Education News
The U.S. Department of Education announces over $11 million to support multilingualism in schools
SEPTEMBER 3, 2024
The U.S. Department of Education (Department) announced over $11 million in grants to support the recruitment and retention of bilingual and multilingual educators and provide high quality programming to Native students in an effort to strengthen and revitalize Native American languages.
“Being multilingual is a superpower—a powerful asset that can connect students to their identity and culture, and gives those who speak more than one language cognitive, social, and economic benefits,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona,
“The investments we’re announcing today advance our goal of providing every student in America with a pathway to multilingualism by supporting the recruitment, preparation, and retention of amazing bilingual and multilingual educators—some of the best teachers in our nation, period. They also support the revitalization of Native American languages, a reflection of this Administration’s commitment to Tribal sovereignty and consultation in education.”
National Professional Development Program Grants
Today’s announcements include $7.5 million in 13 new awards in the National Professional Development program (NPD) to support educators of English learners. The NPD program provides grants to eligible institutions of higher education and public or private entities, in consortia with states or local educational agencies, to implement professional development activities that will improve language instruction for English learners. The program currently serves 94 entities throughout the nation.
This 2024 cohort represents the first set of grantees under a new absolute priority to increase the number of bilingual or multilingual teachers through a Grow-Your-Own (GYO) pre-service program that recruits teacher candidates who are bilingual or multilingual.
Of the 13 entities funded, there are two Hispanic Serving Institutions, one Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution, and one Native American-Serving Nontribal Institution. In addition, all entities have indicated their commitment to serving students from first-generation students and/or students from low-income backgrounds.
The Department projects that these grantees will serve approximately 3,700 participants across nine states in four languages: Navajo, Sm’álgyax, Spanish, and Ute.
Source: U.S Department of Education