School districts were reporting in June that half or more of ESL students were not showing up for online instruction.
The challenge of ESL needs is huge. Five million K – 12 students receive ESL instruction. The number of states in which ESL students account for at least 5% of the student body rose from 19 in 2001-2002 to 34 states in 2017-2018.
Minnesota students speak 311 languages other than English. 22% of school districts serve student populations that speak ten or more languages, and 5% serve students speaking 50 languages or more.
Linguistic isolation: As of 2018, 18% of children of immigrants were living in families where all members of the household over the age of 14 were limited English proficient.
Poor internet connection: According to one analysis of 2018 Census data, 17 million U.S. children live in homes without internet subscriptions, and 7 million have no access to computers or tablets. Nearly one-third of Latino families with children do not have high-speed
internet, and 17% lack computer access.
From the Migration Policy Institute