ELL News Headlines

Nearly 1 in 4 high-achieving, low-income students apply to college completely on their own, according to a new report by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation (which is a financial supporter of NPR). The report looks at the barriers these students face, drawing on surveys of low-income students and interviews with admissions officers at selective schools. When I spoke with the report's author, Jennifer Glynn, she acknowledged that high schools and counselors play a role, but said colleges can do a lot more, too.

Yousafzai, the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and campaigner for the rights of all children to attend school, has written her first picture book. It is an autobiographical account of her life designed for younger readers. She gently introduces her childhood in Pakistan and recounts a favorite TV show where a young boy has a magic pencil that he uses to help people. The magic pencil becomes a reoccurring motif throughout the work on how to make the world a better place.

Eighty percent of Virginia students passed state reading tests this year, equal to the previous year’s results, as data released Tuesday showed minimal changes in performance on several academic subjects. But English learners made significant strides in narrowing achievement gaps. Statewide, 64 percent of those students passed in reading, up three points from 2016. Some school officials attributed the gain to better approaches for teaching students English, including transitioning more of them to general education classes even before they are totally proficient.

One Charlottesville, Va., elementary school teacher grapples with how to have this conversation with her students the week after the violence erupted in her city just as a new school year is about to begin.

A group of mayors and county officials from around the country wrote to President Trump Tuesday, asking him to defend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program from a potential court challenge led by Texas.

The Trump administration on Wednesday formally terminated an Obama-era program that granted Central American minors temporary legal residence in the United States, shutting the door on 2,714 people who had won conditional approval to enter the country.

Whether you're a teacher who's already back in school or one who's heading back soon, we hope this blog can serve as resource to you. Here are links to some stories that have caught our eye this month along with a look ahead at some upcoming notable events.

What can educators do to make English language learners (ELLs) and immigrant students feel welcome within the school community?  Here are some of our most popular resources on the topic, along with related resources.  We also include a list of organizations that have related lesson plans on race, civil rights, and immigration, as well as booklists for kids and teens and the latest lesson plans focused on recent events in Charlottesville, VA.

How should educators confront bigotry, racism and white supremacy? The incidents in Charlottesville, Va., this past weekend pushed that question from history to current events.

Valerie Strauss of The Washington Post writes, "The 2017-2018 school year is getting started, and teachers nationwide should expect students to want to discuss what happened in Charlottesville as well as other expressions of racial and religious hatred in the country. While such discussions are often seen as politically charged and teachers like to steer clear of politics, these conversations are about fundamental American values, and age-appropriate ways of discussing hatred and tolerance in a diverse and vibrant democracy are as important as anything young people can learn in school. Civics education has taken a back seat to reading and math in recent years in 'the era of accountability,' but it is past time for it to take center stage again in America’s schools."