U.S. Department of Education Announces 2017 National Professional Development Grant Competition to Support Educators of English Learner Students





Washington, DC - - (March 8, 2017) - - The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA), announced recently in the Federal Register, the availability of $20 million for its National Professional Development (NPD) grant competition to support educators of English Learner (EL) students.

“These grants are great investments in helping prepare new teachers improve their content skills to better serve the needs of English learner students,” said Supreet Anand, deputy director of OELA. “Our English Learners benefit by having competent and capable instructors in the classroom.”

The NPD program provides grants for eligible institutions of higher education or public or private entities with relevant experience and capacity, in collaboration with states or districts, to implement professional development activities that will improve instruction for ELs. Professional development may include preservice or in-service activities for educators of ELs including teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals or other educators working with ELs. Professional development activities may also include teacher education programs and training for other education professionals that lead to certification, licensing or endorsement for providing instruction to ELs.

The deadline for submitting an Intent to Apply is March 13, 2017. The deadline for submitting the applications is April 24, 2017.

Since 2008, the Department has awarded an estimated $370 million in NPD grants to assist educators working with English Learner students.

Information source: U.S. Department of Education