ELL News Headlines

The Every Student Succeeds Act sought to give states flexibility to put their own stamp on accountability systems, including setting their own goals for student achievement and moving beyond reading and math test scores in rating student and school performance.

More than a third of schools in Syria have closed since the war began six years ago; a recent report found more than 1.7 million children and youth are not attending classes. David Miliband of the International Rescue Committee joins Judy Woodruff to discuss the devastating effects of trauma and the long-term consequences of a generation of children missing out on quality education.

Described as passionate and tireless, 29-year-old teacher Sean Pang arrived in the United States from Hong Kong at age 6. He knew little English, learning the language as he attended a Silver Spring, MD elementary school. By 23, he had come full circle, returning to work in the Montgomery system with a master’s degree in teaching English language arts.

Florinda Lorenzo has been in the U.S. illegally for more than a decade but checks in with federal immigration agents in Baltimore several times a year. Until recently, it had become routine, almost like a trip to the dentist. Many undocumented immigrants — like Lorenzo —are not in hiding. Hundreds of thousands of them report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on a regular basis. They've been allowed to stay because past administrations considered them a low priority for deportation. But with the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration, that once-routine check-in has become a nerve-wracking experience. Lorenzo came to the U.S. from Guatemala 14 years ago. She has three children, two of them U.S. citizens who were born here.

Growing up in rural Tennessee, Nathaniel Provencio was not fond of school and was, in his own words, "a terrible student." As a Hispanic boy in the rural South, "I never saw myself in any of my teachers," Provencio said. He expected to follow his parents, garment-factory workers, into manual labor, and his upbringing was challenged by spells of poverty. In high school, he joined a student club, called Future Teachers of America, not because he was interested in education but because the activities — including tutoring youngsters — got him out of math class occasionally. Then he discovered that he enjoyed it — and decided to become a teacher. Today, Provencio leads Minnieville Elementary School in Woodbridge, Va., and has been named Washington Post Principal of the Year for the D.C. metropolitan area.

Tennessee caused a stir earlier this year when it ran an audit of the state's 2015 graduating class. The number crunchers in Nashville reported that nearly a third of students who received a diploma didn't complete the required coursework. One in three. A further review of the data revealed a philosophical disconnect between state-level administrators and many rural districts regarding a foreign language requirement for students.

'A compelling blend of free verse, expository text, and artwork illuminates the life and times of Japanese American activist Fred Korematsu…(who paved) the way for the Civil Liberties Act of 1988…Primary source documents vividly bring the period to life, while time lines and descriptions of contemporary struggles for equality by Chinese, Mexican, and African Americans, among others, offer meaningful context. An endnote provides suggestions for young people who wish to take action against injustice as well as a poignant statement from Korematsu's daughter. An invaluable profile of a civil rights hero whose story deserves greater attention. Middle schoolers will take to the superb writing and original format."

Sesame Workshop has introduced Julia, a muppet with autism, to the world of Sesame Street — an important move that advocates feel will increase visibility and acceptance of autism. Drawing upon footage of Julia's behavior, Laura Anthony, a clinical psychologist with the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at Children's National Health System, explains the top three ways teachers can support children like Julia in the classroom.

With the start of baseball season in sight, millions of Latino fans in the U.S., the Caribbean, and Latin America will be rooting for their favorite players, many of whom are transplants from places like Venezuela, Dominican Republic, and Cuba. But Spanish-speaking fans, millions of whom watch Spanish-language broadcasts of baseball games, will have little idea of the lingering challenge some Latino players in the States have long faced: inadequate language support from the minor and major leagues.

In this essay, Ambree Tariq, who started the Instagram account @brownpeoplecamping, reflects on what the outdoors meant to her as she struggled to assimilate to a new life in America. She writes, "One day, my father came home and told us about how people in Minnesota go camping, and that there were free, clean, beautiful parks for us to enjoy, too. My parents pieced together just enough information and money to take our first steps into the outdoors, buying a tent and a few sleeping bags for our new adventure. We did it our own way: eating kabob and roti at the campsite, telling jokes in our own language and laughing loudly. We didn’t know much about the outdoors culture, and we certainly didn’t look like the other families on the campground, but we took in stride the discomfort of being minorities in yet another American space. In doing so, I developed a profound and sentimental love for the outdoors."