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College Fees Highlight of New Bipartisan DREAM Act

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) have introduced a new version of the DREAM Act, which they hope will protect more than a million young people from deportation if relief under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is ended.

DACA is under assault by a group of Republican elected officials led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who says he’ll take President Trump to court if he doesn’t rescind DACA by Sept. 5. Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly said last week that legal advisers have warned him that DACA probably would not survive a court challenge.

Like previous versions, the legislation would grant permanent legal status to people who arrived in the U.S. before they turned 18, passed security checks, and meet other criteria, including enrolling in college, joining the military or finding jobs. This latest version of the DREAM Act would also give states new authority to grant in-state tuition rates to these undocumented immigrants and provide an additional path for qualifying immigrants who have been employed for at least three years, of which 75% was authorized.

“These kids are running out of asphalt. They’re running out of runway,” Graham said when announcing the legislation. “They came out of the shadows at the invitation of their government. They’ve identified themselves and their legal standing is now in question. It becomes an almost moral decision.”

According to his staff, Trump will not support this bill, however talking with reporters last week, Trump was still in two minds over what to do about DACA. “It’s a decision that’s very, very hard to make,” he said. “I really understand the situation now. I understand the situation very well. What I’d like to do is a comprehensive immigration plan. But our country and political forces are not ready yet.”

“I am hoping we can find a pathway forward with President Trump,” Graham said at a news conference. “Wouldn’t it be ironic if the man who started his campaign talking about illegal immigration in a very tough way would be the man who started the country on a path to solving the problem?”

Janet Murguía, president and CEO of UnidosUS (previously known as the National Council of La Raza), commented, “Since the implementation of the DACA program, we have witnessed the full breadth of the economic and social contributions of young Latinos. To end DACA would mean a U.S. GDP loss of $433.4 billion over the next 10 years. And for the nearly 800,000 immigrant youth protected under DACA, this program has not only proven to be a lifeline, but an opportunity to fulfill academic and professional goals that once felt unattainable. Today, the DACA community is composed of doctors, engineers, students and educators—hardworking, passionate individuals who have and continue to enrich our society. We know the positive and significant impact of DACA, and we need a permanent solution that will recognize how these talented and dynamic young people have strengthened our country.”

June 2017

Inside June 2017 Issue:

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The Wonder of Words  Kathy Perez shares successful vocabulary acquisition strategies

Get Real, Teacher! Rene Gadelha believes that only careful implementation will realize the promise of virtual reality in education

The New Digital Divide Keith Oelrichargues that teacher preparation and curriculum design are the keys to closing the technological opportunity gap

Drawing on Ideas Mark Oronzio suggests concept-mapping strategies for language learners

Diversity Through the Big Screen Chita Espino-Bravo explains how to use film to introduce diversity into advanced conversation classes

Read to Ace the SAT Jeff McQuillan shares evidence to show that reading, not cramming, is the key to improving college entrance exam results

Online Teaching in a New Age VivaLing’s Ludivine Hamy shatters conventional notions about online language teaching

May 2017 Issue

Inside May 2017 Issue:

Improving Speech Marks  Pamela J. Sharpe offers tips to help students prepare for the speaking section of the internet-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (iBT TOEFL)

Advancing Global Readiness for English Learners As efforts are made to increase the diversity of study abroad participants, Francisca Sánchez focuses on the need to prepare our most vulnerable students for the global village in which they will live

Easing Student Anxiety in an Uncertain Age The Institute of International Education’s (IIE) Mark Lazar reports on how U.S. campuses are responding to the needs and concerns of current and prospective students from the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond

New Directions for Technology Use in ELL Instruction Scott Evans provides an in-depth review of how technology has been used in ELL instruction in the past—and what educators can expect next

Teaching in Realtime, Full-time or Part-time The lowdown on two of the world’s biggest online education providers who are always looking to recruit new teachers

Spain’s Heartland Castilla y León and its capital Valladolid offer a warm welcome to students of Spanish

April 2017

April 2017Inside the April 2017 Edition:

Inspiration from Live Interaction

Bryce Hedstrom  explains why attending quality conferences is key to teacher development

Slowing the Summer Slide

Help Your Students Slide Up, Not Down, Over the Summer

Talk, Read, Talk, Write

Nancy Motley suggests a routine for literacy in all content areas

Helping Bilingual Researchers

Melanie Curl demonstrates how using youth-friendly databases helps increase literacy among English language learners

Study Abroad for All?

How can the benefit of international education be made available to all American students, as recommended by a new Congressional report?

Bilingual  Teacher Shortages in California

A report by Desiree Carver-Thomas and Linda  Darling-Hammond highlights the growing demand for credentialed bilingual educators in the Golden State

February 2017

Inside February 2017 :

Community Service  Jason Stricker explains how the Supporting Teacher Effectiveness Project helps create professional learning communities that work

No Method in the Madness Ann Abbott Carol Gaab questions the value of traditional teaching methods in the language classroom

The Art of Teaching M. Elhess, E. Elturki, and J. Egbert  offer strategies to support student creativity

¡Qué guay! Tania Ruiz discovers how ‘cool’ Spain’s Valencia region is as an immersion destination

Looking Back to Move Forward Ayanna Cooper shares teacher resources for Black History Month

Futile War Ross Thorburn rejects the illogical insistence upon banning mother tongues in the second-language classroom

January 2017

Inside January 2017 :

Chinese Puzzle  As we move toward the goal of a million American K-12 students learning Mandarin, fears that the language is too difficult must be overcome

Spanish Strife Ann Abbott  sees tensions in Spanish programs that cannot hold

What Should the New President Do for Education? Language Magazine  asks key figures in the world of language education what President Trump should do to improve educational outcomes in the U.S.

Taking Teaching to New Heights  Denise Murray  examines the future of the TESOL profession in preparation for next month’s international summit

Taking the Holistic Approach Margarita Calderón and Shawn Slakk believe that the whole school is responsible for the success of English learners

Speaking Out Kathy Stein-Smith offers guidance to improve the educational experience for all at-risk students

December 2016

Inside December 2016 Issue:

2017 Year Planner  Your one stop shop for conferences, workshops, grants, scholarships, and dates for 2017

Study Abroad Guide Language Magazine’sguide to the major international education events in 2017

Opening Doors Take a look inside the 2016 report

Finding the X Factor  Shlomy Kattan and Liza McFadden explain to Daniel Ward how a revolutionary, new approach to the age-old problem improving adult literacy might just work

Translanguaging Success into PracticeDavid Freeman, Mary Soto, and Yvonne Freeman advocate using translanguaging to improve educational outcomes for emergent bilinguals

Redefining Inclusive Education Frances Stetson offers guidance to improve the educational experience for all at-risk students

Semifinalists and Testing Cities Announced in $7M Adult Literacy XPRIZE

XPRIZE, the global leader in designing and operating world-changing incentive competitions, has announced the eight semifinalist teams are advancing in the $7M Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE featured in the December 2016 edition of Language Magazine. Presented by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, this is a global competition challenging teams to develop mobile applications for existing smart devices that result in the greatest increase in literacy skills among participating adult learners.
XPRIZE also announced official partnerships with three major U.S. metropolitan areas – Los Angeles, Dallas, and Philadelphia – to support the competition’s next field testing phase. These partnerships encompass a powerful consortium of city mayors, community-based organizations and public education institutions including the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), City of Philadelphia’s Office of Adult Education (OAE), and the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD).
“By participating as a partner in the Adult Literacy XPRIZE, L.A. Unified is changing the educational outcomes for our adult learners,” enthused L.A. Unified superintendent Michelle King. “Not only will our students have the opportunity to develop their literacy skills, but our district will gain valuable insight into the supports that best suit the needs of our adult learners. Literacy is essential to preparing our students for post-secondary studies, careers and civic participation in our community.”
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney explained that this was yet another way the city is making quality education accessible for all Philadelphians. “We are smart to invest in education, and partner with innovation, for our adult learners, their families, their neighborhoods and our city. I also want to acknowledge the community of providers, administrators and volunteers that is the backbone of the adult education system in Philadelphia.”
“With the announcement of these semifinalist teams, we are one step closer to transforming the lives of 36 million adults with low literacy skills in the U.S. by putting today’s cutting-edge learning tools directly in the hands of those who need them most,” commented Shlomy Kattan, the senior director of the competition. “This first-of-its-kind partnership signals a deep commitment by these cities to invest in the lives of their residents by addressing adult low-literacy and the burdens it places on job growth, medical costs and a child’s future educational success.”
“Through the Adult Literacy XPRIZE, the Barbara Bush Foundation is making a sound investment in the future of education in our country,” said Liza McFadden, president and CEO of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. “We encourage teachers, human resource leaders and friends of English language learners to be the first to try these apps; the magic is there! Pass the word.”
According to the American Journal of Public Health and the National Council for Adult Learning, low literacy skills cost the U.S. an estimated $225 billion in lost productivity and tax revenue each year and add an estimated $230 billion to the country’s annual healthcare costs.
Ahead of today’s announcement, 109 teams from 15 countries across the globe developed mobile solutions to overcome key barriers to literacy by improving access, while increasing retention and scaling to meet demand; 41 of these teams submitted fully functional mobile learning apps designed for adult learners. A panel of independent expert judges evaluated these submissions based on their appeal and evidence of effectiveness.
The eight semifinalist teams enter a 15-month field testing phase across the three partner cities that includes a total of 12,000 adult-learner participants who read English at a third-grade reading level or below, and at least 750 volunteers to onboard participants and coordinate the download of learning apps. The Adult Literacy XPRIZE will distribute the learning solutions to participating adult learners who will test the semifinalist teams’ software; each participant will receive access to one randomly-assigned app. Following 12 months of consistent use, a post-test will be administered to determine the highest gains in literacy achieved by the participants. Participants’ app usage, responses to monthly surveys and self-assessments will also factor in the judges’ final evaluation.
The eight teams advancing are:
• Alphabet Literacy (San Francisco, CA) – Led by Xian Ke and Trudy Obi, the team has built an app that allows users to explore multimedia content for improving their literacy skills. Users can interact with articles, songs, videos and more within the app.
• AmritaCREATE, Amrita University (Amritapuri, Kerala, India) – Inspired by Amrita University’s Chancellor AMMA and led by Dr. Prema Nedungadi, this team of educators and developers have created a personalized learning app along with engaging, culturally appropriate e-content linked to life skills.
• AutoCognita (Hong Kong, China) – Led by Frank Ho, the team applies the constructivist learning approach to engage learners through action. Low-literacy adults effectively acquire basic literacy, numeracy and life skills through a comprehensive curriculum and sound pedagogy.
• Cell-Ed (Oakland, CA) – Led by Dr. Jessica Rothenberg-Aalami, this team brings more than 20 years of EdTech experience with low income, low-literate adults in the US and worldwide by offering on-demand essential skills, micro-lessons and personalized coaching on any mobile device, without internet.
• Learning Games Studios (Alexandria, VA) – Led by Ira Sockowitz, Learning Games Studios has developed an evidence-based mobile learning game that combines a virtual world, scaffolded missions and single- and multi-player gameplay to rapidly increase adult learners’ English language and literacy skills.
• Learning Upgrade (San Diego, CA) – Led by Vinod Lobo, the team helps students learn English and math the fun way through songs, video, games and rewards.
• Lyriko (Cambridge, MA) – The Lyriko team believes people learn best when they are having fun and hopes to inspire a lifelong love of learning through play. Their app, also called Lyriko, is a music game designed to build language skills while exploring song lyrics.
• People ForWords (Dallas, TX) – Led by Southern Methodist University’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development, in collaboration with SMU’s Guildhall and Literacy Instruction for Texas, the PeopleForWords team has developed a mobile game based on an archeological adventure storyline to help adult learners improve their English reading skills.
Upon completion of field testing, the top mobile applications will be freely available in the U.S. for 18 months. The selection of up to five finalists will be announced in May 2018 and winners will be announced early 2019. The $3M Grand Prize will be awarded to the team with the best performance across all adult learners over the 12-month field test. Two $1M Achievement Prizes will also be awarded to the two teams with the best performance in each of the two key demographic groups: native English speakers and English language learners. An additional $500K will be awarded to up to five finalist teams.
Following the awarding of the Grand Prize and Bonus Prizes, cities across the U.S. will compete to encourage their adult learners to download and use the winning applications, using tailored education, marketing, and outreach campaigns. A $500K purse will be split among all finalist teams that meet the minimum performance benchmark to advance to the Cities Competition. A $1M prize will be awarded to the city that encourages the greatest percentage of its adult learners to download and use any of the finalist solutions over a six-month period.

Inside the Issue — August 2016

Aug 2016 Cover

Language Magazine

August 2016

Blending to Test Julie Damron and Jennifer Quinlan assess student outcomes in the blended classroom

California’s LEARN Initiative Ricardo Lara and Stephen Krashen explain why California’s Multilingual Education Act matters.

Cultural Competence Jillian N. McHenry examines the challenges to offering medical care that is linguistically and cultu

rally appropriate for a diverse population of patients

Tools for School Language Magazine presents tools for getting back into the swing of the school year.

Creating a Community of Readers Ruben Alejandro shares his secrets for getting students—and their parents—reading.

Careers Leanna Robinson & Jorge García discuss the prospect of multilingual paraprofessionals filling the growing demand for bilingual educators

July 2016

july 2016 cover

July 2016 — Inside the Issue

Competing Culturally

The Building cultural competence is the core mission of this publication and a recurring theme of this column, so it’s hardly surprising that we welcome the recent Kurashiki Declaration (June 2016, p19) by the education ministers of the world’s most powerful economies that skills in this area should be an integral part of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).

This move should significantly increase the emphasis on cultural, and linguistic, education in the U.S. and other anglophone countries because of PISA’s weight as a measure of success of international educational systems. How often do we hear of Finland’s literary prowess and Singapore’s mathematical excellence? Despite fundamental differences in populations (size, diversity, wealth) being measured, PISA results are used as the international benchmark. The U.S. thrives on competition, and here’s a subject which should suit its very diversity. However, in order to excel across the board, we’ll need to prioritize world language education in a way that has yet to be seen.

Cultural competence may sound like another educational buzz phrase, but we’ve expected it of immigrants for centuries. Throughout history, immigrants have been asked to acquire the languages of their new homes, to understand the values of the societies into which they have moved, and to respect the customs of the communities which happened to be there before their arrivals. Civics and English classes have been the basis of cultural education for newcomers to the U.S. since its creation. And the U.S. is not alone; every nation that experiences significant immigration takes steps to accelerate the integration of its latest citizens by encouraging adoption and understanding of the culture into which they have moved.

More recently, we’ve recognized that it’s a two-way street—that members of the dominant community benefit from acquiring knowledge and understanding of the cultures that immigrants bring with them. Not only does such knowledge enrich our everyday lives and relationships but it also helps us understand the bigger picture of the increasingly global world into which we are born and opens the door to new opportunities in all aspects of life—spiritual, artistic, personal, gastronomic, economic—the list is endless.

Acquisition of language skills is at the core of cultural competence, but it has never been given the weight it merits in the U.S., so we must campaign to ensure that the new PISA guidelines make language central to requirements and that our educational systems do not shy away from language education through fear of failure. As language teachers, literacy advocates, study abroad advisers, educators, and administrators in the field, we know one how difficult it is to understand a culture without knowing its language. It will take time, but we have the advantages of experience, technology, and the resource of heritage language speakers to help us build the language-learning infrastructure required to succeed—so all we need now is the desire.

Cultural competence is probably the most valuable skill that students of all ages can acquire. Not only does it prepare them for the opportunities and challenges of globalization outside of national boundaries but it also helps them to make the most of the increasingly diverse communities on their doorsteps, thereby reducing the risk of conflict and enabling the prospect of problem solving on a global scale. PISA gives us the incentive to align our educational systems with 21st-century priorities, opportunities, and challenges. We must take advantage of our inherent competitive spirit to make language education a national priority.

Inside the Issue

Spanish Focus

America’s Lingua Franca? Could Spanish become the language of choice throughout the Americas?

Learning with Purpose Kristal Bivona looks at teaching specialized Spanish programs.

Study Travel Costa Rica & Guatemala

Why French? Kathy Stein-Smith explains why demand is growing for French the world over.

A Whole Lot of Axolotls Paula Cuello & Lori Langer de Ramirez explore environmental studies in the Spanish classroom.

A Literacy Autobiography Yew Hock Yeo, Phyllis Ghim-Lian Chow, & Stephen Krashen share a tale worth reading.
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