State education agencies play a critical role in shaping the quality of English learners’ education.
These agencies provide districts with technical support, guidance documents, and an educational vision for English learners within a given state. They can also help ensure equitable educational experiences for English learners, especially those with additional needs such as students new to the country, by establishing clear, statewide policies for all districts to follow, experts say.
But the degree to which state education agencies invest in English-learner programs and policies varies widely from state to state. The agencies’ role in English learners’ education is even more pronounced as the Trump administration takes actions that experts say de-prioritize the needs of this growing population of over 5 million students.
Those actions include cutting staff at the only federal office dedicated to English learners and introducing a federal budget proposal that, if enacted, would eliminate close to $1 billion in formula grant funding that helps states and schools support English learners.
The Trump administration also rescinded a 2015 Dear Colleague letter this year reminding states and schools of English learners’ federal education rights. That recission signaled an increased responsibility for state education agencies to prioritize and uphold those students’ rights, said Khalil El-Saghir, the vice president of the National Association of English Learner Program Administrators, a member organization made up of state and school district leaders.
“We have to think about the [state agencies’] preparedness in terms of what are the state policies, and what is the political environment that exists in each state, and whether the state political environment prioritizes all students fairly, and thus the civil rights of English learners will be upheld or not,” El-Saghir said.
Districts rely on state guidance for English learners
Two of the main ways state education agencies support districts’ work with English learners are through financial and technical support.
In an EdWeek Research Center survey conducted between May 28 and July 1, a national sample of 242 principals and district leaders was asked how satisfied they were with financial and technical support from their state education agency for serving English learners.
Although about 3 in 5 respondents said they are satisfied with state support for these students, about 2 in 5 said they are “somewhat” or “very dissatisfied.”
El-Shagir acknowledged that some state agencies have invested in robust infrastructures and leadership for multilingual learners, while others remain underresourced and understaffed.
When available, state investment pays off.
In Massachusetts, Kellie Jones, the director of bilingual education for the Brockton school district, said she relies on guidance documents developed and circulated by the state’s office of language acquisition.
The office within the state education agency has also helped create a community of English-learner education leaders “to ensure that we are prioritizing [students’] language acquisition, their content attainment, and their social-emotional-learning needs,” Jones said.
David Valade, a former employee within the Massachusetts education department, recalls the agency’s listening sessions and advisory groups with K-12 educators across the state to help determine what sort of guidance was most useful.
One example is the state’s recent guidance on Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education, or SLIFE.
Valade said the state agency ran a monthly community of practice with selected educators and experts and partnered with researchers for a national and state-level survey on what schools are doing for this student group. Out of all that they developed a comprehensive guide with a self-assessment tool and sample portfolios that schools could use when providing SLIFE services.
In Mississippi, the state’s education department recently hosted a conference for content-area teachers, English-learner teachers, school administrators, and special education teachers on the state’s English-language-proficiency test standards and how they correspond to its college- and career-readiness standards.
“We know this work is not just for the teachers of our English learners, it’s for everyone,” said Sandra Elliott, an academic interventionist and English-learner specialist at the state education department.
The Mississippi agency is also developing new guidance for schools on English learners with disabilities.
State leadership seeks to improve during a tumultuous time
Researchers caution that while some state-level work may be affected by federal policy changes related to English learners, there have been long-standing gaps state leaders have had to fill well before the start of the second Trump administration.
Alejandra Vazquez Baur, a fellow of The Century Foundation and a director of the National Newcomer Network, co-authored a report published in August assessing how well all 50 states and the District of Columbia provided information and guidance on newcomer students, defined generally as students new to the U.S. school system.
The report involved a scan of all 50 states’ and the District of Columbia’s public data and documents related to the newcomer students. The research began during the Biden administration, which, under former U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, publicly advocated for the rights of multilingual learners.
Vazquez Baur’s analysis found that no state education agency has exemplary policies across all three categories of analysis: terms of identification for newcomer students, how and what data are collected about these students, and state-level funding specific for newcomer students.
Only four states received a C or C-plus by meeting some of the criteria researchers sought out: Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington. Forty-two states scored between C-minus and D-minus. And five states received an F: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Montana, and West Virginia.
In an emailed response about his state’s grade, Alabama’s superintendent of education, Eric Mackey, said the state is “making significant progress in serving newly arrived immigrant students and English learners.”
“English learners make up only 4% of Alabama’s student population; still, we are investing in their success like never before,” Mackey wrote. “We have directed unprecedented resources to expand programs and professional development for educators. Far from failing, Alabama is building a system that empowers English learners to excel socially, academically, and linguistically, preparing them to lead productive lives and contribute meaningfully to our state’s future.”
The other four states given an F did not respond to a request for comment.
Vazquez Baur said robust and comprehensive state-level guidance on newcomer students is vital to ensuring they receive an equitable education regardless of which school they enroll in within a state.
Federal uncertainty puts state efforts at risk
Much of the work state leaders hope to accomplish moving forward to provide more detailed guidance for schools is now in limbo because of shifting federal policies.
In Massachusetts, for instance, Valade is unclear how smoothly work will go on providing guidance for English learners with disabilities after the Trump administration canceled some federal special education grants this year.
State leaders also remained concerned over the fate of Title III funding that supports state-level research and guidance work on English learners, schools’ ability to hire bilingual aides, and supplemental curricular materials for these students.
In Mississippi, Judy Nelson, the executive director of federal programs for the state education department, said additional Title III funding is needed as the local English-learner population continues to grow while the state’s teacher-workforce population falls.
A decrease or elimination of Title III dollars would hurt the state’s progress in growing literacy levels, as the state has been using federal dollars to support English learners’ reading instruction, Nelson said.
Additional Title III funding could also help the state provide school districts with a data-reporting system dedicated to English learners. It would help educators and state leaders better assess English learners’ English-language proficiency and their academic standing for both federal and local reporting, Nelson added.
Regardless of what happens with the federal funds, Nelson and others spoke of the need for state education agencies to find creative ways to continue to invest in English learners, especially as the population continues to drive public school enrollment.
“Let’s just say funding was eliminated. I wouldn’t think that Mississippi would stop supporting our [English-learner] students,” Nelson said. “If Title III was eliminated, we will always tell our [local education agencies] to make sure that you use Title I funding to support your [English-learner] students.”
“We want to make sure that we do have a backup plan so that we can continue to provide the support for students.”
