ELL News Headlines

Education Secretary Christopher Ruszkowski announced that a total of 1,327 students have earned the 'Seal of Bilingualism-Biliteracy' on their New Mexico Diploma of Excellence. Students have earned the seal for demonstrating proficiency in Spanish, French, Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Keres, Navajo, Tewa, Tiwa and Zuni. The seal was first implemented in Sept. 2015 and in 2018 676 were earned by high school students and this set an unprecedented record.

Guided use of social media in classrooms can help boost the literacy and language development of English-learners in multiple languages, according to a pair of studies from a University of Minnesota research team.

Debbie Reese writes, "When We Play Our Drums, They Sing by Richard Van Camp and Lucy & Lola by Monique Gray Smith are two outstanding books... in one… Van Camp's author's note tells us that his mother went to Residential school. He tells us that he recently worked up the courage to talk with his mother about her experiences. In her note, Monique Gray Smith writes that her family members were also in the schools."

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is embracing a higher profile this fall in her off-the-bench role promoting education, as author of two new books for young people and in assuming the mantle of a national leader in efforts to improve civics education and engagement among youth.

The first time Majd AlGhatrif saw this historic mill town of colonial buildings at the confluence of the Patapsco and Tiber rivers, he thought of Syria. The structures, built of gray stone, and the history they evoked, reminded him of the timelessness and architecture of his hometown, Sweida, in southern Syria. He soon bought a house here, in 2013, then opened Syriana Cafe & Gallery, in 2016, and came to view everything about Ellicott City's people — their kindness and decency — as an antidote to the fear others were expressing over Syrian immigrants like him. So when floods again ripped through here in May, killing a Maryland National Guardsman, closing businesses up and down its historic district and producing images of destruction recalling the floods of 2016, he vowed to do anything he could to help a community that had become his own.

A language workshop for parents in northeast Calgary is highlighting the many benefits of keeping home languages alive and encouraging parents to pass on their spoken language to their kids.

New evidence has emerged that cooperation between local law-enforcement officials and federal immigration authorities can drive immigrant students and their families from schools. Such voluntary partnerships between the federal government and 55 jurisdictions may have uprooted 300,000 Hispanic children from their schools between 2000 and 2011, according to a Stanford University study released last month.

In the wake of the shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, teachers at a nearby Jewish immersion school are navigating how to talk to students about the attack and anti-Semitism.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released a report highlighting the educational landscape for English learners (ELs) and how Title III funds are being used to support their learning. The Biennial Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Title III State Formula Grant Program is mandated by law and provides data from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico on a variety of indicators including funding, demographics of the EL subgroup, language programs for ELs, accountability metrics for current and monitored former ELs and teaching staff to work with ELs.

President Trump says he can end birthright citizenship with an executive order. But most legal scholars — and even leaders of the president's own party — are skeptical.