ELL News Headlines

Larry Ferlazzo is a well-respected teacher, both in the Sacramento high school where he taught for more than two decades and far beyond. He has spent much of his career teaching immigrant students and English language learners. He’s written 10 books about teaching and edited 3 more. He also maintains a personal blog and a column for teachers, where he shares resources and tips for a following of tens of thousands. Now he’s retiring. In this episode, he shares how he became the teacher he is and some words of wisdom for other teachers who will carry his baton.

The accolades keep coming for nonfiction picture books that dare to offer facts and true stories to elementary-aged readers. We cannot wait for autumn, when it's time for a whole other harvest of titles that keep children reading and learning.

Posting visual references to reinforce structure, routines, and expectations helps establish classroom culture and start the year strong.

The Trump administration will temporarily pause enforcement of a new policy that prohibits undocumented children from attending Head Start and keeps undocumented high schoolers out of dual enrollment and early college programs after 21 Democratic attorneys general sued over the new rules.

The Trump administration next week will unfreeze billions of K-12 education dollars it has withheld from states since July 1, the Education Department told states Friday afternoon.  Roughly $5 billion for K-12 schools will flow beginning the week of July 28 to states through four K-12 education grant programs, according to a July 25 Department of Education letter obtained by Education Week. Another $715 million for two adult education grant programs will also flow to states next week, according to a separate Department of Education letter obtained by Education Week.

English-as-a-second-language (ESL) teachers are more likely than any other group of educators to say their morale would get a significant boost if their schools hired more mental health counselors, according to a new analysis of national survey data. The EdWeek Research Center administered an online survey in September and October to a nationally representative sample of more than 2,500 teachers. It asked what it would take to boost their morale in the workplace.

What might improve the morale of teachers of English learners around the country? The EdWeek Research Center administered an online survey in September and October to a nationally representative sample of more than 2,500 teachers of all grades and subjects, and asked what it would take to boost their morale in the workplace. This analysis focused on the attitudes of teachers of English learners.

The Trump administration plans to release more than $5 billion in funding to public schools that it has withheld for nearly a month, a senior administration official said Friday, ending weeks of anxiety and uncertainty for school leaders who had said the freeze jeopardized programs and staffing for the upcoming academic year.

Larry Ferlazzo is retiring this year after teaching social studies and English classes for 22 years at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento. He’s long been a teacher of English learners and new immigrant students. He has also written 10 books for teachers and maintains a popular blog and a column for teachers, where he shares resources and tips.

The U.S. Department of Justice released guidance to federal agencies on July 14 on how to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order from March declaring English the nation’s official language. While experts on English-learner education saw no immediate effects for K-12 schools, they say the new guidance, alongside several recent federal policy changes this year affecting English learners, raises concerns about the executive order’s broader implications for public education.