ELL News Headlines

The following is a list of recommended resources, including articles, videos, and other content, used in our various in-person and virtual training sessions and workshops on diversity and cultural literacy for librarians. This list is by no means comprehensive; it represents a starting place for further exploration, reflection, and discussion.

Alison Ambroso is with the Southern Arizona Association for the Visually Impaired. She developed an English as a second language curriculum for immigrants who are blind or visually impaired.

Young Julian lives with his abuela and is obsessed with mermaids. He imagines taking off his clothes, growing a tail, and swimming freely through the blue-tinted water with swirls of fish and stingrays. After spying some women on a train dressed as mermaids, Julian later tells his abuela, "I am also a mermaid," then proceeds to wrap a curtain around his waist as a "tail." Ferns in his hair complete the fantastical look, and when his grandmother catches him — is he in trouble? Not at all! In fact, she takes Julian to a festival where people are dressed as fantastically as Julian.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has chosen Houston Superintendent Richard Carranza as his new schools chancellor, less than a week after the city's top choice publicly backed out of the job. De Blasio touted Carranza's work in San Francisco — improved graduation rates, higher test scores, narrowing of the achievement gap for Latino and low-income students — as the record of someone who can achieve results while focusing on equity. He introduced Carranza, the grandson of Mexican immigrants, as a person whose story embodies the American dream, and he called Carranza an "educators' educator."

The American Civil Liberties Union accused the U.S. government last week of unlawfully separating a Congolese woman and her 7-year-old daughter by holding them in different immigration facilities -- the mother in San Diego, the child in Chicago -- after they sought asylum four months ago.

Today was supposed to be the day that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program officially came to an end, terminating deportation protections for nearly 700,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children.  A Supreme Court ruling delayed that end date, possibly by as much as a year, but DACA enrollees are still using Monday to push Congress and the White House to pass a new law to grant them permanent protections.

Even though the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program remains uncertain, it has not deterred young Dreamers from pursuing scholarships to colleges in the United States. "In the last few months, we have seen a sharp uptick in the number of applications for our college scholarships. It's even surprised me," said Candy Marshall, president of TheDream.US, a nationwide scholarship fund that helps DACA status immigrants attend one of 75 colleges in 15 states.

Luz Bolanos always wanted to work in medicine. In high school, she attended a medical program that catered to her interests in the field. She wasn't sure what exactly she wanted to study or where she would go to college, but her focus was always on a career in healthcare. Those dreams were shattered when she was advised that her undocumented status would put her at risk with the immigration authorities.

Sujei Lugo is a former school librarian in Puerto Rico. She writes, " "I returned to Puerto Rico (with luggage full of books and supplies) for New Year’s and Three Kings’ Day, staying from December 29, 2017 to January 8, 2018. While my family had power when I arrived, it went out a few times while I was there. Seeing the destruction and the lack of progress three months after the storm was startling and upsetting. My people were still in survival mode. But I also saw hope in the Puerto Rican people and their actions–neighbors helping each other, people struggling personally but making an effort to help others, especially kids. March 20 will be the six-month anniversary of the storm and they are still working to rebuild their lives and communities. Here are some of the people who are making a difference."

The Puerto Rican government wants to make big changes to the island's public school systems, including allowing charter schools. But critics say officials want to privatize the system, using the chaos after Hurricane Maria as an excuse.