In the spirit of Continuous Learning, we are proud to offer this bi-weekly newsletter of curated articles that directly impact our work with English Language Learners. We hope you find this resource useful as you continue your work of supporting our students around the country. 

Since publishing our last edition on April 18th, we have launched our series on family and community engagement for English Language Learners. Our latest episode of Highest Aspirations features Renata Germino, who brought international cooking classes hosted by new immigrant families to Charlottesville, VA. We were also thrilled to collaborate with Valentina Gonzalez on a new blog post about connecting families of ELLs to schools.

We'll be releasing more great content on family and community engagement every Wednesday through the month of May on the ELL Community section of our website. Stay tuned!

Policy and Practice

• Education Week's Corey Mitchell discusses a new MIT study that suggests children remain skilled at learning the grammar of a new language much longer than expected. 

• From New America, Janie T. Carnock discusses the challenges of rating program quality for dual language learners and early ed and provides clear recommendations for state leaders.

• The Advancement Project recently published a report titled "Uplifting the Assets of California's Dual Language Learners in the Early Years: Preparing California's Diverse Children for the Global Economy". As the title suggests, the report is relevant for anyone interested in dual language learners.

• The Learning Policy Institute continues its series on education and equity with a piece called "Immigrant Students: Our Kids, Our Future", in which author Patricia Gándara puts statistics into perspective.

• Education Week's Stephen Sawchuk reports on the effectiveness of administering the citizenship test versus other assessments of civics for students. 

• NBC News reports on the effectiveness of strong bilingual pre-K programs, but highlights the fact that only 5 states have policies in place to support them. 

• Vanderbilt University's professor of psychology and human development James R. Booth has embarked on a research project that will examine how the brain learns a second language.

Teaching and Learning

• ELL Professional Development Specialist Valentina Gonzalez shares actionable strategies for connecting with ELL families on Ellevation Education's blog. 

• Harvard Graduate School of Education's Usable Knowledge series reports on strategies for making newcomer families feel welcome at school.

• Professors Felice Atesoglu Russell and Kerry Soo Von Esch recently published a report in Phi Delta Kappan about teachers stepping into leadership roles to improve instruction and services for English Language Learners.

• USC Rosier Online takes an asset-based approach to ELLs in reporting on how cultural differences can benefit your classroom from their online masters in teaching program blog. The article includes actionable strategies for educators.

• EdSurge contributor and El Paso ISD science coach Veronica Burnett writes about the 5E model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate) and how it can benefit bilingual students in science classes. 

ELL Spotlight

• Congratulations to Ellevation partner Fort Smith Public Schools who saw one of their linguistically and culturally diverse elementary schools listed among the top 5 percent for academic growth in the state. They attribute much of their growth to the creation of strong PLCs.

• Philadelphia Public School's The Notebook reports on Penn State student Aminata Sy, who transformed her basement laundry room into an after school program for students from Africa who are struggling in English-speaking schools. 

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

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