ELLs and COVID-19: News and Updates

Boy in face mask getting on bus

Learn more about what's happening around the country related to English language learners (ELLs), immigrant families, and refugees during COVID-19. We also include updates related to other communities that are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

News & Updates from Schools

2021-2022 school year

Webinar: Supporting English-Learners This Fall: Focus on Assets, Not Deficits (Education Week)
A North Carolina Principal Rethinks The Classroom And Brings Students Outdoors (NPR)
NYC schools are getting 200 new murals. At this Bronx campus, painting provides connections after COVID’s isolation. (Chalkbeat)
She's Been Teaching For 18 Years. She Says This Year Is Her Most Stressful Yet (NPR)

Distance learning

How a UC Riverside professor got help from her cartoon panda to teach kids online (The Orange County Register)
English-Language Learners Need More Support During Remote Learning (Education Week)
How Will Schools Measure English-Learners' 'COVID-Slide' Learning Loss? (Education Week)
California teachers worry gap widening for English learners during school closures (EdSource)

Family engagement

Translators: A Bridge To Success For Non-English Speakers’ Families In The Manchester School District (New Hampshire Public Radio)
OPINION: More federal money is coming to schools. We should use it to support families (Hechinger Report)
From Tagalog to Korean, These Asian American Families Are Using Quarantine to Learn Their Families' Languages (NBC News)

Health / mental health outreach

Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic

An AZ superintendent on safely reopening schools in his rural district, which is mostly Hispanic: "It's a fantasy." (The Washington Post)
Latinos Hit Hard by COVID-19, but Chicago Evidence Suggests That the Reality Is Far Worse (Chicago Tribune)
The Virus and the Vulnerable: Latino Children Suffer Higher Rates of COVID-19 (KQED)
A semester of trauma, sickness and death at a New York school (Hechinger Report)
For the Corona Family, Normal Life Faded Away as COVID-19 Wiped Out Jobs, School and Other Daily Routines They Relied On (The 74)
The 'Katrina-to-Covid Class': How the coronavirus era affects New Orleans students more acutely (Hechinger Report)

Refugees and newcomers

For Refugees, Pandemic Adds to the Hardship of a New Life (The Washington Post)
Schools provide stability for refugees. Covid-19 upended that (Hechinger Report)

American Indian/Alaska Native students

3 Native American women reflect on attending college during the pandemic (Hechinger Report)
COVID cases climb in Alaska's Siberian Yupik Village (Indian Country Today)
As coronavirus ravaged Indian Country, the federal government failed its schools (Hechinger Report)
Virtually teaching third-grade indigenous students in Arizona (NPR)
Navajo Nation Sees Farming Renaissance During Coronavirus Pandemic (NPR)
Navajo Nation Loses Elders And Tradition To COVID-19 (NPR)
To Limit COVID-19, Navajo Leader Says: 'Listen To Your Public Health Professionals' (NPR)
Coronavirus Infections Continue To Rise On Navajo Nation (NPR)

Related Resources

More resources for educators:

Coronavirus Resources for Schools (Association of California School Administrators)
Coronavirus Resource Section (American Federation of Teachers)
A Mini Clearinghouse on Coronavirus, Created by Two School Librarians (School Library Journal)