Bilingual Education Act

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Education Improvement

Title II: Additional Education Amendments

Title III: Bilingual Education

Title I: Education Improvement - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to make limited-English-proficient (LEP) children eligible under the ESEA title I program for disadvantaged children.

Provides for assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of such programs.

Title II: Additional Educational Amendments - Revises payments for State administration to include funds for coordinating inclusion of LEP students and for developing linguistically accessible assessment instruments. Provides for supplemental capacity building grants for improving schools capacity to meet standards for economically deprived and LEP students, as well as research-based approaches for educating such students, and innovative school-wide projects for schools in which half or more of the students are economically deprived.

Requires that review of State regulations include teachers who are familiar with effective instructional approaches for economically deprived and LEP children.

Title III: Bilingual Education - Revises ESEA title VII, which is the Bilingual Education Act, and extends the authorization of appropriations.

Provides for revised programs to develop exemplary bilingual education and educational programs for language-minority and LEP students through: (1) bilingual education capacity and demonstration grants, including grants for program and development and implementation, program enhancement projects, whole-school programs, system-wide improvement, Puerto Rico programs, and Bureau of Indian Affairs schools programs; (2) research, development, and dissemination, including a national bilingual education network, education statistics coordination, grants for State programs, evaluation and assessment centers, multifunctional resource centers, national clearinghouse on bilingual education, and Blue Ribbon Bilingual Education Schools; and (3) bilingual education teacher training, including programs for training for all teachers, bilingual education teachers and personnel grants, bilingual education career ladder, and graduate fellowships in bilingual education.

Provides that the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Affairs shall be headed by an Assistant Secretary (currently a Director).

Directs the Secretary of Education to identify effective policies to strengthen the quality of education for all students, including language-minority and LEP students residing near the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico, as well as Hawaii, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories and freely associated nations.

Requires readers and scorers of applications for grants involving conservation of Indian languages and other indigenous languages subject to losses to include individuals with expertise in such programs.

Allows Bilingual Education Act funds to be used to: (1) acquire or develop educational technology or instructional materials; and (2) conduct language and cultural institutes, with priority to applications that include secondary school personnel.

Requires allocation of bilingual education funds in proportion to the geographical distribution of LEP children throughout the Nation.