SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today announced 44 grantees will share $20 million in English Language Learner Acquisition and Development Pilot Project grants. For the list of grantees, please visit Funding Results: English Language Learner Acquisition and Development Pilot Project.

"This pilot project will identify the best practices around the state to help us close California's pernicious achievement gap between higher-achieving students and English learners," said O'Connell.

The Pilot Project was established in 2006 by Assembly Bill 2117. Subsequently, California Education Code Section 420 authorized the Pilot Project to be conducted over a three-year period and provided funding to identify existing best practices regarding topics such as curriculum, instruction and staff development for teaching English language learners, and promoting English language and academic English acquisition and development.

Of the total 1,761 schools eligible to apply, 44 were selected based on a number of criteria. The applicants were required to have a sufficient number of English learners for accountability purposes and at least 10 percent of their student population were English learners. They also had to meet other accountability targets that demonstrated the success of the promising practice, including a description of how the practice met the needs of English learners, evidence of effectiveness, and replicability of the practice.

The grantees were allotted $200 per English learner and have to match that amount during the three-year pilot project period. As a condition of receiving funding, the grantee must agree to being evaluated by an independent evaluator, collect data, and report their results back to the California Department of Education for submission in a final report to the Governor and the Legislature.

For more information about the English Language Learners Acquisition and Development Pilot Project, please visit Past Funding Profile (ID 948): English Language Learner Acquisition and Development Pilot Project.