The Board of Education is seeking comments on proposed amendments to Policy IOD, Emergent Multilingual Learners. Language translations for the public comment page are in development and will be posted as soon as they are available.

Draft amendments to Montgomery County Board of Education Policy IOD, Education of English Language Learners, have been developed to update the Board’s approach to the education of students learning English. Proposed amendments change the name to Policy IOD, Emergent Multilingual Learners, and adopt an asset-orientation view of students who are learning to listen, speak, read and/or write English. This asset-orientation seeks these students as becoming multilingual, in recognition that such children are simultaneously learning at least one other language in addition to the English they are learning at MCPS. These revisions align with guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, the Maryland State Department of Education, the Center for Applied Linguistics evaluation of MCPS programs, and current research. 

Draft amendments to Policy IOD have been available for comment since April 12, 2024, and the comment period will close on May 6, 2024. The Board’s Policy Management Committee is tentatively scheduled to review public comments at its May 16, 2024, meeting.

A description of the draft changes and public comment forms are available here. Submit comments on Policy IOD.