ELL News Headlines

Ongoing disruptions at the Internal Revenue Service are hindering college students from receiving federal student loans and grants, university administrators say, though federal officials deny it is related to the partial government shutdown. The disruptions, which make it harder for some families to provide proof of their income, could block Pell grants, student loans, parent PLUS loans and other forms of federal financial aid from reaching students. The problems potentially could prevent them from enrolling in spring classes or selecting an affordable school for the coming academic year, according to aid experts.

More than two dozen Lakota school teachers volunteered to end their holiday break early by taking classes to help them better use learning technology in their classrooms. Helen Vassiliou, an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher at Adena Elementary, said the instruction in new ways to incorporate digital teaching and learning in classrooms allows new ways "to showcase what students can do."

"We can transform their learning and this is a perfect opportunity … to build engagement and critical thinking," said Vassiliou. "I have to do better for the kids I work with."

The 116th U.S. Congress is more diverse than ever before, with a historic wave of women of color taking office. While much of the national spotlight has been on the youngest woman to serve in Congress, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York, there is also a former history teacher who has made history with her election: Rep. Jahana Hayes. Hayes, the 2016 National Teacher of the Year, taught high school for over a decade. A Democrat, she is the first black woman from Connecticut to serve in Congress. 

Though the holiday traditions of Three Kings Day vary among cultures and nationalities, many Latino families across the U.S. are maintaining a tradition popular in Spain and Latin American countries.

Award-winning ELL teacher Justin Minkel writes in this column, "In every strong teacher-prep program I have seen, the role of mentor teachers is crucial. But being a skilled teacher of children doesn’t automatically make you a skilled mentor of new teachers. So how do you teach someone to teach?"

September marked the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’s U.S. release. NPR asked teachers then to tell us how the book has changed the way they teach. More than 1,000 educators, from elementary teachers to university professors, responded to NPR’s callout with stories about how they incorporate the Harry Potter series into their curriculum and classrooms. Deborah Stack teaches English as a second language at a middle school in the Bronx, N.Y., and says her classroom is mainly divided between Spanish speakers and Arabic speakers. Finding engaging material in those two languages has been hard, Stack says, especially because her students vary in their reading levels in both their native languages and English. But this year, she decided to try reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone with them after she found the digital editions in both Spanish and Arabic.

Kendall A. King is professor of second language education, University of Minnesota. In this editorial, he writes, "We need to embrace multilingualism as a goal for all state students, both recent arrivals and longtime residents, by leveraging all of our communities’ resources. In policy and practice, this means creating more opportunities for world language learning and stronger English-as-a-second-language programming that builds on students’ first languages through multilingual instruction."

The students who kicked off the Spanish dual-language immersion program 10 school years ago at Parley's Park Elementary School in Utah are now sophomores at Park City High School. Last year, many proved their skills by passing the Advanced Placement test in Spanish with flying colors. Traci Evans, interim associate superintendent of teaching and learning, said 84 percent of the students scored a 3, 4 or 5, which are passing grades for the test. A total of 32 students took the exam.

For the first time, Newark students who are still learning English will gain an edge when they apply to schools this year — part of the district’s ongoing effort to ensure that all schools serve their fair share of high-needs students. The city’s computerized enrollment system, which allows families to apply to most traditional and charter schools using an online portal, has for years given a preference to low-income students and those with disabilities. But it has not previously done that for English learners, even though they are more segregated than those other groups.

A new St. Louis University course is aiming to give law students hands-on experience with immigration law. The course, Removal Defense Project: Sheltering Vulnerable Immigrant Families and Children, will begin spring semester 2019. It centers on providing aspiring attorneys with the skills necessary to defend those in jeopardy of facing removal proceedings.