Surprised Pasadena Teacher Receives National Honor

Los Angeles Times

February 03, 2012

Manuel Rustin sat among the audience Tuesday in the crowded auditorium at John Muir High School in Pasadena, enjoying the student achievement assembly he helped organize. Then an elaborate ruse was revealed. Rustin was presented with the Milken Educator Award, an honor created in 1987 to motivate talented teachers in a profession that doesn't typically come with lavish financial rewards.

February Book Picks: 'Shooting Kabul' And 'The Hundred Dresses'

NPR

February 03, 2012

America is full of families who originally moved to the country from somewhere else, and our next reading adventure for NPR's Backseat Book Club explores this theme in two books. These books, published more than 60 years apart, both explore what it's like to try to create a new home while still yearning for the home you've left behind. We selected two stories that teach important lessons about accepting others, and going against the crowd when classmates are teasing or making harsh judgments.

Remembrance: Who Will Light Up Jewish Kids Lit?

The Jewish Daily Forward

February 03, 2012

In this remembrance of authors Simms Taback and Russell Hoban, Deborah Kolben, editor of Kveller.com, writes, "The Jewish books we have on our shelf are tales about holidays that read like lessons in Hebrew school — here's the apple, here's the honey, this is a menorah, you light it for eight nights. And sure, there's a place for that. But it also feels like they're trying too hard, like there's a smack of desperation: If this book doesn't teach this kid about Shabbat, who will? What's missing are great stories in which characters happen to be Jewish."

Immigrant Worker Firings Unsettle a College Campus

The New York Times

February 02, 2012

Late last year, administrators at Pomona College delivered letters to dozens of the longtime employees asking them to show proof of legal residency. Seventeen workers could not produce documents showing that they were legally able to work in the United States. So on Dec. 2, they lost their jobs. Now, the campus is deep into a consuming debate over what it means to be a college with liberal ideals, with some students, faculty and alumni accusing the administration and the board of directors of betraying the college's ideals.

Ga. Lawmakers Weigh a Ban on Undocumented Students from Colleges

Education Week

February 02, 2012

Georgia lawmakers are debating a measure that would actually bar undocumented students from the state's public colleges and universities. The bill, say its supporters, is designed to keep illegal immigrants from taking spaces in Georgia's higher education system from legal residents.

In Tucson, Activists Protest the Removal of Books by Latino Authors

Latino Ed Beat

February 02, 2012

Depending on whom you ask, the Tucson Unified School District is either banning books or just boxing them up for storage. But everybody agrees that numerous books written by Latino authors were removed from classrooms in January. Authors, librarians, students and teachers are among those protesting the actions.

Tweak to Texas Tuition Law Puts Pressure on Undocumented Students

Education Week

February 01, 2012

Texas policymakers are putting the onus on the state's colleges and universities to notify undocumented students who pay in-state tuition rates that they must hold up their end of the deal and seek legal status. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board ruled yesterday that the state's higher education institutions must send annual notices to undocumented students reminding them to pursue legal status by contacting federal authorities. Those notices will start going out as early as this summer.

Classes Turn Bilingual Students Into Biliterate Ones

Houston Chronicle

February 01, 2012

There is no escaping Spanish inside Room 510. But this is no ordinary Spanish class, and these eighth-grade students are not foreign-language learners or English as Second Language students. They are in the class — Beginning Spanish for Native-Speakers — because they want to preserve the language of their heritage.

Spanish-Language Education Fair Aims For College Dreams

KUT

February 01, 2012

Thousands of parents waited in line Saturday morning for an education fair aimed at Hispanic families hosted by the Austin Independent School District. The Feria Para Aprender is a national education fair, specifically for Spanish-speaking families, to give parents information in Spanish about the school district, after-school education programs, and especially college information.

Immigrant Health Initiative Begins in SE Minnesota

Gannett

January 31, 2012

In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, researchers at the Mayo Clinic are working with more than a dozen community organizations to keep immigrants and refugees from developing common diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity. The project, which includes nursing students at Winona State University in Rochester, focuses on southeastern Minnesota, an area of the state that has seen some of the largest demographic shifts in the last decade.

Goya Foods joins Michelle Obama to promote MiPlato in Hispanic communities

Food Navigator-USA

January 31, 2012

Goya Foods has joined Michelle Obama to provide Spanish language, Hispanic-flavored nutrition resources centered on the MyPlate icon, or MiPlato, as part of the First Lady's Let's Move initiative.

For China's 'Left-Behind Kids,' a Free Lunch

NPR

January 31, 2012

There's no such thing as a free lunch — or so the economic theory goes. But that's no longer the case for Xie Xiaoyuan and the 25,000 poverty-stricken children in China who now receive a free meal, thanks to the "Free Lunch for Children" charity campaign set up by a Chinese journalist.

Rivera Introduces a Military-Only Version of DREAM Act

Miami Herald

January 30, 2012

Inspired by last week's Republican presidential debate over immigration, Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, filed a bill that would give young people who serve in the military — not college students — a path to U.S. citizenship. Rivera's plan is called the Adjusted Residency for Military Service Act: the ARMS Act. "There's also a lot to be said for victory-by-victory, year-by-year," he said. "Laying the groundwork could very much expedite those reforms in the future."

Driven by Competition...Compelled by the Heart

Education Week

January 30, 2012

In a guest blog for Education Week, former elementary teacher Patricia Dickenson writes, "This past week I had the opportunity to discuss with my university students what makes a good teacher. As I listened to students share their stories from elementary school to college, the personal connection they had with their teacher was consistently referenced. Teachers need the opportunity to give students the most precious gift, their time. In a standards-driven system where pacing plans and mandated curriculum keep teachers accountable, there is little room to deviate from the textbook and make a personal connection, but you must."

Chinese New Year Unique For Adoptive Families

NPR

January 30, 2012

Chinese New Year celebrations kicked off last week to herald the Year of the Dragon. Like many Americans raising children adopted from China, David Youtz and his wife like to use the holiday to instill in their children the importance of their ethnic heritage. "We want them to feel a lot of pride in where they came from," Youtz says. "I think that's especially important when you're an adopted person."

Duncan Tonatiuh, Guadalupe Garcia McCall win Pura Belpré Awards

American Libraries

January 27, 2012

Duncan Tonatiuh, illustrator of "Diego Rivera: His World and Ours," and Guadalupe Garcia McCall, author of "Under the Mesquite," are the 2012 winners of the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award and Author Award, honoring Latino authors and illustrators whose work best portrays, affirms and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in children's books. The awards were announced this week by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), during the ALA Midwinter Meeting held Jan. 20- 24 in Dallas.

Lee & Low Acquires Children's Book Press

Publishers Weekly

January 27, 2012

Children's Book Press, founded in 1975 by Harriet Rohmer for the specific purpose of creating a line of bilingual and multicultural books, ceased operations at the end of September and has sold its backlist inventory of 90 titles to Lee & Low Books in New York. Dana Goldberg, former executive editor for Children's Book Press, attributes the demise of the press to "a perfect storm of systemic things. We were a niche publisher for the institutional market, and 80 percent of our business came from schools and libraries. With the nationwide budget cuts, the last two years were really tough."

Academy Award Nomination Highlights Challenges Immigrant Families Face

Latino Ed Beat

January 27, 2012

Perhaps the biggest surprise Oscar nomination on Tuesday was Demián Bichir in the best actor category for his portrayal of a Mexican undocumented immigrant. In the film "A Better Life," Bichir plays Carlos Galindo, a single father and gardener in Los Angeles struggling to build a brighter future for his American-born teen-aged son Luis.

Obama Wades Into Issue of Raising Dropout Age

The New York Times

January 26, 2012

President Obama's State of the Union call for every state to require students to stay in school until they turn 18 is Washington's first direct involvement in an issue that many governors and state legislators have found tough to address. While state legislative efforts to raise the dropout age to 18 have spread in recent years, many have had trouble winning passage.

Researchers to Work on Improving Science Instruction for ELLs

Education Week

January 26, 2012

More than 60 elementary schools in Florida are the focus of a new research project that will examine how English-language learners fare after receiving a new science curriculum that is designed to also reinforce their language development. Okhee Lee, an education professor at New York University and a well-known expert on ELLs and science, is working on the project with two other NYU colleagues.