ELL News Headlines

These eight titles offer an intimate view of poverty and intersect with experiences of immigration, foster care, domestic violence, and homelessness.

At a long-delayed White House ceremony Monday celebrating educators around the country, President Joe Biden delivered two glass apples to the 2020 and 2021 National Teachers of the Year. Tabatha Rosproy, the 2020 honoree who taught preschool in Kansas, and Juliana Urtubey, the 2021 winner who teaches elementary special education in Las Vegas, were recognized alongside the other state teachers of the year.

The celebrated illustrator Jerry Pinkney has died. According to his long-time agent Sheldon Fogelman, Pinkney suffered a heart attack today; he was 81. Pinkney was a legend in the world of children's publishing. He won a Caldecott medal for his 2010 picture book The Lion and The Mouse; he also won five Coretta Scott King awards from the American Library Association and a lifetime achievement award from the Society of Illustrators. Over the course of a nearly six-decade long career, he left his mark on over a hundred books, mostly for kids and teenagers, beginning with The Adventures of Spider: West African Folk Tales in 1964.

At a time when the use of diverse books is being challenged across the country, the Ezra Jack Keats (EJK) Foundation, in association with the Office Performing Arts + Film, presents a new documentary chronicling the diversity in children's literature. Tell Me Another Story describes the dedication and work of kid lit legends past and present who have brought authenticity and diversity to children's books. The film highlights creators, advocates, and librarians from W.E.B. Du Bois, Augusta Baker, Pura Belpré, and Ezra Jack Keats, to Pat Cummings, Marley Dias, Grace Lin, Christopher Myers, and Andrea Davis Pinkney. It also looks at the contributions made by the children's book awards that honor BIPOC creators and their stories, including the Coretta Scott King, Pura Belpré, and Ezra Jack Keats Awards.

Colleagues share an appreciation of NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro, who's leaving the network after 17 years. She was the first Latina to host a flagship program at the network.

Since the 1990s, a growing number of states have begun to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day – a holiday meant to honor the culture and history of the people living in the Americas both before and after Columbus’ arrival. In the following Q&A from The Conversation, Susan C. Faircloth, an enrolled member of the Coharie Tribe of North Carolina and professor of education at Colorado State University, explains the history of Indigenous Peoples Day and what it means to American education.

Meet Mauricio Peña, a Chicago reporter who has covered the Southwest Side and migrant farmworkers in Southern California. At Chalkbeat, Mauricio will be covering Chicago Public Schools. This personal essay is his introduction to Chalkbeat readers.

Last fall, the share of Native American students enrolled in college for the first time plummeted by almost a quarter, more than for any other racial or ethnic group, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. In part because they make up less than 1 percent of all undergraduates, Native American students often have trouble finding professors, peers and mentors who understand them and can help them create a sense of community on campus. The pandemic made finding those connections even more difficult, said Megan Red Shirt-Shaw, the director of Native student services at the University of South Dakota, who is Oglala Lakota.

We've all heard about the benefits of learning to read quietly and independently. A big part of learning at school is all about reading, but it's not always easy to find time for more reading at home. Families have busy schedules filled with after-school activities and homework. Plus — let's be honest — with all the tech at kids' fingertips and school days already filled with required reading, it can be hard convincing kids that reading isn't a chore. But Keisha Siriboe says there is a way, and it doesn't have to be independent or quiet! Her solution: reading aloud as a family.

A Modesto professor has received hundreds of emails from Afghan students asking for help over the past couple of months. Since Afghanistan’s government collapsed and the Taliban seized power, Modesto Junior College professor Ruth Luman has created an informational advocacy website, organized community events and multiplied communications with local resettlement agencies.