ELL News Headlines

Ave Weekes-Stephens had her work cut out for her the day she took over as principal in 2010 at Cane End Government School, a primary school in St. Vincent in the Eastern Caribbean. The school had very few books. There was no library. Many kids struggled with reading. "The students' literacy levels were way below their age and grade level," she said. So she set her sights on creating a school library, which seemed like an uphill task since reading materials were limited. A lack of resources has historically dogged the island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a mountainous enclave lapped by a turquoise sea, where 30 percent of residents live in poverty. Weekes-Stephens said she noticed a turnaround at Cane End Government after the school, working with a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer, got connected in 2012 with a nonprofit called Hands Across the Sea, and new books started appearing in her library. Not old, yellowed books discarded by tourists. They were titles the kids wanted to read like "Shauna's Hurricane" by Francine Jacobs and the "Junie. B. Jones" series.

More female, black and Latino students took Advanced Placement computer science courses this year, USA TODAY reports, with participation also rising for rural students.

The National Book Festival on Saturday was the largest in the event's 18-year history, according to estimates from several Library of Congress officials. The festival, sponsored by the Library of Congress since 2001, drew at least 200,000 readers to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in downtown D.C. They listened to talks and interviews with more than 100 authors, including a number of authors for children and teens. Politics and Prose, the official bookseller of the festival, sold more than 17,000 books, a record, according to P&P co-owner Bradley Graham.

Author Katherine Marsh wrote the young adult novel Nowhere Boy — about a teenage Syrian refugee whose father dies on the journey to Europe — in part to help her kids make sense of big, complex topics like immigrant integration, terrorism and the refugee crisis.

In this commentary, Teacher Wendi Pillars writes, "As a teacher of English Language Learners (ELLs), my experience living abroad resonates with the ELL experience here in North Carolina. They serve as global ambassadors, and the increasing diversity in our schools is an opportunity to listen first, to understand what is being said, and to open ourselves to new values."

Whether they are nostalgic reveries of those who came long ago to this nation of immigrants, or the brutal nightmares of worldwide millions fleeing war, violence and persecution today, memories of migration matter. Telling these stories seems more important than ever — even, and some might say especially, to children. A wave of picture books has arrived to help with this difficult task.

Often, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA, is framed as an exclusively Latino issue—that’s far from the truth. Bambadjan Bamba was born in Côte d’Ivoire in West Africa, but he grew up in New York City. He's undocumented and a DACA recipient. He's also a working actor with credits on dozens of movies and TV shows, including a small role in the blockbuster film, "Black Panther." In this segment of "How I Made It," Bamba shares his immigration story.

A group of researchers from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University followed students using a project-based social studies curriculum in 20 high-poverty schools in Michigan. After a year, the researchers found that the kids whose teachers were randomly assigned to instruct through projects posted higher scores on a social studies test created by the researchers than schoolmates who were instructed as usual. (The researchers controlled for academic differences among the kids at the start of the school year.) The project-based kids also had slightly higher reading scores but their writing scores were no different. "Project-based learning can be great and it can be pretty awful," said Nell Duke, one of the lead authors of the study and a professor of education at the University of Michigan. "This study shows that a well-designed project-based curriculum might be more effective than traditional instruction."

Your favorite time of year is almost here again, book lovers. Around 150 of the country's most celebrated authors, poets and illustrators will attend the 18th annual Library of Congress National Book Festival on Saturday, Sept. 1. The Book Festival fills Washington's vast convention center with a jam-packed schedule, so it’s time to get planning. That's why we created a suggested itinerary to help you navigate the beautiful chaos and catch a wide swath of the offerings.

Nearly a year after Hurricane Maria caused great physical damage and emotional turmoil across the island, the high school in Maunabo, some 90 minutes south of San Juan, has reopened for the new school year. Yet fundamental challenges remain to keeping students enrolled and their minds in a good place to learn.