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Executive Director Newsletter Report
The 2021-2022 NAELPA Executive Board is off to a busy start for the year. Conference planning is well underway and our Quarterly Webinar series in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education (USED) and the Council of Chief State School Officer’s (CCSSO) EL Collaborative has gotten off to a good start.
One of the other things the Executive Board has been working on behind the scenes is an update to the organization’s By-Laws. The NAELPA By-Laws were last amended in 2019 when we changed our name from the National Council of State Title III Directors to NAELPA. There were other significant changes to the By-Laws at that time, but other needed and desired changes have been identified. Some of these changes add necessary wording to help with the procedural operations of the organization and some changes are more substantive in nature.
The largest change is in Articles 1 and 2. We added wording in Article 1 indicating the NAELPA preference to use the term Multilingual Learner (ML) instead of English Learning (EL) while recognizing the necessity to continue to use EL when the communication is related to ESEA/ESSA because that law uses the term EL. A strategic planning group of NAELPA Executive Board Members took on the task to rewrite NAELPA’s Mission, Vision, and Purpose in Article 2, which we felt was somewhat outdated.
One of the major procedural type changes relates to the NAELPA membership year, which changed from starting on July 1st and ending on June 30th in the following year to be based on the calendar year. During the transition, all those with 2020-2021 membership have had their membership extended by six months until December 31, 2021. Also, anyone that signs up for membership after July 1, 2021, will be included in membership for the remainder of the 2020-2021 membership year and for the 2022 membership year as well. And don’t forget, if you register for the NAELPA Conference, it includes the cost of membership. Since the NAELPA Conference is typically early in the calendar year, part of the motivation to change our membership year to be based on the calendar year was to provide a full year of membership for those that choose to purchase their membership via conference registration.
SEA and LEA voting members will receive an email in October asking you to review and vote on the By-Law Amendment. Please take the time to vote as we need at least 20% of the voting members to vote for the amendment to be approved.
Thanks,
Dr. David Holbrook
NAELPA Executive Director