ELL Student Resources and Support in New Mexico

The state of New Mexico has 53,071 students enrolled in grades K-12, making up just 16.1% of the school population. Within this group Spanish is spoken by a large majority with Navajo, Nias, German, and Vietnamese making up the top five languages currently spoken by non-English speaking students. The state has also adopted the English language development framework of WIDA. … Read More

English Learner Programs and Resources in Virginia

The state of Virginia has a total enrollment of 1,263,660 students in grades K-12 in the state public school system. 99,897 of them are English Language Learners making up 7.9% of the student population as of years 2012-2013. The vast majority of ELL students in Virginia speak Spanish, with Arabic, Vietnamese, Urdu, and Korean rounding out the top five other … Read More

The Oral Traditions of Hispanics

Hispanic culture is known to have strong oral traditions, expressed through storytelling, lyric poetry, riddles, jokes, folk prayers and incantations, songs, and many other formats. Samuel G. Armistead, author of Pan-Hispanic Oral Tradition, defines oral tradition as “any manifestation of folk culture that includes the use of language. Creativity, ongoing evolution, and chronological depth are also essential factors.” The University … Read More

What are the New Rules for ELLs in NYC Schools?

In 2016, the New York City Department of Education set forth new standards and rules for English language instruction in all schools. These new rules were intended to guarantee additional language instruction and support to New York’s growing ELL population but, unfortunately, as Parent Herald puts it, “New York schools are having a difficult time implementing these rules.” Read on to learn … Read More

Parental Involvement and the Impact on School Success

Parental Involvement and the Impact on School Success There is little debate that a parent’s engagement in a child’s learning is highly beneficial. A number of studies have shown the extent of the positive impacts that healthy parental involvement can provide with marked improvements in attendance, behavioral patterns, and social skills, as well as better grades and test scores, resulting … Read More

California’s New Funding Law: The Latest Information for LCAP and Family Engagement

Governor Jerry Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula Initiative (LCFF) is California’s recent funding law that puts the most comprehensive emphasis yet on the importance of family and other stakeholders in the educational progress of school children in grades K-12. Through the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), a vital component of the initiative, school districts are tasked with meeting eight specific … Read More

Award-Winning Bilingual Books & Parent Programs with English Learners

Below are award-winning bilingual books published by Lectura Books for The Latino Family Literacy Project™. Parents who are Spanish-speakers and English-speakers enjoy these bilingual books with their children because these stories are culturally relevant and meaningful. And that means that they have so much more to talk about when they read them with their children. These books are in our … Read More

Creating a Title III Program at your District

Creating a Title III Program at your District- The U.S. Department of Education requires that public schools and state agencies act to overcome the language barriers that impede equal participation by students in their instructional programs. In a letter dated January 7, 2015 titled Dear Colleague Letter: English Learner Students and Limited English Proficient Parents, The U.S. Department of Education … Read More