ELL News Headlines

When schools moved to virtual learning because of the coronavirus pandemic, there was growing concern over how English as a second language students would adapt. "I was a little worried," East High School ESL Teacher Catalina Thompson said. "How do we keep the momentum going?"

When schools reopen in the fall, they will look very different than the schools children left in the spring. There will likely be masks, temperature checks and extra space between desks. Nearly 1 out of 5 teachers may not be able to return to school buildings. And looming over schools will be the potential for additional closures forcing students back to remote learning. This new Blueprint for Back to School lays out the issues leaders need to address in these next four months. It is a product reflecting the thinking of 21 former state education chiefs, federal policymakers (spanning the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations), district superintendents and charter school leaders.

Many states are leaving decisions about how to continue instruction during school closures up to districts. Digital Promise and The Education Trust partnered to compile the following questions to guide equity advocates and district leaders as they engage in conversations about ensuring that our most vulnerable students have equitable access to distance learning, both now and for however long school buildings are shuttered. Depending on public health guidance, distance learning may be needed for the summer and parts of the next school year. In this guide, we share ideas that advocates and district leaders can consider when planning for how to continue teaching and supporting students, based on what other states and districts have begun to do.

Beatriz Morales, who only speaks Spanish, has been trying to teach her first grade daughter how to read in English ever since schools closed and Chicago Public Schools rolled out remote learning. "My English is upside down, but I try to be there for my little girl," Morales said in Spanish. Her two children go to Seward Elementary on the South Side and are also learning English. "We try to figure out the pronunciation together." When Morales needs help with pronunciation, she asks her son for guidance. He’s a third grader who also needs help with English. She pretends to be in control so her kids don’t lose confidence, but she knows they are falling behind.

Some private schools provide online luxury learning during the pandemic. As many public schools struggle to adjust, the nation’s educational gaps widen.

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Catalina Sol, executive director of La Clínica del Pueblo in Washington, D.C., about how the coronavirus is impacting the Latino community.

After 35 years as an early childhood teacher and advocate, MaryLou Beaver became the director of The Children’s Place and Parent Education Center in Concord, New Hampshire, last November. It’s a job she loves. The coronavirus could end all that, perhaps forever. Because of the spread of the virus, Beaver decided on March 13 to close the center, which is a nonprofit, for two days the following week to do a deep cleaning. She drove to six nearby stores that weekend to find just three gallons of bleach. By March 15, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu had ordered all public schools to close, though child care services were allowed to stay open. Beaver, with four of five staffers over age 60 and the youngest worker managing diabetes, decided staying open would be too risky.