ELL News Headlines

In 2015, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha discovered the lead contamination after Flint, Mich., switched its drinking water source. She talks with NPR's Michel Martin about helping reverse the problem.

Despite legislation already on the runway in Congress, it's unclear whether lawmakers will approve permanent legal protections for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States illegally when they were minors — even as President Donald Trump sends strong signals he wants such a deal for the so-called "Dreamers." Also unclear: what if any role education policy will play in those arguments in Washington.

Abeer and Nora al-Sheikh Bakri are sisters from Douma, Syria. They fled their homeland in 2012 after their country's civil war engulfed the city. They spent four years in Egypt before being resettled in Clarkson, Georgia, in 2016 with other members of their families. Suffice to say they know what it’s like to watch homes crumble before their eyes. So when Hurricane Irma bore its weight down on the southeastern U.S., displacing more than half a million people by Sunday, they sprung into action.

Last spring, in a weathered trailer in Bar Elias, Lebanon within walking distance from the nearby refugee camps, Syrian teenagers were hard at work at Arabic, math, science, and English lessons. For many of the students in the makeshift schoolhouse, refugees who have fled war and violence in their home country, it was the first time they had sat in a classroom in years.

Children caught in natural or man-made disasters can suffer from trauma and bereavement far longer than adults realize, and this can affect not only how well they perform at school but also the trajectory of their lives, researchers say. Floodwaters eventually recede, power is restored, buildings are repaired and daily routines begin again, but many children struggle, finding it difficult to concentrate, do schoolwork and sleep. Some are scared to leave home for school, fearful something will happen to them or their families. And at school, some will act out, leading to suspension and expulsion, while others can’t concentrate, said David Schonfeld, head of the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement at the University of Southern California.

This Friday, September 15, kicks off National Hispanic Heritage Month, a four-week celebration of the cultures, histories, and peoples of Spanish, Mexican, Caribbean, and Central and South American descent. The following fiction, nonfiction, and professional reading titles explore the myriad ways in which Latinx young people navigate family, friendships, school, and public life in North America — and all are unforgettable reads.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) has announced the awarding of $20 million in grants under the National Professional Development Program (NPD), to support educators of English learner students.

Broken windows. Leaking roofs. Flooded classrooms. Downed trees. No electricity. That's some of what Florida school districts officials were seeing as many finally made their way onto school grounds Tuesday for their first close look at the damage from Hurricane Irma. But the most significant and pressing problem for many school districts — as for many of Irma's victims in Florida — is the lack of electricity. Even if school buildings did not sustain extensive damage, some K-12 officials said they could not say with certainty when school will reopen open because large segments of their communities were still in the dark.

The second-floor hallway of Freeman High School near Spokane, Wash., was at once a scene of chilling violence and pure bravery Wednesday morning. There, at around 10 a.m., one student brandished the guns he had stashed in a duffel bag, determined to begin his rampage. Another student, identified by local media as Sam Strahan, tried to stop him. "That type of courage," Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said, cost Strahan his life.

After years of reform and advocacy efforts, bilingual education activists across California celebrated the adoption of California's first new language policy in more than two decades — the English Learner Roadmap. The roadmap, unanimously adopted by the State Board of Education in July, is an online resource for school districts that will help guide curriculum, instruction and standards for the 1.4 million English learners in the state's public schools. The roadmap does not replace the English language development standards or state standards; it is intended to supplement them and inform policy about English learners.