edCount founder and President Dr. Ellen Forte and Policy Associate Molly Faulkner‐Bond have coauthored a new reference manual about serving English learners (ELs) in public schools. The book, entitled The Administrator’s Guide to Federal Programs for English Learners was released by Thompson Publishing on May 5 and marks the first truly comprehensive resource available to education practitioners about how states, districts, schools and individuals can serve the nation’s growing population of ELs.
Recent increases in monitoring and enforcement activities from ED’s Office of Civil Rights have made the book’s release , as well as its emphasis on the civil rights basis for serving all ELs, timely as a tool to support practitioners’ efforts to understand and fulfill their responsibilities in these areas.
The Administrator’s Guide, written for a broad audience ranging from classroom teachers to state program directors, addresses the full range of policies that affect ELs, including requirements and opportunities stemming from Title I, Title II, Title III, Title VII, and the Civil Rights Act. Chapters on topics ranging from EL identification to equitable services for private school students provide practitioners with straightforward explanations of their responsibilities, as well as practical advice about how to meet these in a variety of different organizational, geographical, and financial settings.
In addition, the book includes 50‐pages of ‘Best Practices’ and summative checklists, synthesizing themes and practices from across chapters for quick reference. Extensive appendices offer a compendium of documents and guidance about ELs produced by a number of different programs and offices within the U.S. Department of Education (ED).
edCount associates Dr. Sara Waring, Dr. Diane Staehr Fenner, and Ms. Laura Kuti all served as contributors to the book, lending content expertise and practical guidance based on their experiences as classroom teachers, district administrators, and state administrators.
The Administrator’s Guide to Federal Programs for English Learners is available for order now through Thompson Publishing, and is eligible for purchase using federal dollars. For more information, please visit www.thompson.com/englishlearners, or contact Thompson national sales representative Matt Hartzog at 800‐477‐5922.