How Does Parent Involvement Affect Student Achievement?

Parental involvement is one of the core components that have been shown to provide a healthy and positive effect on the academic achievement levels of children in grades K-12. The results have been almost unanimous among a variety of studies demonstrating improved grades and exam scores, high attendance and graduation rates, and advanced behavioral skills among students whose parents play … Read More

Useful Support Resources for ELL Students in New York

In the state of New York, ELL enrollment was 237,499 students in the state public school system in 2012-2013, making up over 14% of the classroom population. 61% of all ELL students in the state speak Spanish, with Chinese, Arabic, Bengali, and Haitian representing the next four most common spoken languages at 19% combined. The following is a list of … Read More

Resources for ELL and LCAP in California

ELL and LCAP With an approximate ELL enrollment of 1,521,772 students in the state public school system in 2012-2013, California currently holds the largest percentage of ELL student enrollment in grades K-12 in the country at almost 25%. The state also accounts for one-third of the districts with the highest concentration of ELL students in the United States, the largest … Read More

Reading Aloud to English Learners

Reading is a vital function of teaching ELLs, but reading aloud can be an enriching strategy for keeping students engaged in the components of becoming fluent in the language for many classrooms. By reading to students, instructors can stress the importance of vocabulary, reading comprehension, and foster positive progress towards fluency in the language, while making the learning experience fun … Read More

Growing Family Trend: Grandparents Raising Children

Children who are being raised not by their own biological parents, but by grandparents who have taken them in for a wide array of heartbreaking and troubling reasons, come from households as disparate and unique as the neighborhoods and ethnic groups in which they live. It’s a trend that some experts believe will only continue to rise in light of … Read More

Early Literacy Development with Infants and Hispanic Parents

Literacy development starts very early and continues throughout an individual’s life. Even as an infant, a child can begin to communicate and to undertake what are called pre-literacy activities. Hispanic parents can play an important role in developing early literacy, and even early bilingual literacy with their infants. Some of the basic ways to develop infant literacy growth are to … Read More

California’s New Funding Law: The Latest Information for LCAP and Family Engagement

Governor Jerry Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula Initiative (LCFF) is California’s recent funding law that puts the most comprehensive emphasis yet on the importance of family and other stakeholders in the educational progress of school children in grades K-12. Through the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), a vital component of the initiative, school districts are tasked with meeting eight specific … Read More

Top Languages Spoken at Home with English Learners

We hear a lot about English Learners, but who are they and which are the top languages spoken at home? The Spanish language is the second most spoken language in the United States after English. There are more Spanish speakers in the U.S. than there are speakers of Chinese, French, German, Italian, Hawaiian, and the Native American languages combined. The … Read More

Award-Winning Bilingual Books & Parent Programs with English Learners

Below are award-winning bilingual books published by Lectura Books for The Latino Family Literacy Project™. Parents who are Spanish-speakers and English-speakers enjoy these bilingual books with their children because these stories are culturally relevant and meaningful. And that means that they have so much more to talk about when they read them with their children. These books are in our … Read More

Creating a Title III Program at your District

Creating a Title III Program at your District- The U.S. Department of Education requires that public schools and state agencies act to overcome the language barriers that impede equal participation by students in their instructional programs. In a letter dated January 7, 2015 titled Dear Colleague Letter: English Learner Students and Limited English Proficient Parents, The U.S. Department of Education … Read More