Did You Know?

The English language learner student population grew from 3.2 million students in 1995 to 5.1 million in 2005.

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Ready. Set. Go.

Times are challenging for schools and districts across the United States, but the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act offer a unique opportunity for strategic collaboration. The stimulus dollars will not begin to solve all the challenges that schools and communities currently face, but they do provide an opportunity to refocus our commitment to children through sustainable initiatives and partnerships. While challenging, collaboration between districts and communities, schools and agencies, demands that we are intentional with our money, diligent about collecting and analyzing data, and relentless about aligning with partners. Schools cannot do it alone.

ASCD and our 38 partners in the Whole Child Initiative are leaders among education, health, arts, and civic organizations. We are committed to working together to support you as you work to ensure each child in your community is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. For instance, our whole child partner the National Education Association (NEA) recently created a graphic representation demonstrating the alignment of its Great Public Schools Initiative with the Whole Child Initiative. They've also created a special page of free resources to support that alignment.

» ASCD has produced a number of additional resources to help you understand the stimulus package and your options within it, plus a very special free resource to help you engage your students in their learning and community.

• Engaging the Whole Child—This new e-book will be available for free download from Wednesday, April 15, through Wednesday, May 6. Build your school's and community's capacity to engage students in the classroom and community. Over 300 pages of articles cover topics such as empowering students, deepening students' thinking, and connecting with students' communities and cultures. This special publication includes a study guide and will be available here.
• Special Edition Podcast on the Education Stimulus—On Thursday, April 16, tune in to a special edition of our Whole Child Podcast featuring experts in education policy and professional development, and learn how your district can make the most of the education stimulus.
• Educator Advocates Action Center—Sign up for Educator Advocates e-mails to stay informed on education policy. The website currently provides the latest information available from the U.S. Department of Education, including state allocations under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners

This month on the Whole Child Podcast, our guests share their expertise on the diverse English language learner (ELL) population and how communities are striving to meet the needs of each student.

Tune in to hear from Chris Swanson, director of the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center at EdWeek.org, about the 2009 Quality Counts report on English language learners. ELL Program Coordinator Margarita Gonzalez Amador of Los Angeles Unified School District shares the challenges and opportunities of serving a large urban ELL population. Finally, Los Cruces, N.Mex., teacher Evangeline Barela shares her district's dual language instruction program.

Download it today for all this and more. After listening to the podcast, tell us your thoughts on the Whole Child Blog.

» Expect More. Get More.

“The effort to transform America's public schools requires many hands. Partnerships with all members of the education community, including ASCD, are essential to effective public education and student success.”

—NEA President Dennis van Roekel describes his organization's involvement and alignment in a video on NEA's website (upper right corner of page)

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