ELL News Headlines

Nooria Luddin and her younger brother, Samiullah, fled Afghanistan in March 2020 to live with their father in Annandale. Their father, Tahir, brought his five oldest children to the United States – leaving behind his wife and eight younger siblings –  to ensure their safety. He was worried the Taliban might target him and his family because he had previously worked for several western European and American journalism outlets. But Tahir noted it was also important to him that his children receive an education in the United States because they could not get it in Afghanistan. Tahir is awaiting the arrival of his wife and other children, who were among thousands of Afghans who fled after the Taliban takeover earlier this month. They are currently in Qatar.

It’s possible that a number of schools might be welcoming Afghan refugee students soon. How can teachers/schools/districts best support them?

Teachers are returning to the classroom with mixed feelings of excitement and anxiety as they ease students back into classrooms after 17 months of distance learning, according to a panel of educators during an EdSource Roundtable Discussion, the second in a new series.

The Newark school district has failed to properly educate many students who are still learning English, according to a nearly four-year investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice that found “wide-ranging failures” in the district’s English language program, officials said.

An enrolled tribal member, Sadie Perry lives in the southeast corner of the Navajo Nation on a property with three buildings, two horses and 11 family members, including her six grandsons and one of her daughters, who is ailing. When the coronavirus began sweeping across the world last year, Perry quickly loaded up on pandemic supplies, including food to feed her family, diesel to power her generator and water to fill her tank. But there is one essential that has always been scarce in this part of the country and that she couldn’t stock up on: Broadband access.

It’s not just the delta variant that makes Zhenghao Lin, a Chinese immigrant, nervous about returning to school next month. Zhenghao, a rising senior at Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School in Brooklyn, said he has been subjected to racist comments at school since he arrived in New York City as a fourth grader. His anxiousness about interacting with non-Asian peers only grew over the course of the pandemic.

The start of a new school year can be scary for all students, but especially younger ones. Share these stories to help them laugh, find someone who understands what they’re feeling, and give them tools to help navigate the new year.

As more Afghan refugees flee from Taliban rule and resettle in Central Texas, Austin ISD’s Refugee Family Support Services Office will facilitate additional trainings to assist teachers in identifying mental health needs of incoming students.

Larry Ferlazzo collects responses to the question: "It's possible that a number of schools might be welcoming Afghan refugee students soon. How can teachers/schools/districts best support them?"

As students head back into another pandemic school year, the Biden administration is announcing millions in new funding for mental health awareness, training, and treatment. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is expected to announce the funds at Children's Hospital New Orleans on Friday morning.