ELL News Headlines

When COVID closed down schools in the spring of 2020, librarian Janet Damon worried about the students and families in her Denver Public Schools who were suddenly cut from friends, teachers, and other parents. She knew that losing the support of their social networks during a stressful time would have very real mental health impacts. Damon couldn’t open the schools, but she could unlock the healing power of the outdoors—and she was lucky enough to live in a beautiful state where the governor was encouraging residents to make the most of its parks.

Traci Sorell's Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer is receiving starred reviews from the major children's literature review journals. And, I'll add, with good reason! Sorell is Cherokee. The book, focusing on a Cherokee aerospace engineer, is tribally specific. And people interested in STEM will love what they'll find in this picture book. You can read it aloud, and you can watch the video format where DeLanna Studi provides the narration.

Philadelphia parents who don’t speak English say they’ve long been excluded from parts of their children’s education because of language barriers, something exacerbated by the pandemic and the return to in-person learning.

What are the best ways you are incorporating social-emotional learning in your classroom and what are you doing to ensure that it is culturally responsive?

When the COVID-19 pandemic first closed school buildings last year, parent Irma Perdomo fielded dozens of questions from Spanish-speaking families: What days would schools be closed? How do they pick up homework packets? And where could they find food pantries? This information from Indianapolis Public Schools wasn’t reaching families in their native language, Perdomo said, leading her and fellow parent Ana Delgado to become an informal link to Spanish speakers, translating announcements, dropping off food, and giving rides when needed.

Parents of students with disabilities who don’t speak English have long struggled to get their children’s learning plans translated into their native language, a crucial barrier to advocating for extra help or ensuring they are receiving the correct services.

In many parts of the country, access to a strong internet connection isn't a given. The Hope Center at Temple University reported in March that about 40% of college students have struggled with internet or computer access during the pandemic. The real number may be much higher: The report noted that, because the research relied on student responses from an online survey, "inadequate internet access could have contributed to low response rates."

Online education giant VIPKid, a Beijing-based tutoring platform that has raised $1.1 billion in capital since its founding and was at one point valued at over $3 billion, will end its flagship education program in China by early next month.

A $2.9 million grant will allow UC Riverside School of Education researcher Linda Ventriglia-Navarrette to continue developing technology-based language and literacy programs for English-language learners. 

A refugee resettlement agency has won the bid to create the statewide plan for English Language Learners through the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement.