ELL News Headlines

Mi papi tiene una moto/My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero, illustrated by Zeke Peña, and translated by Andrea Montejo (Kokila, 2019), has won the first-ever gold medal for Best Spanish Language Picture Book from the Center for Children's Literature at Bank Street College of Education. 

English-language learners are severely underrepresented in gifted and talented education programs in the nation's K-12 schools — and the problem may be rooted in the procedures and policies that schools use to identify gifted students. A new guide from Education Northwest offers a series of recommendations, focused on rooting out educator and assessment bias, that could allow more English-learners access to gifted and talented education.

The backlash to the announcement of literary "classics" with covers featuring people of color was immediate, a response that seemed to only surprise those responsible for Diverse Editions. The books will never see the shelves.

Tulsa Public Schools plans to implement or expand dual language programs at three school sites next year, the district announced Monday. The district has broadened its multilingual programs at the elementary level for the past seven years.

Finding bilingual educators has been a long-standing problem for school districts across the country. Now, a study out of Georgia State University explores why finding those teachers may be only half the problem. The "invisible work" of translating and creating curriculum materials in languages other than English that falls on the shoulder of dual-language bilingual educators "too often goes unrecognized and is never remunerated." That responsibility could lead to teachers leaving the profession, concludes Cathy Amanti, a clinical assistant professor at Georgia State.

Students at three Pennsylvania schools were recently told to stay home amid concerns over lead and asbestos contamination, as Pennsylvania State Police investigate what former district officials did to address problems with tainted water. An environmental engineer said he first notified district officials in 2016 that he had found elevated lead levels in drinking water. Joseph Guzek said that when he returned in December 2018 and again in December 2019, he also found lead in the water.

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.