ELL News Headlines

Over 50 community college students in California currently serve as resource guides for peers in need of stable housing, food access and other basic needs.

Initial findings from a study of a closely watched Oakland Unified School District program that recruits parents and neighbors as tutors show intriguing potential for other lower-income school districts struggling to teach kids to read.

When your child is an English learner, it can be confusing and difficult to understand whether they are progressing normally toward proficiency in the language and what they need to do to be reclassified as fluent and English proficient. Here’s a quick guide to how schools classify students as English learners, what they have to provide for students to help them learn English, what criteria they take into account in reclassifying them as proficient in English, and why reclassification matters.

Beyond her trailblazing role as the first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor considered iCivics – a civics education nonprofit founded after she retired from the court – to be her “most important legacy.”

It’s always important to go back to the “why” we want students to talk about their learning. When students talk about what they’re learning, it helps them process, clarify, connect, and solidify. If students only read or listen to new content, the level of learning can only go so far. Let’s not forget the critical role that engagement plays in learning. If students aren’t engaged, then save your energy and do something more effective.

Migrant children in the U.S. are working some of the most dangerous jobs in the country and private auditors assigned to root out unlawful labor practices often overlook child labor. The most common job for migrant children is also one of the most hazardous, roofing and construction, despite laws prohibiting anyone under 18 from doing so.

Management over the state grants for improving instruction of English learners returned to the U.S. Department of Education’s office of English language acquisition, known as OELA, this week. The office of elementary and secondary education, or OESE, has overseen Title III grants for the last 15 years. The federal aid is intended for supplemental services in language and academic instruction of English learners.

What have we been conditioned to think an effective classroom looks like? For many, it’s a vision that includes tables of students sitting quietly, working diligently as the teacher walks around or pulls small groups. But when I reflect back on my own childhood and on what I’ve learned in my career as a paraprofessional, it’s clear that the most effective classrooms aren’t necessarily the ones that are most quiet or still, but the ones that prioritize relationships and community building.

A 17-year-old high school student been identified as the shooter in an incident that occurred at 7:37 a.m. Thursday at Perry High School. One student, a sixth grader at the middle school, was killed. Police said the student may have been at the high school to take part in its breakfast program. Four other students and one school administrator were injured at the scene.

Iowa's Teacher of the Year for 2024 comes from Hoover High School in Des Moines. Ann Mincks is a 16-year teacher of English language learners at one of the state's most diverse high schools, where around 25% of students are English learners. During the award ceremony Monday, Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts congratulated Mincks and unrolled a "Teacher of the Year" banner to hang in the halls at Hoover.