ELL News Headlines

With the Supreme Court signaling a willingness to reverse decades-old precedents like the Roe v. Wade decision on abortion, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas said on Thursday that he would seek to overturn a 1982 court decision that obligated public schools to educate all children, including undocumented immigrants.

New York City education officials are planning to expand the number of transfer high schools that can serve students learning English as a new language, using a Bronx school for newcomer immigrants as one model, according to a top department official.

The federal government recently detailed for the first time the brutality and treatment Native American children suffered when they were forcibly moved into U.S. boarding schools during the course of 150 years. Deborah Parker, CEO of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition and a member of the Tulalip Tribe in Washington, joins Amna Nawaz to discuss.

In this column, high school junior Fernanda Rodas writes, "Spanish is my first language, but early on, I attended an all-English school outside of my district zone to receive personalized English academics in a smaller classroom setting — something I wouldn’t have received if I had participated at a large elementary school within the zone. Because my academics were in English, I slowly withdrew from speaking Spanish at home. Though I have started using Spanish daily, I still struggle to speak it confidently after seven years of mostly speaking English. Due to my experiences losing my native language, I became interested in exploring how native Spanish speakers, who are usually on the south side of town in large elementary schools, can be disadvantaged in receiving a good education with equal resources."

The California Department of Education plans to establish more than 1,600 dual language immersion programs in schools across the state by 2030. But in order to reach that goal, the state would need to credential at least 2,000 new bilingual teachers statewide each year. That's where the math gets difficult.

The All-Island School Committee was introduced to a plan to recruit teachers from Brazil during a Thursday evening meeting. Discussion and decisions about the plan will be made at each of the Island’s local school committees, according to Martha’s Vineyard Superintendent Matt D’Andrea. To meet the educational needs of the Island, a plan was hatched to partner with the Maryland-based nonprofit Teachers Council to bring in teachers from Brazil with H-1B visas.

This week's Question of the Week from Larry Ferlazzo is: "How can teachers best work with classified staff who are not necessarily in the classroom — secretaries, custodians, groundskeepers, etc.?"

Over 20,000 of you expressed your appreciation for the hard work and determination of your fellow educators. Here are a few highlights.

Through interview activities, English language learner (ELL) students can connect their own cultural knowledge and identity with their academic journey and find more opportunities for visibility and voice, while building their speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills.

‘Good Trouble’ is a resounding rebuttal of the model minority myth — not because Jordan is a “bad kid,” as his father regrets having said during the Big Fight, but because he’s wayward and loving, sweet and frustrating, and sure, a bit of a troublemaker.