ELL News Headlines

The initial English Language Proficiency Assessment for California (ELPAC) is used to determine whether new students will be designated English learners. Under current law, the test must be given to all students whose parents speak another language at home within the first 30 days of enrollment in kindergarten through 12th grade. The test measures proficiency in four domains — listening, speaking, reading and writing in English. The test is different for each grade. But since transitional kindergarten, often referred to as TK, is classified as the first year of a two-year kindergarten program, and not as a separate grade, schools have had to administer the test to students as young as 4 years old. 

A linguist from the Yakama Nation, she wrote dictionaries and helped build the infrastructure to teach a language that wasn’t traditionally written down.

Emma Gonzalez Gutierrez has struggled to communicate with the teachers of her five children for years. She’s tried to stay engaged. She’s attended meetings, gravitated toward Spanish-speaking staff, and relied on translators, including her kids, over the years. Now, thanks to an app that McElwain Elementary, her Adams 12 school, started using this year, she’s found opportunities to engage in new ways with her youngest child’s education.

When Carlos Sanchez immigrated to Grand Rapids, Michigan, from Mexico City 25 years ago, he’d already completed two years of college at Universidad Iberoamericana, and he was determined to finish his degree. Already bilingual, he felt comfortable tackling the second half of his education in English. But the language barrier was only part of the challenge. 

This school year has been overwhelming for teachers like Joel Mollman. As an English language development teacher at Hamilton Middle School in Denver, Mollman has had to take on more work to keep up with the growing number of students who need help learning English.

Tucked into Detroit’s 1,200 acre Rouge Park is one of the nation’s largest urban sugar maple tree groves in the country. But for years, the trees went unharvested. While making syrup from tree sap is an ancient tradition of the Anishinaabe who first inhabited the Great Lakes region, it had fallen from local practice. But after learning about sugarbush traditions from Ojibwe and Cree peoples from across the Great Lakes region, Antonio Rafael and shakara tyler of Detroit and David Pitawanakwat of Wikwemikong First Nation wanted to bring this traditional ecological activity back to the city.

The trailer at Colfax Elementary is one of Denver Public Schools’ six “community hubs,” and the English language classes are among the most popular offerings. Launched in 2022 by Superintendent Alex Marrero, the community hubs were meant to take a two-generation approach to improving students’ lives by helping both children and parents with everything from food and clothing to financial counseling and mobile medical appointments. Now, as more than 3,500 migrant students have enrolled in DPS since the beginning of the school year, the hubs are increasingly serving their families as they build new lives in Denver.

A new study, published online on Feb. 26, 2024, in the peer-reviewed journal Developmental Psychology, now provides stronger causal evidence that building background knowledge can translate into higher reading achievement for low-income children.

Almost 18 months ahead of school leaders’ expectations, the University of Northern Colorado has been federally recognized as a Hispanic Serving Institution, meaning at minimum a quarter of its students identify as Hispanic. The Greeley school will now be eligible for federal grants to help more Hispanic students further their education. About 26% of UNC’s students are Hispanic, according to fall 2023 numbers. The school joins 16 other Colorado schools that have met the federal threshold.