Teachers who work with English as a Second Language learners will find ESL/ESOL/ELL/EFL reading/writing skill-building children's books, stories, activities, ideas, strategies to help PreK-3, 4-8, and 9-12 students learn to read.
Government Agencies & Programs
Corporation for National and Community Service
The Corporation is the nation's largest grantmaker supporting service and volunteering. Through the Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs, the Corporation provides opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to express their patriotism while addressing critical community needs.
Ed.gov: Education Resources for Spanish Speakers
This site, sponsored by the Department of Education, provides links for Spanish speaking parents of school-age children. It also includes answers to frequently asked questions, a resource center with publications and materials, a general information center, and assistance for parents in need of financial support to aid their child's education.
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
The official website for the federal financial aid application. This is a free online application to determine the family’s expected contribution toward college.
Head Start: Information in Spanish
This website offers information about the Head Start program in Spanish, including FAQs for parents and a Head Start search engine that can be used to find local programs.
Learn and Serve America provides support to schools, higher education institutions, and community-based organizations, that engage students, their teachers, and others in service-learning. Learn and Serve America is a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, an independent federal agency created to connect Americans of all ages and backgrounds with opportunities to give back to their communities and their nation.
National Center for Education Statistics
NCES is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data that are related to education in the United States and other nations.
National Even Start Association
The mission of the National Even Start Association is to provide a national voice and vision for Even Start Family Literacy programs. The purpose of the Even Start Family Literacy Program is to help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by improving the educational opportunities for families. This is accomplished by integrating early childhood education, adult literacy and adult basic education, and parenting education into a unified literacy program. Even Start is implemented nationally through cooperative projects that build on existing community resources, creating a new range of services for children families and adults.
National Governors' Association
The NGA Center for Best Practices supports governors in their efforts to improve education by providing technical assistance, policy analysis and reports, and information on best practices.
National Head Start Association
The National Head Start Association is a private not-for-profit membership organization dedicated exclusively to meeting the needs of Head Start children and their families. It represents more than 1 million children, 200,000 staff, and 2,700 Head Start programs in the United States. The Association provides support for the entire Head Start community by advocating for policies that strengthen services to Head Start children and their families; by providing extensive training and professional development to Head Start staff; and by developing and disseminating research, information, and resources that enrich Head Start program delivery.
National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
The NICHD conducts and supports laboratory, clinical and epidemiological research on the reproductive, neurobiologic, developmental, and behavioral processes that determine and maintain the health of children, adults, families and populations.
National Institute for Literacy (NIFL)
NIFL was created by the National Literacy Act of 1991, when a bipartisan Congressional coalition acted on the literacy field's request for a federal office focused solely on literacy. The Institute serves as a focal point for public and private activities that support the development of high-quality regional, state, and national literacy services.
In 1997, Congress asked the Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, to convene a national panel to assess the effectiveness of different approaches used to teach children to read.
"Bringing Scientific Evidence to Learning" is the motto of the National Institute for Literacy's Partnership for Reading. On their site, there are links to research-based information on vocabulary instruction and a variety of other reading-related topics.
Signed by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act resulted in widespread educational reform. NCLB focuses on stronger accountability for results, more freedom for states and communities, proven education methods, and more choices for parents.
No Child Left Behind: A Desktop Reference
This PDF document aims to provide a clear and straightforward program-by-program look at the major reforms made by NCLB.
Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA)
The OELA was formed to help ensure that children who are limited English proficient attain English proficiency, develop high levels of academic attainment in English, and meet the same challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards that all children are expected to meet.
Office of Special Education Programs
The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) is a component of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), which is one of the principal components of the U.S. Department of Education (ED). OSEP's mission and organization focus on the free, appropriate public education of children and youth with disabilities from birth through age 21. OSEP is a major funder of Reading Rockets.
The Partnership for Reading website offers a database containing abstracts of approximately 460 research studies related to the teaching of reading in grades K-3. These studies have met high standards of research. Browse through the abstracts by category (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, text comprehension, computer instruction, and teacher education) or search for a topic or author of interest.
Resources for Dual Language Learners
This website from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services offers articles, tip sheets and other resources you can use to meet the needs of diverse populations and promote dual language learning, including information about Head Start and ELLs.
Senior Corps connects adults over 55 with people and organizations that need volunteers, mentors, coaches, and companions. Senior Corps is a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, an independent federal agency created to connect Americans of all ages and backgrounds with opportunities to give back to their communities and their nation.
I have spent the entire afternoon, a precious Saturday afternoon, enjoying and learning from this website!
~ Cindy T.
