State of Illinois Informational Resources:

•  Illinois State Board of Education: http://www.isbe.state.il.us/
• ELL Support Page: http://www.isbe.state.il.us/bilingual/default.htm
• WIDA English Language Development Standards – WIDA (World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment) is an organization comprised of a number of different states throughout the country dedicated to raising the standards of bilingual education policies and monitoring the progress and development of ELL’s in the United States: https://www.wida.us/standards/eld.aspx
• Illinois State Board Learning Standards Assessments: http://www.isbe.net
• Title III Information: http://www.ncela.us/

Educational Programs and Learning Resources:

• Illinois Board of Education Parent Resources: http://www.isbe.state.il.us/bilingual/htmls/ellparents.htm
• ITBE (Illinois Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages: Bilingual Education) – An organization comprised of teachers, students, parents, administrators, researchers, curriculum developers, and others within the community dedicated to promoting quality bilingual education through research and instruction in the teaching of English Language Learners: http://www.itbe.org/
• Latinos Progresando – A non-profit based in Chicago dedicated to the cause of serving immigrants with low-cost legal immigration services and access to quality educational resources: http://latinospro.org/
• The Latino Family Literacy Project – A program that teaches parents how to read with their children, establish a reading routine, and promote learning of the English vocabulary together as a family. https://www.lecturabooks.com/parent-programs/
• The Latino Family Literacy Project 2016 Workshops (Illinois): https://www.latinoliteracy.com/workshops/schedule/
• Family Phonics Workbooks: An English vocabulary program for parents and children learning English that uses a simple method to teach parents strong English vocabulary and proper pronunciation through the use of phonics: https://www.lecturabooks.com/family-phonics-workbooks/

References
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/states-and-districts-highest-number-and-share-english-language-learners

http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/top-languages-spoken-english-language-learners-nationally-and-state

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Culture, in its broadest sense, is “the way of life” for a group of people, comprised of beliefs, values, symbols, attitudes, language, experiences, and religion. It can greatly shape a person’s sense of identity, how they fit into society, and characterize their behavior and personality. In a classroom setting, where students come from many different backgrounds, cultures can collide. In such an instance, it is especially important for educators to recognize these differences and how to assess the challenges that come with it. Being culturally competent and practicing culturally responsive methods can help educators to better listen, understand, and communicate effectively with their students, leading to an overall enriching and nourishing educational environment.

To read more about cultural competence, visit our blog, or plan on attending a workshop to understand in more detail why bilingual parent programs are beneficial to both parents and children as Hispanic parents move through the acculturation process of learning to live in a new culture, with family changes and new language development.

The Latino Family Literacy Project are experts at providing bilingual and meaningful parent involvement programs so that parents learn a new role for working with academics with their children.

The post What is Cultural Competence in the Classroom? appeared first on The Latino Family Literacy Project.