ELL News Headlines

On his first day of school, an eighth grade student looked lost in the halls of West Morgan Elementary — because he should have been at West Morgan Middle. Third grade teacher Susette Hall quickly realized the student spoke little English. She introduced herself using Spanish she had learned in an after-school class for Morgan County Schools teachers. The 120-hour class, "Conversational Spanish and Culture for K-8 Teachers," has transformed relationships between students, teachers and parents in Morgan County Schools.

After dipping during the COVID-19 pandemic, homelessness among Connecticut students is rising again, data shows.

A sign may not seem like much. But for a child entering a school for the first time from a different country, a different culture, that sign might mean the world. Irving Elementary and the School City of Hammond on Thursday unveiled signs reflecting the school's Dual Language Immersion Program. In addition to the large unveiled letters outside, 200 signs inside Irving are now in English, Spanish, and Braille.

Following months of urging by undocumented students, the University of California next week will consider a proposal to allow the hiring of those students for jobs across the 10-campus university system. If the UC board of regents takes that step, UC would become the first known institution to argue that a federal statute’s ban on the hiring of undocumented persons does not apply to states. The issue could result in a court challenge, experts said.

A dual-language charter school primarily for the underserved children of migrant farmworkers is expected to open in August in Mulberry, according to leaders of the school's operator, Redlands Christian Migrant Association.

At Frank Sparkes Elementary, words fly everywhere. On a recent Monday, kindergartners sang and danced as they learned about the silent e that changes other vowel sounds.

After her son was born eight years ago, Joanna Ho, a former educator, said she had trouble finding children's books featuring Asian American, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander characters. This drove Ho to become an author herself.

After New York City’s public libraries last week averted deep cuts that would have significantly reduced hours, some parents and educators are raising alarm about the state of libraries in the city’s public schools. The nation’s largest school system, with 1,600 schools, has roughly 260 certified school librarians, education department officials said.

This post continues a series on how teachers can encourage English Language Learners to oral skills.

Civics and U.S. history scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress were released yesterday, showing significant declines for 8th graders in both subjects.