ELL News Headlines

In a press release, TESOL stated, "TESOL International Association opposes the U.S. federal government’s decision, announced the week of 11 August 2025, to rescind the January 2015 Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) issued by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division (CRT) and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Although the rescission does not alter U.S. law or change the responsibilities of state and local education agencies (SEAs and LEAs) to provide quality education for multilingual learners of English (MLEs) and ensure families have access to information and can make informed decisions, it raises questions about how states, school districts, educators, paraprofessionals, and administrators will continue to meet these obligations for a growing MLE population."

PBS's chief executive told public television officials Thursday that it was cutting about 15% of its jobs due to the move by Republicans in Congress to eliminate all federal funding for public broadcasting starting on Oct. 1. Thirty-four PBS staffers were notified Thursday that their positions were being cut. Taken with the loss of a longstanding federal grant for an educational initiative earlier this summer, and the elimination of about three dozen other vacant positions, PBS will have lost more than 100 jobs in all.

Across the U.S., many parents are breathing a collective sigh of relief: school is back in session. Sitting in her trailer home in rural southern Maryland, a woman who asks to go by her first initial, "M.", says she is one of those very relieved parents. That's because she spent most of the summer indoors with her four children and says it almost drove her crazy. She asked NPR to refer to her by first initial only because she is undocumented, and like many immigrants without papers, the new school year is bringing up new fears and anxiety about ICE enforcement in and around schools.

As a growing number of states ban cellphones in public schools, some schools — such as Bethlehem High in Delmar — are experimenting with offering students old-school games and puzzles for their lunch periods. Educators say the options have helped smooth the transition to phone-free environments.

About 1 in 3 students in California’s K-12 schools speak a language other than English at home and were not fluent in English when they first started school — 1,918,385 students — according to data from the 2024-25 school year. About half of these students (1,009,066) are current English learners. The rest (909,319) have learned enough English in the years since they started school to now be considered “fluent English proficient.”

Classes began this week for students at the University at Buffalo, a public research university in western New York, but there were about 750 fewer international students on campus than expected. The new students who did make it gathered for a welcome from the school's dean of students. "We know you have had to overcome hurdles to be here – especially this summer, with visas," Tomás Aguirre told the assembled students, representing more than 100 countries. "And I just wanted you to know that we are so glad you were able to make it."

With an asset-based approach, teachers can help students with disabilities recognize strengths while working to address their areas for growth.

In libraries we talk a lot about community—the communities where we deliver service, the communities of librarians to which we belong, and the communities we seek to build and cultivate through literacy and information access. When I think of community in libraries, I often consider its elements: who is included, what we value, how we come together, and why we stay connected. But I’ve had a more concrete example of community on my mind recently. With the Corporation for Public Broadcasting shutdown now imminent, I’ve been revisiting the place where I think I first recognized the meaning of community: Sesame Street.

MassBay Community College has been awarded a $75,000 grant from the Cummings Foundation to expand programs for English Language Learners (ELL) and disadvantaged students in career certificate pathways for high-demand fields including Behavioral Health Technician, Certified Nursing Assistant, and Computer Support Specialists.

English-learner advocates say there’s a growing and urgent need to protect federal funding dedicated to the nation’s English-learner population as the Trump administration seeks to eliminate this source of support.