ELL News Headlines

Katherine Huete Galeano teaches junior high special education at a charter school in the Gage Park community of Chicago. Huete Galeano, who has Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) status, is in her second year of Teach for America, which has 100 undocumented members teaching 6,000 students across 11 states. Huete Galeano says Teach for America was one of the few places that recognized her skill set and life experiences that better allow her to relate to her students, many of whom share the same fears she did as a child.

Mayor Bill de Blasio this week pushed ahead with plans to make New York City one of nation's few big cities to offer free, full-day preschool for all 3-year-olds­­. His proposal builds on widespread consensus that high-quality pre-K programs can have a huge positive impact on the lives of children – especially low-income ones – as well as on the parents and family.

The La Grande School District is set to receive a boost from the state that will help students from different cultures shine.  The Oregon Department of Education has awarded a $45,000 grant to the school district for its English Language Learners program, which serves students for whom English is their second language. Some money from the $45,000 grant will be used to train teachers to help ELL students better understand academic languages through the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol teaching model.

New York City has announced an ambitious plan to extend universal preschool to 3 year olds. Mayor Bill de Blasio says the effort will expand on the city's current program for 4 year olds.

Each year, about 65,000 undocumented students graduate from U.S. high schools, and most are protected from deportation under an Obama administration policy called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. But many DACA students are on edge, unsure about what the future holds for them or their families. Special correspondent Kavitha Cardoza of Education Week reports.

In this op-ed, Sonia Nazario, journalist and author of Enrique's Journey writes, "This may surprise you: The U.S. knows a lot about how to dramatically reduce the number of immigrants crossing our southern border illegally. We have programs in place that work. But few politicians promote these efforts. And funding for them soon could be cut….It sounds radical, but this is what works: Instead of adding fire power, fencing and drones at the border, we must deal directly with powerful forces pushing people out of their home countries and toward the U.S. The majority of the border-crossers in the Southwest come from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala — all three are among the most dangerous nations on Earth."

In the Los Angeles Unified School District, students already have the option to spend at least half their day learning in a language other than English at 87 elementary, middle and high schools. Two schools even offer this "dual-language" instruction to preschoolers. Now, district officials want to add even more preschool classrooms into this mix.

"The greatest storytellers connect with readers through universal truths, and Uwiringiyimana tells her own profound story with clarity and honesty. After a heart-pounding cliff-hanger opening, Uwiringiyimana goes back in time to revisit her childhood in Uvira, a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Although occasionally interrupted by bouts of war and subsequent migration, her childhood was rich and fulfilling. However, everything changed during a stay at a refugee camp…The title is a critical piece of literature, contributing to the larger refugee narrative in a way that is complex and nuanced but still accessible for a YA audience. VERDICT This poignant memoir is a must-have for teen collections."

The number of English Language Learners in our schools is growing and, at the same time, both the Every Student Succeeds Act and the Common Core standards are raising the bar for academic expectations.  This two-part series will be examining how teachers can best assist ELLs develop academic language and skills in writing argumentative essays, both which are highlighted in the Common Core. Today's responses come from Tan Huynh, Vicky Giouroukakis, Maureen Connolly, Margo Gottlieb, and Ivannia Soto.  You can listen to a 10-minute conversation I had with Tan, Vicky and Maureen on my BAM! Radio Show. You can also find a list of, and links to, previous shows here.

Just a few months ago, not many knew about these five fourth-graders from a low-income community in Indianapolis. But now, the Panther Bots, a thriving robotics team at Pleasant Run Elementary School, have become the face of a success story about a group of kids who were taunted with racial slurs but were too determined to let that affect their confidence. Earlier this month, they found themselves being honored on the Senate floor of the Indiana Statehouse. The group traveled to Louisville on Sunday to compete in a worldwide robotics contest.