ELL News Headlines

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.

What are practical ways to implement restorative practices? Today, Erika Niles, Gina Laura Gullo, Cheryl Staats, Kelly Capatosto, Ricky Robertson, Victoria Romero, and Dr. Laura Greenstein share their recommendations.

Jason Reynolds is the seventh national ambassador for Young People's Literature. Reynolds will spend his two-year term traveling the country getting young people to tell their stories.