Understanding the fundamentals of Title III and ELLs is vital for bilingual educators. The purpose of Title III in the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) law is straightforward and remains true to its original intent: help ensure that English language learners (ELLs) attain English language proficiency and meet their states’ academic requirements.

The funding to support this goes from the federal Department of Education to state education agencies (SEAs) and local education agencies (LEAs). These state and local agencies, in turn, provide the funds to schools to accomplish these goals.

Title III and ELLs: The Basics

In order to ensure that the funding goes to the intended students, the federal government has a clear definition of an ELL:

• Someone aged between 3 and 21
• Is enrolled or getting ready to enroll in elementary or secondary school
• Meets one of the following criteria
  • Was not born in the U.S., or whose native language is other than English
  • Native American or Alaska Native
  • Is migratory, whose native language is other than English and comes from a home environment where a language other than English is dominant
• Has difficulties speaking, reading, writing or understanding the English language, and that difficulty may be enough to deny the individual the following:
  • The ability to meet state academic standards
  • The ability to thrive in a classroom where the instruction is in English
  • The opportunity to participate fully in society

Funds for Title III are administered by the Office of English Language Acquisition in the Department of Education.