Parents

When parents are engaged with their children’s education—regardless of parents’ income or background—students are more likely to earn higher grades, pass their classes, attend school regularly, have better social skills, and continue on to postsecondary education (Henderson and Mapp, 2002).

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) strives for a more comprehensive approach to engaging families by encouraging states to develop plans for home-school partnerships. This article from New America provides examples of states revising their family engagement plans, and includes resources for examining family participation at the school, district, and state level.

Resources

Henderson, A. T., & Mapp, K. L. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family, and community connections on student achievement. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.

Research suggests that parental involvement in school has a positive impact on children’s learning, achievement, school attendance, and the reduction of dropout rates (e.g., Goldenberg, 2004; Jeynes, 2002, Arias & Morillo-Campbell, 2008). Further studies also propose that parental involvement may be key to students’ academic success, especially when it comes to second language learning (Burstall, 1975; Gardner, 1985).  Despite the positive outcomes associated with involving parents and communities in schools, there are also a range of challenges faced by EL families seeking to interact and engage with their children’s school and learning.

Arias and Morillo-Campbell (2008), highlight five barriers that EL families might encounter while attempting to engage with schools:

1)    School-based Barriers

A lack of EL family engagement at school may be misunderstood as an indication that parents don’t care or aren't interested in their children’s education (Ascher, 1988). Schools and classrooms can overcome school-based barriers by acknowledging and valuing the contribution of all parents, continually reaching out to parents, actively working to create a positive learning atmosphere where all cultures and languages are valued, and helping to develop an environment where families have access to important resources.  

2)    Lack of English Proficiency

This is one of the largest barriers in communicating and engaging EL families in school and classroom activities. Because not all family members may have high levels of English proficiency, schools and classrooms should ensure that all written material are provided in students’ home languages, as well as English. Schools should also have bilingual staff or interpreters available for meetings or special events.

3)    Parental Educational Level

Another challenge for EL parental involvement may involve prior education and exposure to formal schooling. Working to make sure that your school offers support and assistance to EL families (e.g., orientation sessions in the home language, having interpreters and bilingual staff on hand at school, offering translated written material) can greatly improve rapport and build positive relationships between schools and EL families.

4)    Difference in Home Culture and School Culture

As educators, it is important to understand the context in which the U.S. education system functions and its cultural values and roots (e.g., individualism, competition). However, it is also important to understand, value, and incorporate the cultural values and norms of students’ families into the school environment, policies, and curriculum. Reaching out to community members, supporting extended family structures, and even re-examining the culture of competition in the classroom can all be important steps to making small improvements tailored to your students’ needs.

5)    Logistical Issues

Another significant challenge to family engagement may involve logistics, including intensive work schedules, transportation issues, or even conflicts due to religious observances or holidays. Working to provide as many options as possible for parents and students to take full advantage of school activities is important for promoting family involvement.

What are some successful ways your school or classroom invite family and community involvement? What improvements might make them even more welcoming to EL families and encourage further EL family participation?   

Resources:

Ascher, C. (1988, Summer). Improving the school-home connection for poor and minority urban students. Urban Review, 20(2), 109-123.

Arias, M. B. & Morillo-Campbell, M. (2008). Promoting ELL parental involvement: Challenges in contested times. Educational Policy Research Unit, Arizona State University. Retrieved from http://greatlakescenter.org/docs/Policy_Briefs/Arias_ELL.pdf

Burstall, C. (1975). Factors affecting foreign-language learning: A consideration of some relevant research findings. Language Teaching and Linguistics Abstracts, 8, 105–125.

Gardner, R. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitude and motivation. London: Edward Arnold.

Goldenberg, C. (2004). Successful school change. New York: Teacher College Press.

Jeynes, W. (2002). A meta-analysis: The effects of parental involvement on minority children’s academic achievement. Education and Urban Society, 2003(35), 202.

Whether you have already finished the school year, will be finishing soon, or are just starting summer session, June is a great time to start discussions and planning for next year, review what went well this past year, both in the school and in your classroom, as well as to start setting goals for the next year. 

One important question to ask yourself is: how well did I engage and communicate with my EL students’ families? 

Research has shown that students whose parents are actively involved tend to show better academic performance, fewer behavioral problems at school, and are more likely to graduate from high school than students whose parents are less involved in their children’s schooling (Child Trends, 2013; Henderson & Berla, 1994; Henderson & Mapp, 2002).

Studies have also shown that parents who do not speak English at home are less likely to participate on school boards or attend school events or meetings (Child Trends, 2013). Data from Child Trends (2013) even suggests that in 2012 only about 50 percent of children with parents who do not speak English at home had a parent attend a school event compared to 78 percent participation for parents of students who both spoke English at home. 

So, how can we better engage EL families and work to incorporate their needs and concerns in our classrooms, schools, and districts? 

One way is to host bilingual family night(s) at your school. These can be language-specific nights, or can be one, large event in which there is plenty of support from interpreters and bilingual staff. Bilingual family nights can also be opportunities to provide statistics and information, explain upcoming activities, and set classroom and community goals with the parents of your EL students. Bilingual family nights are also a time for teachers to listen to the concerns of your students’ parents and communities, (e.g., what issues do they see as most important, what are resources the parents might want, where are areas parents might be able to contribute to the school/classroom environment, how do parents see the role of the school/teacher with regard to the relationship between school and home life)?

For a short article discussing how to plan a bilingual family night or for more ideas about how/why to host a family night at your school, check out this article.

There are lots of resources for help encouraging positive interaction between EL families and the schools—take a look at this guide from Colorín Colorado for some engaging strategies for promoting communication and engagement with EL students and families.

This article from the Great Lakes Center for Educational Research and Practice provides an overview of some challenges typically faced by EL parents when it comes to engagement, and some ways schools can work to knock down some of these barriers.

Get planning and start considering how you can better involve parents in your school and classroom!

What strategies and policies are present in your classroom, school, or district to help establish positive classroom culture, promote parental and community involvement, encourage teacher leadership, and work to combat educational and instructional bias?

 Recently, the Southern Poverty Law Center released a critical practice guide for anti-bias education aimed at helping schools, districts and instructors identify areas of inequality for the purpose of making educational policies and instructional strategies that are more equitable for all learners and their families. The guide can help instructors develop supportive learning environments in which social-emotional and academic goals are attained through the implementation of social justice standards and culturally responsive pedagogy.  The guide serves as a great resource for both teachers and administrators; it explores a wide range of strategies educators can wield to better support their students in meeting their educational goals.

Resources

The Southern Poverty Law Center also published another guide, based on Critical practices for anti-bias education, that focuses on best practices for serving English Language Learners and their families. Similar in layout to the critical practice guide, Best practices for serving English Language Learners and their families delves into how educators at all levels can better help students and families of diverse language backgrounds access education and thrive in the American classroom. The guide is full of suggestions, activities, and tools that educators can use to help EL students continue to develop their academic skills in a supportive educational atmosphere.

Make sure to check out both the Critical practices for anti-bias education guide and Best practices for serving English Language Learners and thei

How does your district and school incorporate students’ home culture into the classroom and school environment? What backgrounds and home cultures are your students coming from? How are the communities you serve participating in the larger community (e.g. city, state, or region)?

Have you ever wanted to know more about your students’ communities? Recently, several districts have been incorporating professional development called Community Walks to help educators and educational decision-makers better understand students’ home and community cultures. Community Walks are opportunities for teachers, staff, administrators, and others to actually go out into their students communities and be taken on a student-led, student family-led, or community-led tour of the important institutions, areas of cultural significance, and major players (political, social, and cultural) in the community. Community Walks are aimed at helping educators get to know their students’ home and community cultures by learning from and engaging with the larger community.

Community Walks can build support for schools and students’ education within neighborhoods and communities, while also helping educators develop culturally responsive materials, and enabling schools to better serve communities by learning about students and understanding community challenges, successes, and needs. 

Resource

For a closer look at an example of a Community Walk, as well as some key ideas for how to implement your first Community Walk, check out this article from Edutopia. 

Research has shown that supporting students’ home language skills is an essential step toward developing their academic English skills (e.g. Genesee, 1999). Yet even when schools provide resources to bolster students’ home language development, it can often seem daunting to use those resources effectively in the classroom. This may be especially true for instructors who do not speak their students’ home languages, or for schools characterized by many different home languages.

Fortunately, there are many small steps you can take to support home languages. One easy starting point is to ensure that students have access to bilingual or multilingual books and other materials. By using multilingual texts in your classroom, you can help students hone their English reading and listening skills—by following along in their home languages, students can notice connections between their first language and English, and even gain insight into how languages are structured and organized. 

Of course, merely putting the books in your classroom may not be enough. Multilingual books should become a classroom tool, read aloud and used in lessons and units to support student learning. Even if you are not able to read or discuss students’ home language(s), consider encouraging other staff, parents, or community members to assist with lessons and readings. For further ideas, check out this blog for a list of ways to incorporate multilingual texts into your classroom. In addition, this handout shares a selection of texts specifically for Latino students.

A recent study, Fradd, Lee, Sutman and Saxton 2001, explored the intersection of science education with home language and home culture. In this study, the researchers looked at developing science lessons that integrated culturally responsive elements regarding home culture and home language into traditional content area lessons aimed at developing students’ scientific inquiry skills. The study looked at elementary students from a large urban setting, specifically students from Hispanic, Haitian Creole, and monolingual English-speaking ethnolinguistic backgrounds. Students in the study showed statistically significant growth in the content area knowledge through lessons that worked to integrate home language/culture with the science learning process, a finding that may have implications for content area teachers in various subjects who work with English learners.

Resources 

Fradd, S. H., Lee, O., Sutman, F. X., & Saxton, M. K. (2001). Promoting Science Literacy with English Language Learners Through Instructional Materials Development: A Case Study. Bilingual Research Journal, 25(4), 479-501.

Parent-teacher conferences can be an intimidating process for educators, parents and students alike. The conference time can be particularly challenging for English learners’ families, who might have varying comfort in understanding and using English, diverse understandings about the U.S. educational system, and different levels of comfort within an educational setting.  However, as an educator, there are many things you can do—both in advance of, and even during the conference session—to make sure that all families have access to the information being shared at the parent-teacher conferences.

For a great discussion of several approaches for building a meaningful connection with your EL families during parent-teacher conferences, check out this article. 

Finally, this webpage provides bilingual resources to help parents prepare for the conference, including some suggested questions to ask, a checklist for what to prepare and bring, an explanation of what parent-teacher conferences entail, and more.

Research suggests that a key indicator of student success in the classroom is a strong school-home relationship (Weiss, López, & Rosenberg, 2010). This means making sure that avenues of communication are open with regard to the goals and aims of the school, the classroom, and for each student, as well as what services and programs are available to help them along the way.

While communication is essential for including all parents in the classroom, districts, schools, and individual teachers also need to work together to make sure they are reaching out to EL families in positive and culturally responsive ways. Culturally responsive communication means getting to know what languages your families speak, whether or not the home language is primarily oral or written in order to provide usable avenues of communication, ensuring adequate translation/interpretation services at school events, and developing partnerships with community organizations and groups.

For a look at building parent-school trust, especially when working with diverse families, take a look at this resource.

Similarly, the U.S. Department of Education recently released a new toolkit intended to help ensure that schools are meeting the needs of ELs and their families. Take a look at the section that talks about strategies and techniques to help ensure meaningful communication, even for families who may have limited English proficient parents.  

Lastly, take a look at three video clips with Dr. Pedro Nogeura and Colorín Colorado that discuss building relationships with EL families,parents as educational partners, and how parents can help their child succeed.

Did you know—in fiscal year 2014, 69, 986 refugees from all around the world resettled in the U.S. (Office of Refugee Resettlement).  By some estimates, somewhere between 24 -37 percent of this population are school-aged students (Bridging Refugee Youth & Children’s Services, BRYCS). The number of refugees who resettle in the U.S. is projected to rise over the next three years to 100,000, making it critical that teachers, schools, and districts consider how to best address the needs of refugee students and families, especially those from non-English speaking backgrounds.

Resource

For an overview of the history of refugee students in U.S. schools over the past 25 years, as well as some ideas for how to start making school more accessible for refugee students and families, check out this resource from Colorín Colorado.

For a discussion about how to involve refugee parents in their children’s education, as well as some tips for working with refugee families in schools, take a look at this article by Bridging Refugee Youth & Children Services (BRYCS).

Another valuable resource is this article from Colorín Colorado, which discusses how to support EL students who may be new to the U.S. or have had interrupted formal education. 

Did you know that according to a recent study conducted by the Migration Policy Institute, nearly 30 percent of young children in the US come from a linguistically diverse household (Park, McHugh, Zong, and Batalova, 2015)? The same study also found that roughly 17 percent of children of immigrants have at least one limited English proficient parent.

Students from linguistically diverse homes bring many cultural and linguistic strengths to their learning and educational development. These figures highlight the importance of ensuring that  teachers, schools, and school districts prioritize engagement with both students and their families.

For a comprehensive look at tools, techniques, and tips for developing family engagement practices for students and families of diverse linguistic backgrounds, check out this report, Supporting Family Engagement in Linguistically Diverse Families to Promote Young Children’s Learning, from Columbia University’s National Center for Children in Poverty.

Resources

Barrueco, S., Smith, S., & Stephens, S. (2015). Supporting parent engagement in linguistically diverse families to promote young children’s learning: Implications for early care and education policy. New York, NY: Child Care & Early Education Research Connections.

Park, M., McHugh, M., Zong, J., and Batalova, J. (2015). Immigrant and refugee workers in the early childhood field: Taking a closer look. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute.

Creating opportunities for parental involvement in school begins with accessible communication. Successful school-home communication is especially important for EL families. Teachers and school leaders should ensure that parents are provided with materials and communication in their home languages—this will help to convey a sense of inclusion and welcoming and may also reduce possible negative feelings associated with schooling.  

Empowering parents through their involvement with school activities will also support a sense of partnership in the education process. Making sure that all parental figures have access to school information is a key first step in building school-home relationships that promote and foster growth and development for teachers, students, and families.

Resources

Berger, E. H. (2000). Parents as partners in education. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. 

Carreon, G. P., Drake, C., Barton, A. C. (2005). The importance of presence: Immigrant parents’ school engagement experiences.American Educational Research Journal, 42, 465-498.

When it comes to parental involvement in the school and classroom, it is critical to think about participation in a way that accounts for cultural and social issues. Traditional approaches to school participation might involve volunteering, participating with the PTO/PTA, school events, or school fundraisers. However, school involvement and participation is also as simple as parents helping with homework, checking assignments, or reading with their kids. 

 To learn more, a recent national survey The National Center for Education Statistics' Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey for the 2007 National Household Education Surveys Program (Harrold and O’Donnell, 2008) investigated variance among self-reported rates of parents checking their kids homework.

In households where both parents speak English, 84 percent reported checking their student’s homework, while in homes where only one parent or neither spoke English, 88 percent and 94 percent of parents reported checking homework. 

Also, with regard to reporting information about attending school activities and conferences, for homes where both parents speak English 90 percent of parents responded that they attended a school PTO/PTA meeting compared to 82 percent in households where only one parent speaks English, and 84 percent in households with neither parent speaks English.  

Parental involvement with school and education can take many different shapes and forms—it is critical to understand the cultural role and expectations students and parents might have about their role with the school and education system. Effective parent involvement stems from open communication between parents and teachers and partnerships between schools and communities across many different levels.

Resources

Herrold, K., and O’Donnell, K. (2008). Parent and Family Involvement in Education, 2006–07 School Year, From the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2007 (NCES 2008-050). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC.

When parents are engaged with their children’s education—regardless of parents’ income or background—students are more likely to earn higher grades, pass their classes, attend school regularly, have better social skills, and continue on to postsecondary education (Henderson and Mapp, 2002).

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) strives for a more comprehensive approach to engaging families by encouraging states to develop plans for home-school partnerships. This article from New America provides examples of states revising their family engagement plans, and includes resources for examining family participation at the school, district, and state level.

Resources

Henderson, A. T., & Mapp, K. L. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family, and community connections on student achievement. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.

During the 2013-2014 school year, there were over 4.9 million EL students enrolled in U.S. public elementary and secondary schools, accounting for roughly 10 percent of the total student population, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (McFarland, 2016).

The three most commonly reported EL home languages were Spanish (3,770,816 students), Arabic (109,170), and Chinese (107,825):

Resource

For more highlights from the data, visit this post from the National Center for Education Statistics blog.

Effective communication between home and school is extremely important. Not only can it help keep parents informed about upcoming events and activities, but it can also increase parental involvement in the school, deconstruct barriers between schools and the community, and assist families in supporting their students.

Furthermore, a recent study has shown that communication with parents can powerfully affect students during summer school. By sending text messages to families with one-sentence updates about student progress, one school reduced the number of students failing to earn summer credits by 41 percent.

How do you communicate with parents over the summer? Are there similar interventions you could implement during the school year?

Resource

To learn more about this summer intervention and how you might apply it during the school year, check out this article from Education Week.

Scientific and empirical research around the use of home language in the classroom suggests its benefit for students—highlighting that incorporating native language for instruction yields positive results, especially for EL students’ academic success (August & Shanahan, 2006; Bialystok, 2006).

 Did you know that a series of meta-analyses indicate that educational programs that systematically incorporate and facilitate the use of EL students’ home language result in academic success levels as high or higher than programs using an English-only approach? This includes development in literacy, as well as other academic areas (Genesee & Lindholm-Leary, 2011). These findings are also supported by numerous other studies that highlight the strong relationship between transfer of knowledge from native language to English (e.g. August & Shanahan, 2006; Riches & Genesee, 2006), and the cognitive advantages of bilingualism (e.g. Bialystok 2006; Chin & Wigglesworth, 2007; Kovaacs & Mehler, 2009; Lindholm & Aclan 1991). 

Providing students with opportunities to use native languages in the classroom is critical for creating a rich, healthy, and successful learning environment for all learners!

For other ideas about how to integrate students’ native languages in your instruction, check out these sources:

This short article describes how you can use home languages to foster and promote multiliteracy in a linguistically diverse classroom.

 Take a look at this brief about the advantages of using home languages in your classroom.

Resources

August, D., & Shanahan, T. (Eds.) (2006). Developing literacy in second language learners. Report of the national literacy panel on minority-language children and youth. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Bialystok, E. (2006). The impact of bilingualism on language and literacy development. In Bhatia, T. K., & W. E. Ritchie (Eds.) The handbook of bilingualism (pp. 577-601). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Chin, N.B., & Wigglesworth, G. (2007). Bilingualism: An advanced resource book. London: Routledge.

 Genesee, F., & Lindholm-Leary, K.  (2011).  The education of English language learners.  In K. Harris, S. Graham, & T. Urdan (Eds), APA Educational Psychology Handbook, Vol III (pp. 499-526). Washington DC:  APA Books.

Kovacs, A. M., & J. Mehler, J. (2009). Cognitive gains in 7-month-old infants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(16), 6556-6550.

Lindholm, K. J., & Aclan, Z. (1991). Bilingual proficiency as a bridge to academic achievement: Results from bilingual/immersion programs. Journal of Education 173, 99-113.

 Riches, C., & Genesee, F. (2006). Cross-linguistic and cross-modal aspects of literacy development. In F. Genesee, K. Lindholm-Leary, W. Saunders, & D. Christian, D. Educating English language learners: A synthesis of research evidence (pp. 64-108). NY: Cambridge University Press.

A recent study, Fradd, Lee, Sutman and Saxton 2001, explored the intersection of science education with home language and home culture. In this study, the researchers looked at developing science lessons that integrated culturally responsive elements regarding home culture and home language into traditional content area lessons aimed at developing students’ scientific inquiry skills. The study looked at elementary students from a large urban setting, specifically students from Hispanic, Haitian Creole, and monolingual English-speaking ethnolinguistic backgrounds. Students in the study showed statistically significant growth in the content area knowledge through lessons that worked to integrate home language/culture with the science learning process, a finding that may have implications for content area teachers in various subjects who work with English learners.

Resources 

Fradd, S. H., Lee, O., Sutman, F. X., & Saxton, M. K. (2001). Promoting Science Literacy with English Language Learners Through Instructional Materials Development: A Case Study. Bilingual Research Journal, 25(4), 479-501.

Studies suggest that when it comes to parental involvement and student literacy, students with highly-involved parents demonstrate higher literacy attainment. Moreover, parents’ understanding of their children and beliefs about literacy practices seem to significantly influence children’s literacy learning.

Yet, when it comes to discussions of how parents support their students’ learning, it is commonly assumed that parents understand the classroom literary demands and expectations placed on their students. Indeed, it is often expected and implied that parents know and understand classroom literacy expectations, and that they are able to create learning opportunities at home that model these practices. For EL families, these assumptions of how families interact with texts and literary practices at home can be especially problematic and even damaging to school-home relations, especially since many cultures differ in how they approach print conventions and ways of supporting and understanding student literacy learning. It is critical to work towards understanding, acknowledging, and building upon students’ previous literacy experiences, both at home and in the classroom, in order to promote literacy success at school.

School sponsored family reading nights (e.g. Read and Greets) can be a powerful tool for parents, teachers, and students, as they create space for literacy support and interaction across all levels. Family reading events allow instructors to outline how literacy is used, practiced, and developed in the classroom, while also providing a great opportunity for instructors and schools to consider how literacy is practiced and understood at home, ultimately supporting the development of programs and opportunities that support student learning both at home and in the classroom.

Resources

Chen, H. & Harris, P.J. (2009). Becoming school literate parents: an ESL perspective. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 32(2), 118-135.

Dearing, E., Kreider, H., Simpkins, S., & Weiss, H.B. (2006). Family involvement in school and low-income children’s literacy: Longitudinal associations between and within Families. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98(4), 653–664.

Jeynes, W.H. (2005). Parental involvement and student achievement: A meta-analysis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project.

Kennedy, A., and Surman, L. (2007). Literacy transitions. In L. Makin, C. Jones Diaz & C. McLachlan (Eds.), Literacies in childhood: Changing views, challenging practice (pp. 104–117). Elsevier, Sydney, 2007

Did you know that EL students show an increase in overall academic achievement, as well as greater growth in academic English skills, when school learning fosters the development of their home languages? This effect is particularly strong when home language development is emphasized during the period between pre-kindergarten through third grade.

It is crucial to support EL student learning through the inclusion of home language development opportunities and activities. Taking steps to include bilingual or multilingual books, resources, and activities in your lessons allows students to work on developing home language literacy skills, which in turn can provide them with the tools to develop and advance their academic English skills.

Resources

August, D., & Shanahan, T. (Eds.) (2006). Developing reading and writing in second language learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on language-minority children and youth, executive summary. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Ehrlbaum.

Espinosa, L. (2008). Challenging common myths about young English language learners, Foundation for Child Development Policy Brief, Advancing PK-3, No. 8. New York, NY: Foundation for Child Development.

Olsen, L. (2006). Ensuring academic success for English learners. UC Linguistic Minority Research Institute Newsletter, 15(4). Santa Barbara, CA: University of California Linguistic Minority Research Institute.

Rivera, C., & Collum, E. (2006). State assessment policy and practice for English language learners: A national perspective. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Did you know that schools that support meaningful parental involvement have shown higher rates of student achievement, attendance, graduation, and post-secondary enrollment rates? Additionally, students tend to have more positive attitudes toward such schools. For these reasons, it is clear that meaningful parental involvement should be developed and incorporated not only in the classroom, but also at the school, district, and state levels.

For many parts of the U.S., the start of fall means that parent-teacher conferences are just around the corner. As such, now is a great time to start planning and developing meaningful activities to better involve students and their families in the classroom and school.

Resource

For more resources you can use or adapt for your next parent-teacher conference, Understood has a great set of articles with tips and conversation starters, and Colorín Colorado has some additional tips and tools for planning successful parent-teacher conferences with bilingual families.

Research suggests that one of the five most important factors in closing educational learning gaps involves establishing and maintaining strong family-school partnerships (e.g., Byrk et al., 2010).  Developing connections between students’ families and the school can be especially valuable for creating settings that are culturally and linguistically responsive to English learners’ needs.

 Families whose children have been identified as English learners may sometimes be perceived as not participating in or concerned about their children’s education; however, this is most often a misconception (Delgado-Gaita, 1987; Yao, 1988). It’s important for schools and teachers to meet caretakers in settings that are comfortable, provide multiple opportunities for engagement during a range of times in the day, and invite them to view the classroom’s curriculum or other materials. 

For a quick look at various programs for increasing parental involvement in the school, including examples designed particularly for EL families, check out this resource.  

Or, for a look at how you can work to build closer ties and collaboration with your EL families, check out this report, which provides suggestions, tools, and tips on how to get started.

Resources

Bryk, A.S., Sebring, P.B., Allensworth, E., Luppescu, S., & Easton, J.Q. (2009). Organizing schools for improvement: Lessons from Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Delgado-Gaitan, C. (1987). Parent perceptions of school: Supportive environments for children. In H.T. Trueba (Ed),Success or failure? Learning and the language minority student. New York:Newbury House.

Yao, E.L (1988). Working effectively with Asian immigrant parents. Phi Delta Kappan 70,223-225.