Immigration-Guide-2019_from Colorin Colorado.pdfThis comprehensive guide from Colorín Colorado provides resources and strategies for schools to better help immigrant students.
From coast to coast, school districts that have primarily served students via remote learning are seeing dramatic increases in the number of failing or near-failing grades on students’ quarterly report cards and progress reports...
... Much of teachers’ and leaders’ concerns focus on the students who are most vulnerable during the pandemic—those experiencing homelessness or poverty, for example. The data on grades bears out those worries. In Los Angeles, needy students scored lowest on a benchmark test; in Fairfax County, rates of F grades in the first quarter of the school year more than doubled for English-learners and students with disabilities over the first quarter of 2019-20. READ MORE
In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Gina Ruffcorn spent about an hour wearing a fake mustache in front of her classroom. Ruffcorn, who teaches 5th grade at West Harrison Community School in Iowa, realized early on that remote learning would have to be a bit more stimulating than typical classroom lessons. Mustache Day was among the many tricks she reached for ...
... While there’s no magic solution that can replace in-person instruction—and no one-size-fits-all approach that will work for every student and age group—remote learning overall doesn’t have to be a terrible substitute. Here’s what remote learning experts and grade school teachers say are the best ways to make it more tolerable in the fall. READ MORE
Just as students and teachers across California are adjusting to distance learning, many districts are bracing for a new challenge, one that may be even more daunting: How — and when — to re-open campuses safely. READ MORE
We find ourselves in unprecedented times as the COVID 19 pandemic has shut down our schools for an indefinite amount of time. As educators, we are scrambling to adapt to what distance learning means and how to best serve our students. In the past few weeks, many teachers have been bombarded with thousands of brilliant ideas and links for how to support distance learning, but there is a huge void of resources geared towards helping teachers support their English Learners. READ MORE
Reflecting on an unconventional spring semester, experts predict the national experiment in remote learning will fail Black and brown students more acutely than others. Given the increasing likelihood that remote learning will continue into the next school year, it is important that school districts, policymakers, and youth- and family-serving agencies and organizations understand and address the racial and ethnic disparities in students’ home learning environments that make meaningful participation in online learning more difficult. READ MORE
The science is clear: Drawing beats out reading and writing to help students remember concepts. It is an especially powerful tool for our English Language Learners!
As Mr. James starts today’s class about volcanoes, he shares one of his all-time favorite wonder moments: “The loudest known sound was made by a volcano called Krakatau, in Southeast Asia. When Krakatau erupted in 1883, it was reported to have sounded like 15,000 nuclear bombs! Like 200 megatons of energy! What do you imagine a volcano eruption sounds like?” The imaginations of all 28 of his fourth graders were set afire, with many sharing their ideas. To an observer, today’s class would be abuzz and engaged. Great! After all, students cannot learn new information without paying attention, and they pay attention when they are interested, right? READ MORE
Publishers Adapt Policies to Help Educators (3/18/20) - As educators move to remote learning, many are worrying and wondering about reading books aloud online and possibly violating copyright laws. In response, many children's publishers have temporarily altered policies. READ MORE
Additional Publisher Revised Policies (Updated 9/6/20) - With remote learning looking like the state of play this fall, publishers have extended permissions for read alouds of their titles. READ MORE
John Sweller is one of the most influential learning science researchers, best known for his “cognitive load theory,” which suggests that educators should present information without extraneous details. Otherwise, the brains of students can literally overload with what amounts to intellectual clutter.
Sweller’s latest line of research offers a new insight: the human brain may need regular breaks when learning to help it refresh its “working memory” capacity. READ MORE
Given the increasing polarization of the political debates about immigration, which has occurred in the context of persistent and growing socio–economic inequality in the United States, it is important to understand the possible influences of immigrants on U.S. schools. Immigrants and their children are one of the fastest-growing demographic groups—comprising 26% of the U.S. population in 2015.
Despite the claims by elected officials that immigrants consume a large share of social benefits, little is known about how immigrants affect schools and students who were born in the U.S. to U.S.-born parents (whom we refer to as third-plus generation students). READ MORE