ELL News Headlines

Education Week’s Alyson Klein takes a look at the major education policy initiatives and issues implemented and addressed under President Barack Obama, their impact and what they might look like in the future.  Her review includes Race to the Top, immigration, civil rights, and early childhood education.

The City of Seattle plans to boost counseling resources in public schools for immigrant and refugee students, particularly those who are undocumented or Muslim. Officials announced the effort Friday as part of a larger plan to assist families who may face new challenges under the Trump administration.

News stories often state that black and Latino males have lower test scores and graduation rates than their white and Asian peers and that they're more likely to be disciplined in school and be incarcerated. UCLA professor Tyrone Howard decided to produce a report that offers a different perspective. Howard and his team interviewed 201 black and Latino high-school aged males at seven schools is the Los Angeles area. The teens had a 2.5 GPA or higher and were identified by their teachers as having exhibited talent, leadership or resilience in school. When asked to define themselves, the most commonly used word was "hardworking." The report offers multiple suggestions for ways schools can support success based on the responses of the black and Latino males studied.

In an emotional address that marked her final official remarks as first lady, Michelle Obama praised the nation's school counselors on Friday as education "heroes" who help legions of young people find their way from uncertainty to prosperous, confident futures. Flanked by the counselors of the year from every state at a White House ceremony, the first lady praised them for reaching into their own pockets to help students make ends meet, for sticking with students "in their darkest moments, when they're anxious and afraid... [showing] them that they have something to offer," no matter who they are. 

Undocumented immigrants in Georgia who came to the U.S. as children and have received temporary protection from deportation under the Obama administration will now be able to pay in-state tuition at the state’s colleges and universities, a judge ruled in the years-long court case Tuesday.

A new initiative designed to boost literacy and improve educational outcomes for public housing residents has been launched. The announcement was made by Julián Castro, secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); John B. King, Jr., secretary, U.S. Department of Education; and Broderick Johnson, chair of My Brother's Keeper Task Force and assistant to the President, on January 5 at the Washington, DC Southwest Public Library. The primary goal of the Book-Rich Environment Initiative is to bring free, diverse, high-quality books and other literacy tools to families living in HUD-assisted housing, home to nearly four million children.

Many Latino children across the U.S. are waking up on January 6th to presents and more importantly to a cherished tradition: El Día de los Reyes — or Three Kings Day, also known in the Christian religion as the Feast of the Epiphany. Susana Torres, a Mexican American mother who lives in Denver, Colorado tells NBC that her children do not wait for Santa Claus to receive gifts — instead they anxiously wait for Los Reyes Magos (The Magi).

The 21st edition of Quality Counts examines what states and districts are doing to make ready for the Every Student Succeeds Act's implementation, and offers state-by-state grades for how the nation's schools are faring on a range of educational measures.

Two new studies demonstrate that multilingual exposure improves not only children’s cognitive skills but also their social abilities.

As Janie Carnock details in her recent report, From Blueprint to Building: Lifting the Torch for Multilingual Students in New York State, New York has recently led a bullish redesign of policies and practices to better support the education of its growing, diversifying ELL population. Passed in 2014 under the umbrella of the state’s Blueprint for ELL Success strategy, new rules comprehensively revamp ELL policies across the board. With 2015–16 as the first school year of full implementation, promising changes are already unfolding in districts like Newburgh, which sits on the bank of the Hudson River sixty miles north of New York City and has seen an influx of new immigration from Central America in recent years.