ELL News Headlines

Charles Golding looked for two things when he was researching colleges: a top economics program and a connection to his native culture. A Google search led him to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, a state flagship school with prize-winning economists and a history of indigenous activism. Yet Golding's arrival on campus was discouraging. At times, he felt pressed to speak for all indigenous people or to answer insensitive questions from other students. He did well academically, but still contemplated transferring to a state university back in Arizona. He stuck it out, and in his second semester began to feel more comfortable thanks in part to a campus center created explicitly to serve native students, the Circle of Indigenous Nations. Golding is one of a growing share of American Indian and Alaska Native students who are making it through the Twin Cities university, which has seen its six-year graduation rate for these students rise from 27 percent in 2008 to 69 percent in 2018.

The Education Commission of the States (ECS), an interstate compact on U.S. education policy, has released a new analysis of how states allocate funding for English Learners (ELs). Based on the analysis, 48 states and the District of Columbia provide funding specifically for ELs. Although allocation formulas are different in each state, the report shows that there are three popular funding models: formula funded, categorical funding, and reimbursement.

In this piece for Language Magazine, ELL research Margo Gottlieb writes, "We approach 2020 with hindsight, insight, and foresight: hindsight in realizing the pervasive inequities that have dominated the education of multilingual learners, insight into recognizing substantive changes that are inevitable if we are to co-exist as an educational community, and foresight in envisioning a promising future for our students in which social justice prevails. With a commitment to protecting the language status of multilingualism and the benefits it yields, educators are beginning to take it upon themselves to break down the metaphorical wall that has existed in K–12 education—one built from unfortunate misperceptions and misunderstandings that have come to define the field of language education."

Six educators share advice on how to support Long-Term English-Language Learners, including emphasizing vocabulary development and academic language.

Four educators provide recommendations on how to support Long-Term English-Learners, including providing more support to them earlier and identifying whether they have other special needs earlier, too!

The new question-of-the-week is: What are the best ways we can support Long-Term English-Language Learners? Many students in our schools are "categorized" as Long-Term English-Language Learners (commonly viewed as students who have been ELLs for six years or more).  This series will explore what that term means, and how we can support students who fit into that criteria.

Nearly 40 years after high school students in Oakland, Calif., campaigned to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a holiday, students at the same school are taking inspiration from their predecessors.

To teach a love of reading, Corrina Reamer starts by writing. Each fall, she pens a letter to her 11th grade English class at T.C. Williams High School International Academy in Northern Virginia. She tells the students who she is: where she's from, the jobs she has held, which TV shows she favors. Then, she asks for a reply. "I read all of those letters," Reamer said. Over the next few weeks, "I think about it. I come up with three-to-five books for each kid, and we sit down, face-to-face, to read the jackets."

Teachers who work with English-language learners are more apt to use general digital resources rather than tools designed specifically for English-learners, a recently released report from the U.S. Department of Education indicates.

Equipped with a couple of new grants from the state, the Worcester schools plan to begin expanding their bilingual program to the high school level next year, with the goal of eventually having a dual language option in every grade.