ELL News Headlines

The new "question-of-the-week" is: "What are specific online strategies you have used to apply culturally responsive teaching in an online or hybrid environment?" Today's contributors are Shelly M. Jones, Ph.D., Gina Laura Gullo, Isabel Becerra, and Candace Hines.

A few days into the lockdown here in London, I noticed a surprising side-effect of the pandemic: My 3-year-old son was speaking more German. German is my mother tongue, and I have used it with him since he was born, but because everyone around us speaks English, including my British husband, we settled into a pattern typical of mixed families. I spoke to my son in German, and he replied in English. Then Covid-19 reshuffled our linguistic deck. As all of us quarantined at home, my son embraced German with unprecedented enthusiasm. Now, almost six months on, it has become his preferred language. In a complete reversal, he even replies to my husband in German.

The new "question-of-the-week" is: "What are specific online strategies you have used to apply culturally responsive teaching in an online or hybrid environment?" Today, Vivian Yun, Adeyemi Stembridge, Ph.D.,  Andrew Dryden, and Valentina Gonzalez offer their responses.

The Coalition for English Learner Equity (CELE), a group of national education leaders and organizations, working together to improve educational outcomes for linguistically and culturally diverse students, has launched a new national effort to help address the education disparities faced by English Learners across the nation. The COVID 19 pandemic exposed long-standing inequities and school systems are ill-equipped to meet the needs of EL students. This initiative addresses these challenges by providing guidance to district and state leaders as well as educators to reimagine the way this critical population is served in schools. 

With the ongoing pandemic, Hispanic Heritage celebrations are looking a bit different this year. Iowa's Latino Heritage Festival is a state wide event that celebrates the month and dates back to 2002. Organizers say it's a great way to celebrate the rich traditions and culture.

With several schools starting the year on remote or hybrid learning plans, several Latino families say they are hitting a wall when it comes to teaching their children.  One north Toledo mother says that the situation presents so many difficulties that she would rather have her kids go back to in-school learning than to see them fall behind. 

In late June and early July, the Denver school district asked families to make a choice: Would they want their children to stay home this fall and learn online, or would they want to send their children in person to school buildings, with safety protocols to protect against the coronavirus? The district got answers for about half of its 92,000 students. For 75% of students whose families responded, the preference was the in-person option, which has since been delayed by at least several weeks. But survey results obtained by Chalkbeat through an open records request reveal differences by race. While 88% of white students chose the in-person option, only 65% of African American students and 67% of Hispanic students did — a trend also seen nationally. A similar percentage of Asian students, 69%, chose the in-person option.

When Wilbur Cross teacher Kristin Mendoza had the floor, she didn't waste the chance to advocate for undocumented students facing extra disadvantages during the Covid-19 pandemic. Mendoza was selected by group of peers to be New Haven Public Schools’ Teacher Of The Year. Superintendent Iline Tracey invited her to give a brief acceptance speech at Monday’s Board of Education meeting.

A Spanish teacher at Wood River Middle School in Hailey has been tabbed as Idaho's 2021 Teacher of the Year. Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra surprised Jorge Pulleiro with the award Tuesday morning.

The overall attendance rate for first graders in Los Angeles Unified is down 3.7% compared to a year ago — and down by two or three times that rate for some of the highest-needs students — according to the latest data from the district. Cumulative attendance rates since the start of the school year show a 7.5% drop in attendance among Black students and a 4.1% decrease among Latino students in the first grade. The rates also went down by 4.2% for English learners, 4% for students with disabilities, 9.6% for foster youths and 13.5% for homeless students.