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<p>When I was growing up, my family spoke mostly Spanish, but everyone at my school spoke English. Since my mother prioritized academic success over cultural acclimation for me, I found myself slowly abandoning Spanish. Taking Spanish as an elective in middle- and high school helped me make technical sense of the written language, but by then I had abandoned my mother’s native tongue in full, uprooting a small sense of my position in my extended family.</p>
English Language Learners
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<p>In 2010, California joined 44 other states in adopting the Common Core standards. These new, more rigorous standards call on students to be able to read and understand complex texts, and explain their reasoning through writing and conversation.</p>