ELT World North America

Illinois: Opinions clashed over the value of Chicago Public Schools efforts to alleviate discriminatory effects on students who are learning to speak English, with federal court supervision of the system hanging in the balance.
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Illinois: Tess Setchell thinks the new dual-language learning program her 5-year-old daughter will enter this fall at Salt Creek Elementary School will help her grow and prepare her for a multilingual society. Though the dual-language program will be new at the Elk Grove Village school and in Arlington Heights-based Community Consolidated School District 59, other [...]

Tennessee: Lourdes Perez breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that Nashville voters on Thursday had rejected a proposal to require that all government business be done in English. But she says she’s “saddened that this has been brought up again in the state capital.” The proposal sends the message “that we’re not welcoming,” [...]

California: The bilingual education program at Boronda Meadows Elementary School in Salinas has been awarded the 2008 Seal of Excellence by the California Association for Bilingual Education. It’s one of just two to receive the award for the year, notes The Californian.
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Arizona: Pistor Middle School eighth-graders Brianna Rios, 13, Ciana Galvez, 14, and Lupita Mendiaz, 13, laugh as they are videotaped in Tucson recently to teach people in Ecuador about hip hop dancing. The bilingual dance videos will be sent to their adopted community in Ecuador. The program was approved as an O Ambassador Club, which [...]

Texas: When Jessi Wong attended elementary school, it was against the rules to speak Spanish. Now, she is the coordinator of bilingual, ESL and migrant education for New Braunfels ISD. Wong has seen the old attitudes about using Spanish in classrooms change as the demand and need for bilingual education rises.
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Canada: At Braeburn Junior School, principal Monica Francis can’t believe the difference a year makes. About two thirds of her Etobicoke students speak a language other than English at home — with parents insisting it’s closer to 80% — and despite new immigrants continually arriving into the largely Somali community, their school had not a [...]

Texas: Teachers at the Gadsden Independent School District learned new strategies to work with predominantly Spanish-speaking students. Susan Yturralde, director for the Bilingual and Multicultural Programs Department, said 23 teachers participated in a three-day course that prepared them to handle the individual and diverse needs of children who are learning English as a second language.
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California: A decision to end the four-year-old dual-language program at Ritter Elementary School came after the Los Angeles Unified School District, the state of California and Superintendent of Instruction Angela Bass reviewed data suggesting that the program was not boosting student achievement, and that there were not enough participants. Since then, parents have campaigned to [...]

Arkansas: Sylvia Magana moved to the United States from Mexico 11 years ago, but she waited until recently to start learning English. In August, Magana enrolled in her granddaughter’s school district’s Family Literacy Program, taking English classes at night and learning alongside her granddaughter in the classroom one day a week. The program, which targets [...]