U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today presented awards to three education professionals involved with English language learners and praised their efforts to improve student achievement, noting that in just two years, the No Child Left Behind education reforms are having a significant impact on closing the achievement gap and helping minority students. Secretary Paige honored the educators during "Celebrate our Rising Stars," the Department's third annual conference to focus on improving opportunities for English language learners.

The "Excellence in Teaching English Language Learners" award has been presented to: Kathy Mellor, National Teacher of the Year, Davisville Middle School, North Kingstown, R.I., with "Awards for Outstanding Commitment, Dedication, and Contributions to Improving Education for ELL's" going to Carmen Pérez-Hogan, coordinator, Office of Bilingual Education, New York State Education Department in Albany, N.Y.; and Adela Weinstein, consultant, Illinois Resource Center in Des Plaines, Ill.

"For far too long, American education was not serving all of our students," Secretary Paige said. "That's why President Bush proposed, and a bipartisan majority of Congress passed, the No Child Left Behind Act. "This law is built on the belief that every child can learn. It strikes a blow against the soft bigotry of low expectations, and it gives us the vision, the tools, and the means to close the achievement gap between English language learners and their English-speaking peers."

"No Child Left Behind demands a quality education for every child in every classroom—and this includes our English language learners," Assistant Deputy Secretary Maria Hernandez Ferrier said. "For the first time ever in public education, states must have a plan to get results for English language learners, and our children deserve no less than our very best efforts."

More than 1,500 of the nation's educators, policymakers and parents are attending this year's conference, which focuses on the critical issues that affect our nation's English language learners (ELL's) and their parents, teachers, schools and communities. The conference includes dozens of presentations on how ELL professionals can improve the quality of education for children who enter the public school system unable to speak English—currently more than four million nationwide.

The Office of English Language Acquisition oversees the Department's efforts for English Language Learners. More than $680 million in federal funding is available for ELL programs this year.

The most commonly spoken languages in the United States, besides English, are Spanish, Vietnamese, Hmong, Haitian Creole, Korean, Cantonese, Arabic, Russian, Navajo, Tagalog, Cambodian, Chinese (unspecified), Mandarin, Portuguese, Armenian and Serbo-Croatian. The largest percentage of English language learners in the U.S. is Spanish-speaking at about 80 percent.

The No Child Left Behind Act is the bipartisan landmark education reform law designed to change the culture of America's schools by closing the achievement gap among groups of students, offering more flexibility to states, giving parents more options and teaching students based on what works. Under the law's strong accountability provisions, states must describe how they will close the achievement gap and make sure all students, including those with disabilities, achieve academically.

More information about the No Child Left Behind Act is available at www.ed.gov. More information about the Office of English Language Acquisition is available at www.ed.gov/offices/OELA.

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