Dive Brief:
- Middlebury Interactive Languages and Fuel EducationTM (FuelEdTM) have teamed up to launch new digital programming aimed at English language learners in elementary and middle school.
- According to eSchool News, the program, which will be available next school year, is based on Middlebury's world language courses and brings "research-based learning techniques, cultural awareness and project-based activities into blended learning classrooms."
- There are currently almost five million ELL students in U.S. classrooms, and this number is only expected to grow.
Dive Insight:
As the number of ELL students increases, so to does the desire to provide more helpful learning opportunities for these children. This past winter in New York City, for example, Chancellor Carmen Fariña announced that the district would expand its dual-language programming, creating 40 new programs where students could learn to read, write, and speak in more than one language. California voters will also, likely, have the opportunity in 2016 to shut down Proposition 227, a 1998 law that banned schools from offering bilingual education.
While there is definitely the need for more ELL and bilingual education, it is important to remember that only 18% of Latino students are ELL, according to "The Condition of Latinos in Education: 2015 Factbook," a new report by Excelencia in Education, a think tank based in Washington, DC.
