Univision Contigo – Clave al Exito – “Key to Success” is media company Univision’s educational online resource designed to help Spanish-speaking parents get involved in their child’s education. The platform serves an access point for helping parents communicate with educators and learn how to help their children read and excel with their studies.

Be a Learning Hero – Another valuable source for vital information and tips for parents on how to stay up to date with all of the growing changes happening in the education system in the United States. With so many new shifts in the current paradigm, it can be tough to navigate so many developments and this website is dedicated to helping parents stay on top of every new change to become more effectively involved in schooling.

The ENLACE Initiative – A program under management by the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA), the ENLACE initiative was created with the sole purpose of helping Hispanic families find the resources they need in order for children to complete high school and pursue college. It serves students in grades K-12 as well as students enrolled in college and universities both public and private.

Lectura Books – Publishes bilingual books to meet the language needs of Spanish speaking parents and their children.

Family Phonics – A program to use with parents who need to learn basic phonics and phonemic awareness, so that they can help their children with English phonics.

Family Stories Curriculum – published by The Latino Family Literacy Project. Requires staff development for effective implementation of a Parent Involvement and family reading program.

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Successful parental engagement for ELL students starts with getting the parents actively involved. Unfortunately, this can be a much tougher obstacle to navigate than one might expect. There are a variety of hindrances in the path to engagement with parents of ELL’s, most of them rooted in a reluctance on the part of parents to connect with teachers due to language or cultural barriers. Others may decline to participate due to their legal status, afraid to come to the school out of concern for being undocumented. The route towards effective, open communication takes initiative on the part of educators and school personnel to invite these parents into the fold and provide a welcoming environment for them to comfortably engage in the learning process of their children. Many of them may not have a very clear grasp of the English language, so they already feel at a disadvantage.

This is why it’s so important for schools to find ways to get parents of ELL’s to become further engaged with the class curriculum, not just by way of parent/teacher conferences and formal meetings, but instead through routine, casual interactions. Designing a framework to achieve this comes through creating opportunities for parents and children to work together to further not just the student’s grasp of the lessons in English, but to encourage the parent to engage in working towards improving their own understanding of the language. Hispanic parents reading with their children in their native tongue can prove just as beneficial as practicing the use of English together, in and out of the classroom setting. The goal here is to discourage parents from thinking that the home and the classroom are both very separate places, but instead foster a routine that makes education a collaborative effort on the part of parents and teachers alike.

Lectura books provides award-winning bilingual books that are a great tool for teaching English Learner students. The multicultural stories of each book help to engage the parents of ELL students. This encourages more reading and speaking of English at home.

The post Home-School Connections with Parents of ELL Students appeared first on The Latino Family Literacy Project.

LCAP & LCFF – Parent Engagement with English Learners in CA

The expectations of LCAP and LCFF to improve student outcomes relies on Parent and Family Involvement.

The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) is a recent law that dramatically changes the way California school districts spend their funds on education. The new law allows school districts more authority in deciding how education dollars are spent, while holding them accountable for getting results, and concentrates more money to school districts that serve high-needs students.

The LCAP is a component of the LCFF and stands for Local Control and Accountability Plan. The LCAP helps with two things: it is the blueprint for how schools districts intend to meet annual goals for all pupils, with specific activities to address state and local priorities, and it ensures that school districts are taking additional measures to involve the community in the financial planning process.

Should districts involve parents in the decision-making plans for their school?

Statute requires the inclusion of parents, including parents or legal guardians of targeted disadvantaged pupils in the planning and implementation of the LCFF. School districts need not establish new parent advisory groups if the LEA has previously existing groups that satisfy the new requirements.

If you would like a Spanish and English outreach flyer for Spanish and English speaking parents, email us.

Request a bilingual program flyer

What are the necessary components for a meaningful Parent Engagement?
1- provides families with actionable information to support learning at home and at school
2- communicates in the home language of parents to promote high quality engagement
3- encourages families to become advocates for their children’s needs
4- empowers families to make decisions in the best interest of their children
5- provides leadership and governance training so families are equipped to oversee school performance
6- trains of school staff and committing resources to proactively engage families.
Source: Families in Schools

The Latino Family Literacy Project are experts in parent involvement with Spanish and English speaking parents. We can train staff to implement a meaningful parent program to establish reading and vocabulary with English learners. Join us at a workshop or webinar.

For more information go to the California Department of Education

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