Return to Normal View

DOE Homepage Students Educators Community Family Administrators and Staff MyFlorida.com

Florida Department of Education
DOE Home

Bureau of Student Achievement through Language Acquisition

 

 Bureau of Student Achievement through Language Acquisition 

Text Index Google Custom Search


Lori Rodriguez
325 West Gaines Street
Room 501 Turlington
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400

Phone (850) 245-0417
Fax: (850) 245-0846
Parent Hot Line: (800) 206-8956

About Us

There are approximately 227,000 students in Florida who are English Language Learners (ELLs), speaking 299 different languages.

The primary focus of the Bureau of Student Achievement through Language Acquisition (SALA) is to assist schools and districts, while ensuring that students receive comprehensible instruction. In addition, the bureau of SALA monitors schools and districts for compliance with State and Federal rules, regulations, the 1990 League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) et al. v. the State Board of Education (SBE) Consent Decree, and the 2003 Modification of the Consent Decree.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) requires that each state create an accountability plan that includes the implementation of academic and performance standards for all students. States are also required to show that ELLs are progressing in their proficiency of the English language by meeting annual measurable achievement objectives (AMAOs) (NCLB, § 3122 (b)(2001).

Based on NCLB, accountability can be defined as the requirement of states to assess student knowledge of the state standards, improve performance on state assessments, and apply sanctions to districts and schools that fail to progress sufficiently in order to receive Federal aid. Accountability, as it is specifically related to ELLs, means the inclusion of all ELLs and former ELLs in assessments on state content and achievement standards and their increased visibility in accountability systems to improve their instruction and achievement (U.S. Department of Education, 2007).

The SALA Bureau works collaboratively with Districts in obtaining Federal funding from the United States Department of Education (USDE) and Title III of NCLB, which includes Title III Part A and Immigrant Children and Youth. Florida also receives funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, named: Florida Increasing Refugee Student Achievement Grants (F-IRSA).

New! Proposed Florida Teacher Standards for ESOL Endorsement (PDF, 74KB)
Comments can be sent to:

New! FABES Meeting January 12, 2010 (PDF, 164KB)

New! Standards- World Language Expert Committee Meeting (Writers & Framers)

March 1, 2010
Jim Miles PDC
Lakeland, FL
8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

ESOL Performance Standards Meeting

Teacher ESOL Performance Standards Final Meeting
Tampa
January 7-8, 2010

FABES Board Meeting & FABES/SALA Institute

January 12, 2010
School District of Osceola
Kissimmee