Until these recent moves, OELA oversaw Title III, Part A, a formula grant program to support students’ English acquisition and academic achievement. Title III serves over 5 million students annually, and helps ELs meet their states’ academic standards. OELA also oversees research grants that focus on the pedagogy and science of teaching ELs—and subsequently disseminates learnings from that research, so that instructors across the country have access to high-quality studies that help them evaluate the tools and techniques they are using in their work.
OELA’s core mission and activities don’t center on providing ELs with special things other students don’t get, but rather in transitioning ELs to English fluency so that they can integrate into English-only classrooms, and so that they can meet the same standards as all students. Both of these are stated goals of this administration. And they are worthy goals to have. We would know: our experiences working with OELA have shown us how powerful its work can be.
A Landmark Example: The Texas Education Agency’s Partnership with OELA
Even predominantly conservative states like Texas benefit from OELA’s work. For example, Texas’ strong policy framework for ELs borrows from OELA research and recommendations. The state requires districts with twenty or more ELs to provide bilingual education as an option, in addition to English as a Second Language programs for EL students. In 2019, the Texas legislature further strengthened this support by increasing state funding for schools to help students acquire the English language without neglecting their home language skills.
More recently, in 2021, the Texas legislature approved a bill requiring the development of a strategic plan to improve EL education. The authors of SB 560 charged the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), and the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) to act on several points that would expand and improve education for ELs in Texas. This bill resulted in the development of the Texas Dual-Language Immersion Framework, a first-of-its-kind document. It’s deeply informed by research that was funded by OELA, and enshrines Texas’ position as leading the nation in all forms of EL education.
Specifically, one of OELA’s 2021 National Professional Development grants served as a foundation for elements of Texas’ framework. The Texas Dual-Language Project (TDLP) is a first-in-class collaboration led by Ensemble Learning, for which some of the present authors have done work. It supports the rollout of the Texas Effective Dual-Language Immersion Framework by providing resources to teachers and leaders across the state that align with the framework. It also provides tools to state education leaders, who can then disseminate them for use across Texas.
The value of this OELA-funded work isn’t merely theoretical. While the TDLP isn’t yet complete, early data suggest a positive impact for the EL population in the district. On the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR), schools from one of the key participating districts—a medium-sized district outside of Austin—who received services through this grant saw greater growth in both math and reading across two cohorts of students.
Figure 1
Figure 2
The results depicted in these four figures represent, in all four data points, year-over-year growth that is higher than state expectations. Overall, third graders in the district saw substantial gains in both reading and math through the end of their fourth-grade year. Meanwhile, fourth graders also saw gains in both subjects through the end of their fifth-grade year.
Supporting quality EL instruction is one of the few places in our society where both sides of the aisle are in agreement.
This is just one illustration of OELA’s impacts. Its work incorporating ELs fully into their schools supports their academic achievement and socio-emotional health while simultaneously helping them advance their English fluency without sacrificing their academic growth.
Helping ELs Succeed Means All of Us Win
It’s not a fluke that a grant-funded program under the OELA priorities of the Biden administration has advanced the legislative efforts of deep-red Texas. This is by the office’s design. Supporting quality EL instruction is one of the few places in our society where both sides of the aisle are in agreement: the techniques that support EL students making an efficient and effective transition to English fluency and social integration are the same techniques that support EL students’ socio-emotional development, sense of belonging, access, and achievement. In this case, we all want the same thing. Support for OELA is not a zero-sum game: this is an instance where everyone is a winner.
Tags: donald trump, federal layoffs, English learners, department of education
We Can’t Improve Children’s Language Learning by Slashing Dedicated Federal Resources
Earlier this spring, the Trump administration cut the staff in the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) from fifteen down to one employee. Just last week, the White House announced even more dramatic cuts in a budget proposal that would eliminate the office’s $890 million in funding. This risks abandoning decades of research and evidence, and will cut millions of children and families across America off from access to congressionally mandated services.
While sudden, severe staff reductions have become this administration’s calling card, it is surprising that this office received some of the deepest cuts in the Department of Education (ED). OELA supports one of the administration’s stated goals, as asserted in its March 1 executive order declaring English the official language of the United States: the efficient and effective transition of English learners (ELs) to English proficiency to “create a more cohesive and efficient society.”
Why the Work OELA Does Is So Valuable
The classroom instruction that OELA supports is one of the few federal K–12 education projects with bipartisan support. That’s because OELA supports bilingual learning, which in turn serves all of our interests. Supporting ELs to achieve academically while transitioning to English fluency is good for these students academically, socially, and emotionally, and is also economically fruitful for everyone in the country. Fully bilingual students gain increased cognitive flexibility, greater career opportunities, and higher future earnings than they would if they lost their home languages. Moreover, creating more bilingual graduates creates a stronger workforce, and benefits the entire economy. Lawmakers of all political backgrounds should recognize the value of common-sense educational approaches that prepare all kids to succeed in our multilingual twenty-first-century economy.
Until these recent moves, OELA oversaw Title III, Part A, a formula grant program to support students’ English acquisition and academic achievement. Title III serves over 5 million students annually, and helps ELs meet their states’ academic standards. OELA also oversees research grants that focus on the pedagogy and science of teaching ELs—and subsequently disseminates learnings from that research, so that instructors across the country have access to high-quality studies that help them evaluate the tools and techniques they are using in their work.
OELA’s core mission and activities don’t center on providing ELs with special things other students don’t get, but rather in transitioning ELs to English fluency so that they can integrate into English-only classrooms, and so that they can meet the same standards as all students. Both of these are stated goals of this administration. And they are worthy goals to have. We would know: our experiences working with OELA have shown us how powerful its work can be.
A Landmark Example: The Texas Education Agency’s Partnership with OELA
Even predominantly conservative states like Texas benefit from OELA’s work. For example, Texas’ strong policy framework for ELs borrows from OELA research and recommendations. The state requires districts with twenty or more ELs to provide bilingual education as an option, in addition to English as a Second Language programs for EL students. In 2019, the Texas legislature further strengthened this support by increasing state funding for schools to help students acquire the English language without neglecting their home language skills.
More recently, in 2021, the Texas legislature approved a bill requiring the development of a strategic plan to improve EL education. The authors of SB 560 charged the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), and the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) to act on several points that would expand and improve education for ELs in Texas. This bill resulted in the development of the Texas Dual-Language Immersion Framework, a first-of-its-kind document. It’s deeply informed by research that was funded by OELA, and enshrines Texas’ position as leading the nation in all forms of EL education.
Specifically, one of OELA’s 2021 National Professional Development grants served as a foundation for elements of Texas’ framework. The Texas Dual-Language Project (TDLP) is a first-in-class collaboration led by Ensemble Learning, for which some of the present authors have done work. It supports the rollout of the Texas Effective Dual-Language Immersion Framework by providing resources to teachers and leaders across the state that align with the framework. It also provides tools to state education leaders, who can then disseminate them for use across Texas.
The value of this OELA-funded work isn’t merely theoretical. While the TDLP isn’t yet complete, early data suggest a positive impact for the EL population in the district. On the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR), schools from one of the key participating districts—a medium-sized district outside of Austin—who received services through this grant saw greater growth in both math and reading across two cohorts of students.
Figure 1
Figure 2
The results depicted in these four figures represent, in all four data points, year-over-year growth that is higher than state expectations. Overall, third graders in the district saw substantial gains in both reading and math through the end of their fourth-grade year. Meanwhile, fourth graders also saw gains in both subjects through the end of their fifth-grade year.
This is just one illustration of OELA’s impacts. Its work incorporating ELs fully into their schools supports their academic achievement and socio-emotional health while simultaneously helping them advance their English fluency without sacrificing their academic growth.
Helping ELs Succeed Means All of Us Win
It’s not a fluke that a grant-funded program under the OELA priorities of the Biden administration has advanced the legislative efforts of deep-red Texas. This is by the office’s design. Supporting quality EL instruction is one of the few places in our society where both sides of the aisle are in agreement: the techniques that support EL students making an efficient and effective transition to English fluency and social integration are the same techniques that support EL students’ socio-emotional development, sense of belonging, access, and achievement. In this case, we all want the same thing. Support for OELA is not a zero-sum game: this is an instance where everyone is a winner.
Tags: donald trump, federal layoffs, English learners, department of education