ELL News Headlines

High school senior Martha Hernandez was born in Baja California, Mexico, and came to the U.S. when she was 10 years old, in fifth grade. She was still considered an English learner when she entered high school, based on California’s test of English proficiency. When students are classified as English learners, they must take English language development classes to improve their language skills, in addition to English language arts and all other academic classes. But at Hernandez’s high school, Mountain Empire High School in the mountains of rural San Diego County, English learners enroll in English as a second language classes through the local community college. They earn college credit while learning English.

Earlier this year, award-winning and best-selling Cuban-American author Meg Medina was named the Library of Congress’ National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature — she is the first Latina to occupy this position in the country’s history. On the job, Meg is responsible for raising national awareness of the importance of young people’s literature as it helps to promote lifelong literacy and education.

Coming off a hot Labor Day weekend, many students around the country had their return to classrooms cut short. Schools along the East Coast and in parts of the Midwest changed their schedules – in some cases sending students home early – due to heat advisories and lack of air conditioning. Districts in New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin called for a half day on Tuesday to get students home before the temperatures peaked. At some schools in Pittsburgh and Baltimore, students were told to stay at home and log on for virtual learning.

Rusul Alrubail is the executive director of The Writing Project. In this column, she writes, "I was in 10th grade living in Toronto when 9/11 happened. We were in art class and an office announcement came on that the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane. Students around me were shocked and some concerned for their families in New York. Later that day on the bus going home, a student looked at my friend, my sister and me, who all wear a hijab (a head cover that some Muslim women wear), and said, 'Do you guys know what happened? I heard your people did it.'"

Fentanyl was involved in the vast majority of all teen overdose deaths – 84% – in 2021, and the problem has been growing. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl-related adolescent overdose deaths nearly tripled from 2019 to 2021. And nearly a quarter of those deaths involved counterfeit pills that weren't prescribed by a doctor.

When Adriana Paola and her family arrived in Boulder in 2017, her son, who was starting high school, loved math. Slowly, she saw her son’s passion for the subject fade and she realized his math class was too easy. So, she went with her son to the school counselor’s office and asked for him to be enrolled in a more advanced class.

Today’s post begins a three-part series on teaching math to English-language learners.

Nearly 60 percent of Lahaina students haven’t enrolled in classes after the deadly fire, and families are yearning to rebuild their school network for educational and emotional support.

As scores of asylum-seeking families continue arriving in New York City, the city’s efforts to quickly enroll their children in public schools are often failing to keep pace, according to families, advocates, and education department staffers.

West Virginia University would keep some face-to-face Spanish and Chinese classes but eliminate majors in those subjects and numerous other foreign language and linguistics classes under a revised budget-cutting plan announced Tuesday. There would also be no more master’s degrees in linguistics or in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL).