In the spirit of Continuous Learning, here is a curated collection of what we've been reading recently. As always, we encourage you to join our growing ELL Community, and share these articles using the hashtag #ELLReads!

Policy and Practice

• Lehigh Graduate College of Education's Sara Kangas researches the challenges of elementary ELL students who also have special needs. Her research shows that these students tend to fall through the cracks.

• The Washington Post reports on The Schools of Opportunity Project, which focuses on resolving "unequal learning chances resulting from problems like poverty and racism". They call this the "opportunity gap", not the "achievement gap". 

• In The Huffington Post, Writer and Educator Paul Garcia addresses the "little attention ascribed to the enormous diversity within the Latino student population and the negative school experiences associated with that diversity". 

• Education Week's Corey Mitchell discusses a new report from the Migration Policy Institute suggesting that "schools are ill-prepared to educate 'superdiverse' English-Learners".

• The Wilson Center's Mexico Institute recently hosted a panel discussion titled  "The Impact of Immigration Enforcement Policies on Teaching and Learning in America's Public Schools". The impact is not limited to immigrant students. For more coverage of this issue, take a look at this article from The74.

• Why is it that immigrants are thriving in Canada's public schools? In an article from Education Week, Kavitha Cardoza provides an international perspective on immigrant education. 

• From The 74 - Led by Harvard Graduate School of Education professor Richard Weissbourd's "Making Caring Common" initiative, schools are using the hashtag #CommonGood to spread kindness, empathy, and equity. 

• EdTech Times General Manager Hannah Nyren spoke with Southern New Hampshire University's Chrystina Russell about an effort to help refugees get a new start through digital resources and partnerships abroad.

• Harvard Medical Student and future doctor Dalia Larios gives voice to the struggles of undocumented students like her in a piece from WBUR Boston.

Teaching and Learning

• The Daily Texan reports on a program at Austin's Blanton Museum of Art that brings together undergraduate teachers and K-12 dual language students to learn language through bilingual gallery lessons. 

• The New York Times published a timely piece for educators containing a Lesson Plan for Teaching About DACA. 

• This edition of The New York Times Reader Ideas showcases Atlanta Classical High School ELL student Matthew Tikhonovsky's take on improving his English skills through the newspaper.

• This series from Edutopia discusses "the benefit mindset" and the importance of connecting students with their communities.

ELL Spotlight

• Education Week profiles Denver Public Schools Deputy Superintendent Susana Cordova's work in promoting equity for all students - including effective strategies for ELLs - in their 2018 Leaders To Learn From series.

• What does it look like to successfully teach both language and content to ELL students in science classes? ecoRI News profiles Teacher of the Year for Excellence in Environmental Education Kerri Withrow Valentine. For more ideas, check out the video from our last blog post.

• Study Breaks offers this light-hearted piece outlining "7 Quirky Side Effects of Learning a Foreign Language". Which ones resonate with you?

What are you reading? Leave a comment below and share on social media using the hashtag #ELLReads.

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