Patricia Gandara, co-director of UCLA's Civil Rights Project, spoke about the challenges in educating English language learners and immigrant students and important it is they succeed to the country's future.

She was the final speaker of the highlight session of "Teaching to a New Nation," EWA's regional seminar on teacher quality held Sept. 19-20 at Chicago Public Radio.

NPR's Claudio Sanchez moderated the panel which also included professor and author Gloria Ladson-Billings of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Sherrie Gahn, principal of Whitney Elementary in Las Vegas.

Gloria Ladson-Billings is a professor of education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an author of many works and an expert on the education of low-income and minority students.

She was the second speaker of the highlight session of "Teaching to a New Nation," EWA's regional seminar on teacher quality held Sept. 19-20 at Chicago Public Radio.

NPR's Claudio Sanchez moderated the panel which also included Patricia Gandara, co-director of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, and Sherrie Gahn, principal of Whitney Elementary in Las Vegas.

Sherrie Gahn, principal of Whitney Elementary School in Las Vegas, discussed the extreme measure she and teachers take to compensate for their students' troubled backgrounds and to help them learn.

Her school was recently featured in a story in the Las Vegas Sun.

She was the first speaker of the highlight session of "Teaching to a New Nation," EWA's regional seminar on teacher quality held Sept. 19-20 at Chicago Public Radio.

NPR's Claudio Sanchez moderated the panel which also included Patricia Gandara, co-director of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, and professor and author Gloria Ladson-Billings of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Author Donna Foote, whose most recent book "Relentless Pursuit" chronicled the professional lives of four Teach for America teachers at Locke High School in L.A., moderates this panel focused on the education of teachers. Thomas Lasley, dean of the University of Dayton's education school, and Michael Whitmore, representing Chicago's teacher residency program, round out the panel.

About 35 reporters from across the country attended the session, which was part of EWA's regional seminar "Teaching to a New Nation" held Sept. 19-20 at Chicago Public Radio.

Dallas Morning News reporter Gary Jacobson and Adamson High School teacher Marcia Niemann discuss the paper's series, which chronicled the struggles of immigrant students to adjust to American high school, as part of EWA's regional seminar at Chicago Public Radio held Sept. 19-20. Claudio Sanchez from NPR moderated the panel, which was attended by about 35 journalists from across the country.