ELL News Headlines

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is calling on the U.S. Department of Education to reinstate federal guidance that the Trump administration quietly rescinded in August.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.

New Mexico, long at the bottom of state rankings for child well-being and educational outcomes, is on the verge of launching a first-in-the-nation program aimed at helping reverse those trends: free child care and preschool for all resident families, regardless of income.

Thirteen is a scary number, an unlucky hide-under-your-covers and don’t-answer-the-door kind of number. This is fitting because this October, readers will get a look at my new book, Fall of the Fireflies, the first book in the "Seasons of Sisterhood" series. It's set in the world of Summer of the Mariposas, a fantasy I wrote 13 years ago that is a Mexican American retelling of the Odyssey. Some of the supernatural beings in that novel included a coven of screeching witch owls known as lechuzas, a ghoulish nagual with a hunger for power (and children), and blood-thirsty chupacabras. 

Opportunities for outdoor learning don’t require special materials, and you can get started by dedicating just 10 minutes to the experience.