ELL News Headlines

The orchestra students at Bunker Hill Elementary School plucked and bowed their violins, violas and cellos one afternoon this week as they performed Duke Ellington's "C Jam Blues" for classmates at an assembly. But this was no ordinary concert. Two special guests joined in: violinist Joshua Bell and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Ma and Bell visited the Northeast D.C. school through a program known as Turnaround Arts, which aims to give underperforming schools more resources for arts and music.

All month, The New York Times is publishing news-literacy lesson plans devoted to helping students determine why, how and where to find reliable information at a time when “fake news” is headline news.

For young English-language learners, language skills can be a barrier not just to reading but math as well. Educators and researchers working in two school districts here hope that helping students "talk through" number problems will assist them in meeting the state's new math standards. It's part of Teaching English-Learners Early Mathematics, or TEEM, a pilot partnership between researchers at California State University, San Bernardino, and the Nuview Union and Romoland school districts, in California's Inland Empire region. In 2014, the project won a development grant from the federal Investing in Innovation program to use a combination of Japanese "lesson study" cycles and detailed student math notebooks to help teachers and students write and reflect on their math learning.

Imagine yourself curled up in your favorite chair by the fireplace, a mug of cocoa spiked with Bailey's within reach. Open the book you've been waiting all day to read, a tale of adventure and intrigue that takes you out of yourself and your everyday world for a couple of precious hours.  Now go through your book and highlight all the words with the long "o" sound. Search for the answers to five "right there" questions that have nothing to do with the heart of the story, like "What color shoelaces was the villain wearing?" Get your significant other to sign off on your reading log as proof that you did your nightly reading, then provide a written response to a prompt about the novel, wrapping up with the inevitable conclusion, "As you can see…" School has a way of messing up even the inherently joyful act of reading a good book.

All are welcome here. That’s the name of a new campaign that recently got underway at the Hennepin County Library (HCL) in Minnesota. But it could also represent the message of several community and school libraries across the country in light of President Trump’s executive order that bars refugees and residents from seven predominately Muslim countries from entering the United States.

The Springdale, Arkansas School District has seen a significant increase in the number of students exiting English-as-a-second-language programs this year. Springdale School District officials attribute the increase to the growing number of campuses providing English language development instruction for English-learners.

Ahniwake Rose is the executive director of the Washington-based Native Indian Education Association. She is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and of Muskogee/Creek descent. In this commentary, she writes, "Contrary to what many think, education in Indian Country is not in need of a solution imposed by others who know little about our communities. Solutions already lie within…For example, in Alaska, innovative approaches to dental health have made significant headway in improving youths' oral health at a fraction of the standard cost. In Montana, the Confederated Tribes of Salish and Kootenai have transformed workforce-development programs and cut their unemployment rate by 20 percentage points. In Washington state, the Tulalip Tribe has developed a world-class, culturally sensitive tribal court system that has reduced recidivism rates among tribal offenders. Programs like these show that a win-win situation is possible when federal funds are spent in accordance with what the community wants and needs. And, today, we have a new opportunity to ensure these same successes in education."

President Donald Trump's sweeping order that halted residents of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States sent shock waves through some of the nation's schools, leaving educators scrambling to assure frightened refugee and immigrant students that their schools should be safe places. The effort to calm those fears comes as some educators grapple with uncertainty of their own: not knowing the next steps the White House will take on immigration and how it will affect their students.

Officials with Township High School District 214 in Arlington Heights have appointed a district principal to an administrative position that supports the district's burgeoning number of students who are English language learners. In her new role, Angela Sisi will work with the district's English language learning staff and parents to ensure the ELL program aligns with the ideal practices and results in higher levels of student achievement, while maintaining compliance with state and federal regulations, officials said.

The 2017 Pura Belpré award winners were announced last month, showcasing some of the most influential Latino children's literature of the year.