In December of 2015, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the latest update to federal education law and a bipartisan bill that aims to repair “the overuse of standardized tests and one-size-fits all mandates” and to empower “states and school districts to develop their own strategies for improvement.” One provision of ESSA which could potentially create powerful change for some underserved populations is that in 2017-18, states can award up to 3 percent of their Title I funds to districts for providing direct student services (Title 1 provides funding to schools with high numbers or percentages of children from low-income families). Direct Student Services (DSS) come in a diverse range of forms and applications, ranging from personalized tutoring to expanded technology access to broader advanced class offerings and credit-recovery programs for students who are struggling. According to Ed Excellence, based on 2017 estimates, the DSS funding from Title 1 “ranges from just over $1 million in Wyoming to over $54 million in California.”

Chiefs for Change is a non-profit network of state and district education leaders which campaigns for student and family centered education policies and reforms, such as increased parental choice. Chiefs for Change created a helpful policy brief on this provision of ESS. The brief shares that there are six basic steps for schools to take when they want to implement DSS using Title 1 funds: the state consults with school districts, the state develops a local application, the state awards competitive grants to districts, the districts choose the specific types of DSS they need to and will offer, the districts identify eligible providers, the families of eligible students choose DSS services, and the states and districts provide oversight. Education Post shares in an article that ESSA “gives states the ability to set meaningful, performance-based criteria for programs, ensure coordination, and leverage broader state initiatives.” States will have to prioritize schools that are in high need of intervention. Districts will choose whether to apply for the funds and how to spend them, with state guidance.

The fact that parents and families can choose the services that best aid their student is an empowering attribute of this program for families of struggling or underserved students. Their students will have access to increased personalized learning opportunities, career and technical education (CTE) courses, and AP courses, offered online, in-person, and through blended courses.

The Latino Family Literacy Project specializes in dealing with students from low income families. If you’re interested in implementing a student-parent program at your school, check out our website. We offer both in-person workshops and online training.

Socorro ISD has implemented The Latino Family Literacy Project at their school and has reaped great benefits from the program. Here is a testimonial video from them showing the success they had with the parent programs.

The post ESSA Increases State DSS Funding appeared first on The Latino Family Literacy Project.

The over 5 million ELLs in the U.S. live in every state. The Migration Policy Institute also states that one out of four children in California is an ELL student, and that California holds the highest number of ELL students out of any state, at 1.5 million. Other states with high ELL concentrations include Texas, New York, Arizona, Florida, and Illinois. States in the Midwest and Southeast have seen exponential growth in their ELL populations in the past ten years, including Indiana, South Carolina, Delaware, Ohio, Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Georgia, and Kentucky. While it has been and continues to be most common for ELLs to attend urban school systems, rural and suburban areas are serving more and more ELL students. According to Colorín Colorado, “Growth of immigrant populations can be tied to any number of factors. In the Midwest, for example, industries such as meat-processing plants have served as a catalyst for rapid increases in local communities.”

The ELL population growth trends are easily viewable in this Education Week Report, which shows a helpful map of where ELLs live with percentages for each state. It also shows that ELLs who speak Spanish as their native or home language make up 76.5 percent of the U.S. ELL population, with Arabic and Chinese next, both at 2.2 percent. It can take a student, on average, five to seven years to learn academic English. This rapidly growing ELL population calls for researched, creative, compassionate, and thorough responses from our nations’ educational curriculum and culture.

The Latino Family Literacy Project provides proven, cost-effective parent involvement programs and Webinar training for teachers to provide meaningful programs for English Learners.

The post Where are All the English Learners? appeared first on The Latino Family Literacy Project.

“Research indicates a strong association between parent involvement with a child’s education both at home and at school and student performance in school. Engaging parents is particularly important for English learners and students from low‐income families.  In fact, greater parent involvement is correlated with higher student test scores and better grades for the school as a whole” – The Power of Parents, Thigpen & Freedberg

In a guide titled, “A Parent Involvement Guide for Educators of English Language Learners” provided by the New Jersey State Board of Education, New Jersey school districts can meet the educational needs of Limited English Proficient students in two ways: actively involve parents in the school-going process and train staff that is informed, aware, and knowledgeable of the techniques for creating a supportive learning environment for these students and their parents.

According to the guide, there are six types of parent involvement that help students learn and grow at home, in school, and in the community. The six types of parental involvement are:

• Parenting
• Communicating
• Volunteering
• Learning At Home
• Decision Making
• Collaborating With the Community

The Latino Family Literacy Project provides staff development workshops that can help New Jersey school districts target these six areas of parent involvement, particularly for Latino families, because our training bears them in mind. For example, our training ensures that staff understands the needs of Latino parents by first understanding the socioeconomic and acculturation processes, as well as the linguistic knowledge of Latino families. In doing so, staff can effectively reach out and communicate with Latino parents and anticipate their needs. Moreover, our curriculum encourages critical reflection and dialogue by means of reading, writing, and art projects. Parents are then encouraged to apply strategies learned from our program and implement them at home with their children through the use of our culturally related, bilingual books. Finally, The Latino Family Literacy Project supports a collaborative environment by allowing constructive discussion between administrators, teachers, and parents.

If you would like more information, please take a look at this video to see how The Latino Family Literacy Project was successfully implemented at Soccoro School District. Also, take a look at our programs here.

The post New Jersey Focus on Parent Engagement for English Learners appeared first on The Latino Family Literacy Project.