Ileana Najarro is a reporter for Education Week covering race and opportunity in schools across the country. She previously wrote for the Tampa Bay Times and the Houston Chronicle.
Civics teacher Aedrin Albright stands before her class at Chatham Central High School in Bear Creek, N.C., on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. The class was debating whether President Trump should be impeached. A new national survey found that a majority of teachers are now limiting instruction on political and social issues in class.
Ana Pasarella, director of family and community engagement for the Alvin school district in Texas, talks to teachers and draws on her former experiences in the classroom to shape programs that help build and deepen connections between the district's schools and its students and families.
Ana Pasarella, the director of family and community engagement for the Alvin Independent school district in Texas, oversees an activity as Micaela Leon, 3, a student in the district's READy Program, draws on a piece of paper inside the district's STEM bus in Manvel, Texas.
Eric Parker teaches a class NW Classen High that has immigrant students and he has a flag representing each, which is a way to make them feel welcome, Tuesday, September 10, 2019. In a study published in the Review of Economic Studies last year, researchers analyzed population-level school records and birth records from Florida to measure the impact of immigrant students on U.S.-born peers’ academic outcomes.
Billy Lopez and Indica Beckham read together during kindergarten class at Fairview Elementary in Carthage, Mo., on Nov. 26, 2018. The Carthage School District, along with three other Missouri districts, is participating in a $2.6 million five-year grant project that seeks to bolster its English Language Learners program.
High school English teacher Puja Clifford sits below signs posted on a wall in her classroom at San Francisco International High School in San Francisco on April 19, 2016. English learner education, including for migrant students, has evolved over the last 50 days after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case.
High school teacher Tara Hobson talks with a student in the school cafeteria at San Francisco International High School in San Francisco on April 19, 2016. The quality of education for English learners, including migrant students in San Francisco, has evolved over the last years in part due to landmark civil rights Supreme Court decision.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Department of Education, Sept. 20, 2023, in Washington. Cardona requested that the management of English-learner federal aid return to the office of English language acquisition earlier this year.
Andy, left, a 1st grade student at Mount Pleasant Elementary School, works on his math homework with Sharon Francisco, an English-learner teacher with Roanoke County Public Schools on April, 26, 2022, in Roanoke, Va.
Emmitt Glynn teaches AP African American studies to a group of Baton Rouge Magnet High School students on Monday, Jan. 30, 2023 in Baton Rouge, La. The high school was testing a version of the new course, which has since gained national attention.
The updated AP African American Studies course framework highlights a variety of African American leaders, activists, actors, athletes, and more. Some of the individuals included and pictured here include Mae Jemison (left), President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama (top right), Nichelle Nichols, (bottom center), and Colin Kaepernick (bottom right).
Educators chat with each other during the Edifying, Elevating, and Uplifting Teachers of Color conference in Minneapolis, Minn., on Oct. 20, 2023. Retaining educators within the profession requires paying attention to the quality of induction support they get, ongoing mentorship, and how well prepared school administrators are.
Clint Mitchell, superintendent for Colonial Beach Public Schools in Colonial Beach, Va., visits a class at Colonial Beach Elementary School on Nov. 6, 2023.
Reinaldo Caraballo, Angel Solivan, center, and Joseph Santana, center right, participate in a group activity during a history class at Pascagoula High School on Oct. 25, 2021 in Pascagoula, Miss. The Pascagoula-Gautier School District has by far the largest English Learner population of any on the Coast, at about 13% as of May 2021, most of whom are native Spanish speakers.
Students Anthony Gonzalez, middle, and Kritza Ardon Blanco, right, listen to teacher Kristine Jones, left, in the library at Valencia Newcomer School on Oct. 17, 2019, in Phoenix. Valencia Newcomer School in Phoenix is among a handful of public schools in the United States dedicated exclusively to helping some of the thousands of children who arrive in the country annually.