WASHINGTON - Today, the U.S. Department of Education launched a new interactive web page dedicated to data on English Learner students (ELs). The site uses colorful maps, bar graphs and charts to provide a clearer understanding of America's diverse ELs population in a "data story" format based on data from the Common Core of Data (CCD).The data story shows nearly every state has at least one school district where the EL population has increased by more than 50% since the 2010 school year and answers three main questions - Who are ELs? Where are ELs? And what languages do ELs speak?

The Data Story Includes:

• A state by state chart of the most common non-English languages spoken by ELs, highlighting the more than 400 different languages spoken across the country.
• A district level map that shows current EL populations, as well as changes in the EL populations over time.
• Graphics highlighting how likely ELs are to attend schools and districts with high concentrations of other ELs

These data elements will serve to dispel commonly held misconceptions about ELs and help educators better understand the needs of this diverse group of learners. "The launch of this site is a worthy investment on behalf of ELs, their families and the entire education community," said Office of English Language Acquisition Assistant Deputy Secretary Jose A. Viana. "It takes a lot of complex data and makes it accessible and easy to use."

The site was developed as part of an ongoing collaboration between the Office of English Language Acquisition and the Department's Policy and Program Studies Service.

For more information please visit the Office of English Language Acquisition's home page.