ELL News Headlines

Shamima Ahmed is a senior at Central Park East High School and a 2023-24 Chalkbeat Student Voices fellow. In this commentary, she writes, "Through my participation in college readiness and career development programs, I learned about myself and was encouraged to speak up. I was shown how valuable my perspective as a Bengali woman from a low-income family — an intersectional identity that has shaped me — was to various conversations and situations. That validation encouraged my self-advocacy. Whether it was at school, during group projects, or in interviews, I have found a way to advocate for myself."

The Americans With Disabilities Act, which was signed into law in July of 1990, protects individuals with disabilities from discrimination. Every July, Disability Pride Month commemorates this legislation. As the world prepares for the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games, starting August 28th in Paris, here are a few nonfiction titles for young readers of all ages about the Games and some of the inspiring athletes who have competed.

Engaging with different cultures allows high school students to develop an empathetic and globally inclusive perspective.

In a recently published study in the journal npj Science of Learning, researchers have discovered a significant relationship between the way children tell stories and their reading abilities. This research found that children who displayed more complex narrative structures in their oral stories tended to perform better on reading tests several months later. This link appears to be independent of the child’s intelligence and understanding of others’ perspectives.

These strategies for using the annual competition for project-based learning can help engage students in US history and promote design thinking.

Studies show that in more places in the United States, there are now more days hotter than 80 degrees during the school year than there were in 1970. Schools that can’t afford air conditioning are struggling with overheated classrooms, which researchers say pose both academic and health risks. John Yang speaks with Washington Post reporter Anna Phillips, who covers climate change, for more.

Big city districts like Baltimore, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh often have old school buildings that can't handle AC for one reason or another. In many cases, they try to find workarounds for a handful of hot days each year.

Sunisa Nuonsy is a Lao-American educator and scholar based in Brooklyn. She is a doctoral student at the CUNY Graduate Center and a project researcher for the CUNY Initiative on Immigration and Education. In this opinion piece, she writes, "For marginalized students, especially recent immigrants doing the double duty of learning content and a new language, a standardized approach can be exclusive and an inaccurate assessment."

Today’s post is the latest in a series sharing teachers’ favorite lessons for English- language-learner newcomers.

For Lina Zapata, becoming a teacher was an early calling that stemmed from her own struggles learning English in New York schools. A Colombian native, Zapata immigrated to the United States with her mom when she was 12. She remembers the challenges they faced in navigating the public school system, often without needed support. But those experiences have shaped Zapata into the kind of teacher she needed when she was young.