ELL News Headlines

An estimated 1,100 children from 20 Native tribes attended the Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School for 17 years. But for many of them, “school” meant forced labor, forced assimilation, and abuse, not real education. At least 31 students died at the school, far from the families that loved them. Tribal members, educators, and advocates around the state say a new report about Fort Lewis is a call for Colorado to do a better job of educating more students about Indigenous history; some have long complained that schools do a mediocre job of teaching the topic, when it happens at all. They also want schools to provide more support — and create a more inclusive environment — for Native students today.

Language diversity has never been more real in classrooms around the world. With globalization comes increased mobility, and the language of instruction may not be the one our students choose when they think; speak to their parents, grandparents, and friends; watch TV; read; and listen to music. Acknowledging our students’ language backgrounds and experiences can be powerful: Not only does it contribute to fostering a sense of belonging, but also it supports learners in building their self-identity and celebrating each other’s differences. The question is: How can we do it in a meaningful and engaging way?

As educators, we want to provide the necessary avenues that young children require to develop into happy, empathetic, kind individuals. Nature is full of awe-inspiring beauty, and we simply need to take advantage of the opportunity of exposing children to its boundless experiences. Nature provokes children into action to formulate their own ideas and self-guided investigations. When children are fully immersed and exposed to experiences with nature, they’re given an open invitation for free adventure.

Audubon Elementary offers several unique options for students including a gardening club and English language learners program.

Several years ago, Larry Ferlazzo interviewed Zaretta Hammond about the elements of culturally responsive teaching. Today, she’s back, and this time, she’s here to discuss the common mistakes when doing it.

Two bills currently before the Michigan Senate would require state departments to provide translation services for people with limited English in most circumstances.

Dearborn, just west of Detroit, Mich., is a city often estimated to be at least half Arab American, with a general population of about 108,000. It's where author Ghassan Zeineddine set his debut collection of short stories, Dearborn.

Nestled between a nondescript section of route 40 and the Patapsco River in Catonsville, Md., lies a 33-acre plot of land owned by Baltimore City Public Schools. Called the Great Kids Farm, the land serves as an outdoor classroom for students in the urban district.

To get kids wielding academic and discipline-specific vocabulary, they need to observe words in context as they read, talk, and write about topics and concepts — and receive explicit instruction. Adapting strategies that work well for English learners can be a highly effective way to teach all students academic vocabulary, suggest educators Tan Huynh and Beth Skelton, authors of the recently published book Long-Term Success for Experienced Multilinguals.

Research points to dual language immersion programs—where instruction is given in two languages with roughly equal shares of native speakers for both—as an ideal model for the nation’s growing English learner population. Yet researchers at The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank, found that only about 16.5 percent of all English learners are enrolled in some form of a bilingual program, with 7.9 percent specifically in dual language immersion programs, according to state data from 2019-20. Part of the challenge of enrolling more English learners into these programs is the lack of bilingual staff in K-12 schools, as new research has found.