ELL News Headlines

In this guide for teachers new to working with ELLs, veteran teacher Wendi Pillars writes, "You have language learners in your classes? Congratulations! Imagine all the new angles and perspectives you can include in your teaching this year, the different ways you can tap into students' critical thinking abilities, and how you can design impactful learning experiences for all the children in your classroom. For teachers who have ELLs in their classrooms for the first time, or for the first time in a while, I've created a quick guide to help jump-start your instruction."

During Hurricane Harvey, one DACA recipient and his friend braved rising flood waters to try and rescue survivors. Alonso Guillén and Tomas Carreon joined up with a group of other rescuers, borrowed a boat, and headed out to Spring, Texas to help with recovery efforts. The rescue attempt turned tragic, however, when their boat got caught in a heavy current and crashed into a bridge. One man on the boat survived, but Guillén and Carreon went missing. Several days later, their bodies were found in a river. BuzzFeed reporter Salvador Hernandez initially reported this from Texas, and he spoke with Latino USA to share this story. His original article is available here.

A $2.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education will make it easier for three Missouri districts to meet new federal accountability metrics for students learning English. The grant allows Webster University to provide free English-language learner certification training to 120 teachers at Ritenour, Parkway and St. Louis Public Schools.

Jaime Ballesteros tried to contain his tears on Tuesday while teaching Brooklyn sixth graders about liquids, gases and solids. In between science classes at a charter school in East New York, he broke down at his desk. The government had just canceled the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which had granted temporary protection from deportation to immigrants brought to the country at a young age.  He was just one of the estimated 30,000 DACA recipients in New York who now face uncertain futures, according to statistics kept by the city.  "The last three years that I have been teaching was like a world of possibility for me and my students," said Mr. Ballesteros, 25, who is from the Philippines. "Today, I just didn't feel that same level of hope."

The Migration Policy Institute's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy has put together a framework to evaluate states' Every Student Succeeds Act plans to determine if they meet the law's requirements for English-language-learner students. Outlining 33 key questions, the brief guides readers through sections in state plans that should address English-learner accountability and offers guidance on how to evaluate the effectiveness of policies that states plan to adopt.

More than 160,000 students headed back to school Tuesday in Montgomery County as the sprawling suburban district outside Washington projected another year of record enrollment and deepened its focus on foreign languages and career education. Montgomery is increasingly diverse — roughly 30 percent Hispanic, 29 percent white, 22 percent black and 14 percent Asian — with more English-language learners and economically disadvantaged students in recent years.

School districts across a wide swath of the southeastern U.S. remained shuttered on Monday as Hurricane Irma pounded Florida with ferocious winds and heavy rains and continued its march north. As of late Sunday, more than 2.3 million people in Florida remained without power. And with the effects from the storm — downgraded late Sunday to a Category 2 hurricane — expected to linger into the coming week, school officials from various Florida districts said it will take some time to decide when to reopen.

With more than 600,000 Houston-area students set to return to the classroom Monday, teachers and school officials wonder how many will show up - and if they'll be ready to learn. And at some schools, business as usual will be a distant memory.

After Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that DACA would be rescinded, Latino USA asked listeners to share their reactions. They opened our phone lines and asked listeners how Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals had changed their opportunities for higher education and work.

In Highline Public Schools, district officials have set an ambitious goal of graduating all students as bilingual by 2026. There’s at least one big hurdle to making that happen: Where do you find enough bilingual educators to teach those students in multiple languages?