English Learners and Civil Rights: Growing Concern for a Growing Population

• The new wave of reviews by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights and the Department of Justice, and what they reveal about EL services;
• A vastly expanded data collection on school EL services throughout the U.S., and who is affected;
• The on-going effects of the controversy over delivery of EL services, and how state and local agencies should adapt;
• The tangle of civil rights laws for ELs and why it is important for school districts to understand how they interact;
• Which federal agencies and sub-agencies are responsible for enforcing the various El civil rights laws; and
• Why it is best for states and districts to evaluate their compliance before the feds knock on the door.

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Molly Faulkner-Bond is a policy associate at edCount LLC, where she supports Dr. Forte and her team of senior associates. Ms. Faulkner-Bond earned her bachelor's degree at Harvard University, where she graduated, magna cum laude, in 2006 with an A.B. in Philosophy and a certificate from the university's Mind, Brain, and Behavior program. She is a published writer who has researched, written, and edited texts on philosophy, travel, and popular culture. At edCount, Ms. Faulkner-Bond directs communication and editorial projects and provides support on research and technical assistance projects as needed.

Ellen Forte, Ph.D, is a nationally respected authority with nearly two decades' experience conducting research and providing technical assistance to state and local education agencies in the successful interpretation and implementation of education policies. Dr. Forte's work centers on standards, assessment and accountability, with a particular emphasis on the creation and implementation of fair and meaningful systems for English language learners and students with significant cognitive disabilities. Currently, she holds seats on the assessment Technical Advisory Committees for three states and Puerto Rico, and is Principal Investigator for three assessment validity studies, all funded by grants through the US Department of Education. She is also the chief policy advisor to the National Deaf Education Center at Gallaudet University on its implementation of standards, assessments, and accountability mechanisms as required under the 2008 Education of the Deaf Act, and contributes regularly to the education field via conference presentations, commissioned articles and monographs, and web-conference presentations.
Dr. Forte is the President and founder of edCount, LLC, a Washington D.C.-based boutique education consulting firm providing technical assistance and professional services to state and local education agencies, advocacy groups, and other education organizations. edCount is a federally-registered, woman-owned small business, with a focus on federal and state education policy, students with disabilities, and English language learners.

Charles J. Edwards is Executive Editor of Thompson Information Services' federal education publications. Mr. Edwards has over 25 years of experience writing about education and education-related topics, including Title I, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and regulations governing administration of federal programs for public schools. Most recently, he co-authored Federal Education Grants Management, the only book devoted specifically to the unique requirements of U.S. Department of Education grants. He graduated from Notre Dame in 1976 with a B.A. in history (Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa).

Andrew Brownstein has been editor of the Title I Monitor since 2003. He also manages Title I-Derland, a blog devoted to all aspects of federal K-12 education policy, and contributes to several other education-related publications for Thompson Information Services. Previously, he served as students editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education. He has also written for the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Des Moines Register and the Albany Times-Union. He graduated from the University of Iowa in 1994 with a B.A. in English and journalism.

Travis J. Hicks is the Editor of Thompson Publishing Group's NCLB Advisor, as well as a contributor to the company's other federal education publications. Mr. Hicks has more than a decade of experience writing about education and education-related topics, including Title I, No Child Left Behind, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. He graduated from James Madison University in 1997 with a B.A. in English.