Local Nonprofit Halts Job Assistance Programs

BERKELEY, CA–With a lack of funding and declines in state spending for welfare programs, a local nonprofit that serves the low-income and unemployed is temporarily halting its job assistance programs. Asians For Job Opportunities in the Bay Area, which has served the community since 1974, recently shut down its bilingual social services and job placement services, full story

Forged document students expelled

NEWCASTLE, UNITED KINGDOM–Dozens of foreign students have been told to leave Newcastle University after the certificates they used to gain entry were found to be forged. Most of the 49 Chinese students, along with one Taiwanese pupil, had enrolled on business studies courses which they started in September. But lecturers became suspicious when they were unable full story

School Factors and Children of Immigrants

LEARNING THE LANGUAGE–For children of Latino immigrants, a school’s environment can play a big role in helping them to catch up academically with non-Hispanic whites, according to a study released this week by a researcher at Columbia University. The study finds, in fact, that children of Latino immigrants respond more to school-level factors than do immigrant children full story

City, county schools surpass state English language learner targets

GAINESVILLE, GA–Hall County and Gainesville schools passed all three annual measurable achievement objectives under No Child Left Behind pertaining to the performance of limited English proficient students last school year. Results from the annually administered ACCESS English Language Proficiency Test reveal 69.9 percent of the Hall County school system’s English language full story

More foreign students choosing SA

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA–South Australia is attracting a growing number of international students, pouring $740 million into the state’s economy this year. Latest data shows a 17.5 per cent rise in the number of foreign students in schools, tertiary study and vocational education and training in SA. As of September, a total of 25,306 international students were enrolled full story

Converting teacher training institute to English academy

KUALA TERENGGANU, MALAYSIA–The Education Ministry has set aside RM29.5mil to convert the Kuala Terengganu Teaching Institute in Batu Rakit here to an English academy by the year 2010. Deputy Education Minister Datuk Razali Ismail said the academy would help trainee teachers from Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu become proficient in the English language. full story

St. Louis University is turning to fee-based agents to recruit international students

ST. LOUIS, MO–When Yuting Wang first walked into an agent’s office in Chongqing, a bustling city in central China, she had never heard of St. Louis University. But she knew she wanted to go to college in the United States. Like many young people in Asia, she turned to an agency to help her navigate the U.S. college admissions system. She paid the agent about $7,000 and, in return, full story

Parents support SEI program

BENTON COUNTY, AK–Some of the parents of students in the first Structured English Immersion classroom at Old Wire Road Elementary School weren’t sure they liked the program. They were uncomfortable seeing their children – who still need help learning English – separated from the rest of the school. Teacher Olga Munoz soon won them over. She’s already seen tremendous full story

ESL school excels in variety

HILLCREST, PA–When Shabina Kavimandan first entered Hillcrest School six years ago, she was immediately drawn to something near and dear to her heart: The Indian flag. “The first thing I saw was the flag of my country, and a huge map of all the kids from around the world,” said Kavimandan, an English-as-a-Second-Language coach at Hillcrest, 1045 Hilltop Drive. “At that full story

Grades are in for Tennessee’s students

NASHVILLE, TN–The state Department of Education today released Tennessee’s annual report card — detailed data on student achievement, discipline and demographics. According to the results, Tennessee met federal benchmarks in every category except with limited English proficient students. Overall the state is in good standing under the No Child left Behind law, which requires full story