LRSD Teachers Learning a Second Language this Summer

LITTLE ROCK, AR - Sir Withers teaches 7th and 8th grade Family and Consumer Science along with Finance. But Monday, it was all about Withers and other Little Rock School District Teachers learning Spanish, to bridge the gap between themselves, students and parents. 

(link to the article on Arkansas Matters)

No te quedes atrás, ¡aprende idiomas! / Do not be left behind, learn languages!

¿Crees que hablar inglés es suficiente en la economía global actual? ¿Te sientes seguro porque el inglés es tu lengua materna? Cuidado...

Do you think speaking English is enough in today´s globalised-borderless world economy? 

Artículo de la BBC, por Judith Burns. (link)  Some excerpts from the BBC article:

Spanish, French and German are still the most desired languages, but companies also want Mandarin and Arabic speakers.

Last year a report by the British Council urged schools to teach a wider range of languages, giving these skills the same status as the sciences and maths.

"In a tight economy, one thing that will help more UK young people choose languages is a clear signal from UK businesses that they want them and will pay for them," said John Worne, the organisation's director of strategy.

At least one national research team found that Black and Hispanic students lose about a month's worth of math and reading knowledge during a typical summer break.

Read this article by Cathryn Creno, in The Republic | (azcentral.com) about the academically negative effect of  the traditional 10-week summer break on mostly Afroamerican and Hispanic kids from low-income families.

"It can take teachers as long as four to six weeks at the start of a new school year to help kids brush up on skills they had previously mastered," said Pearl Chang Esau, who heads Expect More Arizona, an education advocacy group.” 

Read also " Study: Minority-Serving Schools Serve Students of Color as Well as Predominantly White Institutions"

Fragment from the article on Diverse Education:

"A new study challenges the notion that Black and Latino students are less likely to earn a college degree if they attend minority-serving institutions, such as historically Black universities or Hispanic-serving universities".