Title III - Grants & Sub Grants

This KnowledgeBase archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.

Title III of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act defines the formula grant program for Federal funds intended for the use of improving the English proficiency of students with limited English proficiency (LEP). It is the responsibility of the state education agency (SEA) to distribute an appropriate proportion of the state's grant funds to those local entities serving LEP students. The local LEP/English as a Second Language (ESL)/English Language Learner (ELL) program directors and/or practitioners should be knowledgeable of the funding requirements to optimize their use of available federal funds.

Formula Grants to States

Title III the U.S. Department of Education (ED) will provide grants to the SEA's to fund English Language Acquisition and Language Enhancement programs within the scope of their submitted state plan. The state must agree to spend 95 percent of the allotted funds on sub-grants to local entities with plans to improve the education of limited English proficient children. The state may used up to 5 percent of the funds to provide support and technical assistance to the local entities.

In applying for its state grant the SEA is to provide ED a plan describing how it will make sub-grants to local entities and how it will establish standards for improving the level of English proficiency of the children with limited proficiency.

For additional information on these provisions of the NCLB Act and state grant amounts, click on the selections that follow:

Sub-Grants to Local Entities

Each SEA is to make sub-grants to local entities distributing the funds in proportion of the district's LEP student population to the total state LEP student population. The state may not award a sub-grant to an entity if the amount will be less than $10,000. A state may reserve up to 15 percent of its grant fund to allocate to local entities experiencing significant increase in LEP student population, as compared to the average of the two preceding fiscal years.

In receiving a sub-grant, the local entity must agree to expend the funds to improve the education of limited English proficient children, by assisting the children to learn English and meet challenging state academic content and student academic achievement standards. Additionally, the local entity is to submit a plan explaining how it will improve the English proficiency of its LEP students.

For additional information on these provisions of the NCLB Act, click on the selections that follow:

Source:

Elementary and Secondary Education Act, U.S. Department of Education

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