ELL News Headlines

Dual enrollment (DE) — taking college courses in high school — can help improve student access to and success in college. In the past few years, California has invested heavily in improving DE access and reforming assessments for English and English as a Second Language (ESL) — especially for historically underrepresented students.

A new nationwide report released Tuesday by the National Council on Teacher Quality warns that states need significant structural improvements to their teacher- preparation programs, in-service support, and pay systems to increase the teaching pipeline for the most vulnerable groups of students.

Yehiri Gonzalez first heard about a new program to shepherd Chicago students into teaching careers at the height of the pandemic. The daughter of Mexican immigrants, she had spoken little English in the early grades and struggled to keep up, at one point leaning on a tutor who came to the shelter where she had stayed for a time. She credits growing as a student and getting into the highly selective Lane Tech College Prep High School to finding peers and educators who shared and understood her background. She wanted to offer that support to other students.

Under President Donald Trump, the federal government is systematically retreating from helping educate English learners and protecting their civil rights. In addition to yanking federal guidance and resources, the president is seeking to eliminate all $890 million in federal funding for English language acquisition programs in schools. All of that puts more responsibility on states and local schools to educate English learners.

This month teacher Megan Singh will stand at the front of a small class at Enlace Academy. But her students won’t be children — they’ll be parents, grandparents and relatives of Enlace students, learning English together to better support their kids at home.

The U.S. Department of Education has halted some of the 107 grants from the only federal program specifically created to help teachers improve techniques for working with English learners. Those grantees received non-continuation letters from the U.S. Department of Education on Sept. 23 and were given seven calendar days to file an appeal.

Dylan Lopez Contreras, a Bronx high schooler arrested by federal immigration agents in May, was denied asylum and ordered to be deported back to Venezuela, his attorneys said Wednesday.

Teachers can explore these lesson plans, websites, and other resources to enhance project-based learning units that incorporate a variety of subjects.

A national coalition of educators and advocates for English learners is calling on the U.S. Department of Education to reinstate federal guidance that the Trump administration quietly rescinded in August.

Close to 40% of all public school students speak a language other than English at home, and the multilingual student population in California is growing more diverse. Yet the number and share of English Learners (EL) in California public schools has fallen. PPIC researchers Beyond Deng and Laura Hill discussed findings from a new report on the changing English Learner population and the obstacles faced by districts in providing courses and services to EL students.