Language and Literacy

Sawyer's program empowers Spanish-speaking parents to help their preschool children improve their language outcomes.

Brook Sawyer was recently awarded a three-year Development and Innovation Research Grant from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). The nearly $2 million grant will facilitate Sawyer’s continued development and extension of her Parents Plus program, which also was funded by the IES.

Kangas examines through multiple studies how state and federal policies and structural issues in schools can be barriers to learning.

In the middle schools and high schools that she visited for her research and studies, applied linguist Sara Kangas noticed a disturbing trend: high percentages of English learners (ELs) with learning disabilities.  

Dear Parents and Teachers of Early Childhood and Elementary School Children-

Like me, I am sure many of you are wondering how to keep your children engaged during these fairly unstructured days.  Although I personally dream of curling up on the couch and losing myself in a book, telling my kids to “get a book” doesn’t seem to lead to very much excitement in my house.  Please tell me you can relate, and there isn’t something terribly wrong with my parenting (gulp).

On the Highest Aspirations Podcast, we engage in important conversations about the most rapidly growing student demographic in the United States - English Language Learners. We speak with educators and students, researchers and policy makers, and parents and community members about how we can help all students reach their highest aspirations.  Listen now.