Dear State Directors:

Attached are fiscal year (FY) 2021 (school year (SY) 2021-2022) preliminary estimates of State allocations for the English Language Acquisition program (Title III, Part A) under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). Notes about the allocations follow.

• As authorized by section 3111(c)(3)(A) of the ESEA, for the portion of a State’s allocation that is based on the number of English learners (ELs), the U.S. Department of Education (ED) used a combination of counts from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) (specifically, multiyear estimates covering the period 2015-2019) and the same school year 2018-2019 State-reported counts of the number of students assessed for English language proficiency that ED used for FY 2020 allocations. The ACS data were weighted at 75 percent and the State-reported data at 25 percent.
• As required by section 3111(c)(3)(B) of the ESEA, for the portion of a State’s allocation that is based on the number of immigrant children and youth, ED used ACS data (specifically, multiyear estimates covering the period 2015-2019). 
• ED expects to issue final FY 2021 Title III, Part A allocations in June, which will be the basis for the July 1, 2021 grant awards. The final allocations will likely not differ from the preliminary allocations.

Thank you for your work in implementing the Title III, Part A program.  Please send any questions about the preliminary allocations to Todd Stephenson ([log in to unmask]), Elizabeth Witt ([log in to unmask]), and [log in to unmask].

Best,

Patrick Rooney

Director, School Support and Accountability