In the spirit of Continuous Learning, we are proud to offer this bi-weekly blog post of curated articles that directly impact our work with English Language Learners. We hope you find this newsletter useful as you continue supporting our students all around the country. For quick access to more resources like this, join the ELL Community. Please feel free share on social media using the hashtag #ELLReads!

As we publish this edition, our thoughts and prayers are with our friends and colleagues in Broward County, Florida. 

Policy and Practice

• In a piece by NPR Ed, Claudio Sanchez spotlights the almost 9,000 DACA recipients who are currently school teachers by profiling Maria Rocha, a Dual Language teacher in San Antonio, TX. 

• In Edweek, author Jacqueline Woodson provides some useful suggestions on helping diverse groups of students become passionate readers.

• PBS News Hour's Student Lab explores why teachers are training themselves to be "dreamer" allies. This story was reported by Fernando Cienfuegos, a Junior at Northview High School in Southern California - here is his story.

• In Edweek Teacher, Arkansas teacher Justin Minkel discusses 5 simple strategies to make English Language Learners' experience easier. 

• Katya Rucker examines some of the pitfalls of traditional professional development and how to solve them in an article published in Getting Smart.

• In Edweek, Leah Binkovitz, senior editor for the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, discusses her research around ELLs and school choice, which suggests that ELLs were less likely to take advantage of school choice programs 

• Chalkbeat's Matt Barnum spotlights a new study that examines DACA's role in helping students finish high school and pursue a higher education.

• Three Massachusetts-based educators highlight the power of multilingualism and global competency to help close the opportunity gap in an opinion piece from The Boston Herald.

• Edweek Classroom Q & A host Larry Ferlazzo interviews three experts on what Dual Immersion is and what it is not.

ELL Spotlight

• Dallas Independent School District is developing a plan to help students navigate DACA / immigration issues that may affect their parents or guardians. The plan has been released on their website.

• Chalkbeat's Christina Vega reports that New York City will add 33 dual language pre-K programs in the 2018-2019 school year, more than doubling the bilingual opportunities available for the city's youngest learners. 

• WESA, Pittsburg's NPR station, reports on a new after school program that serves the community's refugee students.

• Cabaruss County Teacher and Ellevation partner Emily Francis was featured as a guest on Ellen, where Chobani CEO and former ELL Hamdi Ulukaya surprised her with $100,000 for her schools BackPack Program, which ensures that students have food to eat over the weekend.

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What are you reading? Leave a comment below to share resources with colleagues or start a discussion about the articles above.