Title III and Parent Involvement with English Learners

Title III and parent involvement with English learners are important components in helping the nation’s ELLs to succeed. As amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), the NCELA organization, which works to support the mission of the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA), U.S. Department of Education, states that the purpose of Title III is to help ensure that English language learners obtain English language proficiency and meet state academic standards. To attain these objectives, federal funding is provided through a number of grant programs to assist local education agencies (LEA) and state education agencies (SEAs).

LEAs using Title III funding must also implement an effective means of outreach to parents and families of ELL children. In addition, they must educate parents in how to be active participants in helping their children learn English, achieve high levels in core academic subjects while meeting the same rigorous state academic content standards that all children are expected to attain. Under Title III, funding must also be used to strengthen and increase family, parent and community engagement in programs serving ELLs.

Through professional development and quality programs, Title III continues to promote ongoing and active parental, family, and community participation. While accountability for the progress of ELLs has been folded into Title I, Title III still remains the dedicated formula funding to states to improve the education of English language and meet challenging state academic requirements, states The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

To help meet the criteria set forth by Title III and parent involvement with English learners, an excellent way to engage Latino parents of ELL children is by connecting them to the Latino culture through books. Through a half-day professional development workshop or through an online webinar, The Latino Family Literacy Project trains teachers on how to guide parents in establishing a successful at-home, reading routine using books written in both Spanish and English, many award-winning, from its niche book publishing arm, Lectura Books.

Because ELL children are learning English and the parents are often Spanish-speaking, bilingual books are especially effective, keeping both the parents and the children engaged. Through its age-specific literacy programs and interesting, high-quality books, both components not only improve the vocabulary, reading and overall English language skills for kids and their parents but also help improve Spanish too. For more information, please contact The Latino Family Literacy Project or Lectura Books.