ELL News Headlines

The fate of federal support for English learners is in crisis as the national office dedicated to these 5.3 million students recently got decimated, researchers and educators say.

In many ways, the expectations for educators are in the realm of miracles. We are asked to teach students the skills and knowledge that will enable social mobility, absent the support of a just society. We have mostly accepted this challenge. The opportunities offered at high schools have expanded to include advanced and college-level classes, intensive academic and social-emotional support, and career training.

In education, we talk a lot about engagement, but focus is really the foundation. In my own high school classroom, I’ve learned that students aren’t being defiant or uncaring when they’re unfocused—they’re struggling to listen with purpose. They need tools that can help them focus better and improve their attention stamina. 

In kindergarten through 5th grade classrooms at Allen Jay Elementary School, students learn subjects like reading, math, and science in English, and in Urdu. The school, in High Point, N.C., offers dual-language immersion programs in Urdu and Spanish, reflecting the two most commonly spoken world languages in the local community.

Math teacher Victor Hurtado knows what it’s like to enter high school as a recently arrived immigrant. After growing up in Durango, Mexico, he moved to Chicago as a teenager and enrolled in Schurz High School, which had an English-Spanish bilingual program at that time. Now, Hurtado serves as the math department chair teaching advanced algebra and AP Calculus at Schurz, which is now one of three dual-language high schools in Chicago Public Schools.

Since January, school and district leaders across the country have been grappling with the varied ripple effects of President Donald Trump’s administration’s fast-paced changes to immigration policies, from no longer regarding schools as “protected areas” from immigration enforcement to more aggressive immigration arrests, including of international college students on visas and green cards.

In North America, the return of longer days also cues the vibrant return of songbirds. Though not all birds disappear during the winter, the number and variety increase during the spring migration—and watching them is a great way for both students and teachers to connect with nature, whether through books, citizen science projects, online feeder stations, or outdoor bird-watching expeditions. 

Opportunities to read and work through text with a peer encourage students to take an active role in their learning.

Harlem was home. Then a trip to Korea helped me understand the two cultures that shaped me.

Social-emotional learning is at the core of Carrie White's 2nd grade classroom in Schenectady, N.Y. The veteran teacher has been in the classroom for nearly 20 years. Reflecting on that journey, she discusses not only how much the teaching profession has changed in that time, but how much the kids have changed, too. No longer is focusing on the academics enough, she says, as kids come into her classroom with “big emotions” that they need to learn how to handle.