Each year, Renaissance releases the What Kids Are Reading report, and each year it grows by leaps and bounds.1 This year’s report looked at the reading habits of seven million students from more than 26,000 schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. These students read more than 255 million books last year,…
Language learning company Rosetta Stone is launching its first Emergent Bilingual Educators of the Year award program. The company is inviting K–12 teachers across the U.S. to submit 800-word essays explaining how a particular EL teacher is helping their students and how the program’s prize money will make a local impact. The entry period begins…
These results contribute to the growing body of evidence showing that bilinguals are more resilient in dealing with neurodegeneration than monolinguals. A new study published in Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders provides new evidence that bilingualism can delay symptoms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. Led by famed researcher of the effects of bilingualism, Ellen Bialystok, with…
Study shows that babies learn language best from speakers who sound like theircaregivers. Language development in bilingual children remains a contested and enigmatic phenomenon, and oftentimes it’s hard to distinguish myth from fact. A study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Development not only sheds important light on how babies raised bilingual acquire language…
A recent voter poll, commissioned by UnidosUS (formerly National Council of La Raza) and Helios Education Foundation, indicates that the majority of Arizonans support dual-language education for children, and nearly 60% of respondents approve of a measure that would allow undocumented students to receive in-state tuition rates. Education is the hot topic in Arizona, where voters…
According to new research published in Developmental Science and carried out at Canada’s York University, babies who hear two languages at home develop advantages in attention. In the study, infants who were exposed to more than one language showed better attentional control than infants who were exposed to only one language. This means that exposure to…
Democratic Assemblyman Tony Thurmond managed to come from behind to emerge as California’s new superintendent of public instruction, beating out Marshall Tuck, a fellow Democrat and former Los Angeles executive of charter schools and educational nonprofits. Thurmond sponsored California Assembly Bill 2514 which was passed in September, allocating $300,000 in grant funding to eligible schools,…
Hurricane Maria forced many Puerto Ricans to flee to FloridaAs the midterm elections approach, civic engagement groups Faith in Florida, Hispanic Federation, Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, UnidosUS, and Vamos4PR, and individual voter Marta Rivera have filed suit against Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner and the Supervisors of Elections of 32 Florida counties who,…
A new study reveals that bilinguals and trained musicians utilize fewer resources in their brains while doing tasks involving memory. This means that it’s easier for them to do so. As their brains use less effort to perform tasks, researchers infer that their musical and bilingual brains may protect them from the onset of cognitive…
It is often claimed that bilinguals are better than monolinguals at learning languages. Now, this hypothesis has found support in a new study of brain activity, conducted at Georgetown University Medical Center and published in the journal Bilingualism: Language and Cognition.“The difference is readily seen in language learners’ brain patterns. When learning a new language,…