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Today, English Language Learners (ELLs) account for 9.5% of students enrolled in U.S. public schools. That means nearly 5 million students in our school system are ELLs. This number continues to grow, therefore this is an important issue that school administrators and teachers must address when preparing their lesson plans. This is where bilingual education, which utilizes students’ primary language comes … Read More

Family engagement is necessary to support English Language Arts (ELA) and reading skills for academic student support. It is especially important to encourage family engagement among Latino families, who tend to be English Learners (ELs). In order to get EL families involved, school administrators and teachers should introduce them to resources and methods that can help them strengthen their family members’ … Read More

Parental involvement plays a hugely important role in the academic success of English Language Learners (ELLs). That is why it is important for ELL parents to read with their children and be involved in other aspects of their education. One of the best ways to incorporate parental engagement into the lives of ELLs is encouraging parents to read with their … Read More

Learning at home can be difficult for English Language Learners (ELLs) or children with Spanish-speaking parents. Over 12 million children in the United States speak a language other than English at home. That is roughly 22% of children in our nation’s school system. In the United States, there are three versions of instruction for ELLs: transitional bilingual programs, dual language programs, and … Read More

Learning how to read is a complex issue, especially for English Language Learners (ELLs).  Reading fluently involves several components, including reading comprehension.  For this reason, many ELLs struggle during the beginning stages of reading, especially if they do not already have literacy skills in their native language.  We will highlight several methods and strategies that adhere to the best practices … Read More

Language and culture are intertwined.  You cannot have one without the other. Language affords us the ability to interact and communicate,  while culture helps to define who we are as a person or group of people. Values and traditions stem from culture.  Literacy and understanding the world around you comes from culture and life experiences. For that reason, it is … Read More

Biliteracy is a person’s ability to proficiently read and write in two languages.  Statistics show that many of the students currently enrolled in our educational system live in biliterate homes.  Typically, the parents speak Spanish or another foreign language, while the kids speak English, as they are learning English at school.  Additionally, with the growing popularity of bilingual and dual language … Read More

Family engagement is very important to the academic, social, and emotional development of children.  However, creating meaningful links between home and school can be complex and difficult to achieve, especially with English Learners (ELs). Teachers and school districts must honor their EL families’ knowledge base for family engagement, if they want to encourage a more meaningful relationship.  By honoring and … Read More

Children are not the only ones weary about going to school and new situations. Parents oftentimes are apprehensive of going to their children’s school and meeting with staff and teachers. This can be even more stressful for parents of English Language Learners (ELLs), as they too are either ELLs or non-English speakers themselves. As teachers, we know that parental involvement is so … Read More

The poverty rate in the United States was a staggering 12.7% in 2016. That translates to a total of 40.6 million people living in poverty in the United States. The Federal government set the poverty threshold to approximately $24,000.00 for a family of four. With that being said, 21.2% of all children in the United States are living in poverty, which … Read More