ELL News Headlines

As wildfires in Los Angeles County continue to rage, one public library branch and two LA Unified School District schools are among the thousands of structures already destroyed. The California Department of Education has partnered with SupplyBank.org Disaster Relief Fund to help students, teachers, and school staff.

In many K-12 schools across the country, an alarming number of children have been chronically absent – an old problem that COVID-19 made much, much worse.  In California, more than 1 in 3 kindergartners was chronically absent. But the tiny town of Livingston, in California’s sprawling Central Valley, is an outlier – and a powerful lesson in the ways a district can proactively prevent wide-scale absenteeism.

In Lexington, Nebraska, where two-thirds of residents are Hispanic, hundreds of children lack access to high-quality child care from providers who can communicate with their parents. Something had to change.

Author Pedro Martín hopes to connect with all audiences who can remember being stuck on a classic family road trip in his graphic memoir, "Mexikid." His book won the Pura Belpré Author and Illustrator Awards, as well as a Newbery Honor Award.

Over the past two years, K-12 teacher apprenticeship programs have been registered in 34 states and Puerto Rico. While many of these programs are in early stages, this moment offers an opportunity to develop approaches that both address specific teacher workforce needs and that align with changing student demographics.

Dr. Sophia Rodriguez writes, "For the past 15 years, I have worked as a teacher, coach, and then ethnographer and education policy researcher to try to understand how newcomer immigrant students experience their schools and communities. In my research roles, I have interviewed hundreds of immigrant youth, and I have learned of their everyday realities, their enduring hope, and their struggle for belonging in the U.S."

Years ago, the Beaverton school district in Oregon participated in a study to determine the right models for improving English learners’ academic achievement. The results, which came out in 2019, pointed to two promising models, especially for the elementary grades: dual-language immersion, in which students learn in both English and another language, and an integrated, collaborative model, such as when a content-area and English-language-development teacher work side by side in the same classroom, ensuring English learners are exposed to grade-level academic content and vocabulary.

The trailer at Colfax Elementary is one of Denver Public Schools’ six “community hubs,” and the English language classes are among the most popular offerings. Launched in 2022 by Superintendent Alex Marrero, the community hubs were meant to take a two-generation approach to improving students’ lives by helping both children and parents with everything from food and clothing to financial counseling and mobile medical appointments. Now, as more than 3,500 migrant students have enrolled in DPS since the beginning of the school year, the hubs are increasingly serving their families as they build new lives in Denver.

Guiding students to develop ‘scientist voices’ helps them feel more connected to and engaged with science curriculum.

The thing about Meg Medina? Not content to rest on her laurels, this one. This year she has another picture book coming out called No More Señora Mimí. Sweet and sad and unique, Medina taps into that very real moment when a child realizes that they're losing their beloved babysitter thanks to the arrival of a beloved grandmother. Bittersweet, it's a lovely book deserving of an in-depth interview.