State provides $2.5 million grant to support multilingual students

SANTA BARBARA AND VENTURA COUNTIES, Calif. – The California Department of Education issued a two-year, $10 million grant to support students learning English and multilingual students at transitional kindergartens through high schools in California on Tuesday.

The Educator Workforce Investment Grant: Effective Language Acquisition Programs will be distributed in $2.5 million sums to four zones detail the Santa Barbara County Education Office.

Zone C, comprised of the counties of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Ventura, includes large percentages of students designated as English learners including 43% in Los Angeles County, 41% in Ventura County, and 51% in Santa Barbara County relay the California Department of Education.

Across California, plans to use the grants to train educators in effective language learning programs include:

• Integrated language development within and across content areas
• Development of bilingual and bi-literate proficiency
• Language development in languages besides English
• Building capacity to implement the California English Learner Roadmap

The grant program is aimed to foster opportunity and build consistency in English courses across the state. More information about the grant program can be found here.

“We are proud to be stewards and leaders of this important work,” said Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schools Susan Salcido. “Grant funding and programs such as these aid us in our mission to ensure that all students, including multilingual and multicultural learners, have the tools and opportunities needed to access language and instruction for school and beyond.”