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.
Katherine Alfaro works with students at Russellville Elementary School, in Russellville, Ala., Aug. 9, 2022. Alfaro is an aide for English learners, many of whom speak Spanish at home. English-learner education is not immune to anti-DEI policies and politics, according to a new research study.
English Language Learning Program Coordinator Dina Saunders collects worksheets while helping in Katie Pringnitz's 6th grade language arts classroom on Aug. 24, 2016 at Mount Pleasant Middle School in Iowa. For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, English learners’ average English-language proficiency test scores did not decline. <ins data-user-label="Daniela Franco Brown" data-time="06/30/2026 2:24:34 PM" data-user-id="00000185-9ccd-d5c5-a98d-decdaf220001" data-target-id="">Instead, they held steady or increased in most grades</ins>.
A staff member from a district school carts away food and household items to donate to student families in St. Paul, Minn., February 23, 2026. Across the Twin cities, teachers and school administrators adapted to support families affected by heightened immigration enforcement.
TahSoGhay Collah, right, teaches a third-grade English learners class at the 700-student intermediate school that serves grades 3 through 5, in Worthington, Minn., on Oct. 22, 2024. The Education Department discontinued grants last year that would help develop teachers of English learners.
Hutto High School students protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, in Hutto, Texas. New national survey data found that immigration enforcement continues to affect schools.
The Tennessee Capitol is seen on April 23, 2024, in Nashville. Twice since 2025, lawmakers in the state have failed to pass legislation limiting undocumented students' access to free, public education.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department, FBI and Homeland Security Investigations monitor a high school football game Sept. 12, 2025, at Cardozo High School in Washington. Heightened immigration enforcement activity has raised concerns about its impact on students’ attendance and well-being.
Olga Dietz and Glenda McKinney meet with coach Jenna Davis (center) at Mt. View Elementary School in Antioch, Tenn. Dietz and McKinney, teachers of English learners, co-teach kindergarten classes with general education colleagues. Regular coaching is one element of what research has shown makes professional development effective.
A five-year-old English learner works on a rug with other kindergarten students as they talk about the seasons at an elementary school in Antioch, Tenn., on Dec. 3, 2025. A new study found students are more likely to exit out of English-learner status if states partially automate the reclassification process.
English-language teacher Tameka Marshall leads a lesson dissecting a speech at John F. Kennedy Middle School on Dec. 3, 2025, in Antioch, Tenn. A national survey found that, while English-learner teachers are viewed as primarily responsible for these students, they are not always included in schoolwide instructional decisions.
Democratic state Sen. Raumesh Akbari hugs a young demonstrator as people protest an immigration bill outside the Senate chamber at the state Capitol on April 10, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. The legislation is part of a broader push in Tennessee to require schools to collect students’ immigration status, raising concerns among educators about trust, access, and compliance with federal law.
TahSoGhay Collah, right, teaches a 3rd grade English-learner class at a school that serves grades 3 through 5, in Worthington, Minn., on Oct. 22, 2024. Experts say there is no one-size-fits-all funding model for English learners.
Bryan Najera holds a sign during a House Education K-12 subcommittee meeting Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. Tennessee lawmakers are debating amended legislation, originally introduced last year, to collect students' immigration information.
A woman embraces her child outside a hearing room at the Tennessee State Capitol during protests against a bill that would have allowed public and charter schools to deny immigrant students from enrolling in school, in Nashville, Tenn., on March 11, 2025. Lawmakers are expected to vote on an amended version of the bill that would require schools to collect students' immigration status information.
From left, Alicia Simba, a transitional kindergarten teacher; Eric Lewis, a science teacher; Vito Chiala, a principal; Chris Hoffman, a school superintendent; and moderator Diana Lambert of EdSource appear on a panel during the State of Teaching discussion in San Francisco on March 19, 2026. The administrators and classroom educators spoke of what it takes to boost teacher morale.
English-learner teacher Olga Dietz, middle, talks with Glenda McKinney, another EL teacher, in between classes at Mt. View Elementary School in Antioch, Tenn., on Dec. 3, 2025. Across the country districts are increasingly in need of these teachers with specialized skills for helping students learning English as the national EL population continues to grow.