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Our schools now serve 5.5 million students who do not speak English as a first language. This number is growing every day. Although we classify these students as "Limited English Proficient" for the purpose of monitoring their progress, I really don't like that phrase--they should in no way be thought of as "limited." Rather, at a time when most Americans speak only one language, these "English Language Learners" have the opportunity to achieve early fluency in both English and their native tongue. They can be our future leaders, provided that we do all we can to give them a quality education.

That's why No Child Left Behind puts such a strong focus on helping English Language Learners. It recognizes that English Language Learners, like all our children, are capable of academic success.

At the same time, we recognize that English Language Learners have some unique instructional needs. Under No Child Left Behind, we are taking meaningful steps to improve education for them. States have worked hard to implement No Child Left Behind. Still, we recognize that states face certain challenges in meeting the law's goals.

For this reason, I am pleased to announce new policies to improve the instruction and assessment of our nation's English Language Learners. These policies inject two new elements of flexibility into No Child Left Behind. They build upon the nearly 40 areas of flexibility that the Department of Education recently identified in the "Charting the Course" document issued last month.

The first new element of flexibility addresses how states assess English Language Learners in their first year in U.S. public schools. Prior to this policy, English Language Learners were required to be tested in math and reading during their first year. This goal is sound. We want to ensure that all children have the same opportunity to succeed. However, we also recognize that many schools need a little extra time to help these students learn English.

Our new policy provides a much needed one-year transition for our schools. It allows schools to substitute an assessment of English language proficiency, if they so choose, for the assessment of reading competency during a student's first year in U.S. public schools. This English language proficiency test does not count toward the Adequate Yearly Progress goals for the school. Students who take the test do, however, continue to count toward the 95 percent participation rate for their subgroup because we want to make sure these children are counted and a part of the assessment system. This change allows schools one more year to prepare these students to learn in English. It is a win-win for both students and schools.

The second new element of flexibility addresses how schools classify students who have made strong progress in learning English. If we expect schools to teach children English, we must recognize their success when students improve their English language skills. Currently, once students are no longer classified as learning English, they are no longer considered in measurements toward adequate yearly progress for their subgroup. Under the new policy, schools can continue to count these students toward Adequate Yearly Progress for two additional years after they have become English proficient.

Since many schools are constantly absorbing new English Language Learners, the policy rewards schools for the good work they do to help English Language Learners attain proficiency.

Finally, I would like to comment on the process by which we continue to add flexibility to No Child Left Behind. In evaluating and considering new policies, we rely on two simple criteria:

• The first is our strong commitment to taking every available step to help every child succeed. Any changes that we consider are always first evaluated by one overriding consideration: will this change help all children achieve proficiency in core academic subjects?

• The second is our willingness to work closely with states and local school districts, to listen to their issues and ideas for improvement, and to help states achieve No Child Left Behind's goals without watering down the law's intent. As I've said many times, our goal is to provide the maximum flexibility while remaining faithful to the spirit of the law.

The flexibility policies we are announcing today clearly meet both goals. I am confident that these policies will help improve education for our English Language Learners and that they will help schools meet the goals of No Child Left Behind. I want to thank everyone who contributed to the process, especially the administrators, teachers and parents who have made their voices heard and contributed in positive ways to our shared mission.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to your questions following the program.

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