Illinois offers lessons in teaching English as a second language

New reports are showing that it is very smart to start teaching English to preschool children of immigrants, they do much better in regular school. They learn so quickly then, too.  - - Donna Poisl

By Maggie Severns, policy analyst for the New America Foundation’s Early Education Initiative and the author of “Starting Early With English Language Learners: First Lessons From Illinois.”

The news that minority babies make up a majority of all births in the United States should be a wake-up call. This shift to a majority-minority population has been taking place for years, while the way minorities are educated in our public schools has stayed the same. It’s time to think about next-generation America — a young, unprecedentedly diverse group with different needs, and strengths, from generations past.

Immigrant youths and the children of immigrants are one of the lowest-performing groups in U.S. public schools. But they will account for virtually all growth in the workforce over the next 40 years, the Brookings Institution has estimated, based on census data.
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