Dive Brief:
- Charts and bar graphs are now being used to help non-English-speaking parents engage with school communities and understand their children's learning.
- This approach ties into the "Academic Parent-Teacher Teams" strategy promoted by WestEd, a San Francisco research group that is operating programs in 300 schools across the United States.
- The U.S. Department of Education also highlights Academic Parent-Teacher Teams in its framework for family-school partnerships, aimed at encouraging family involvement in children's educations.
Dive Insight:
Across the U.S., some 4 million American students don't speak English at home, a number that continues to rise. The Bilingual Education Act, a law from 1968, is the guiding document behind current ELL instruction, and ELL teaching methodology is still being debated. One frequently overlooked area is the engagement of non-English speaking parents.
Academic Parent-Teacher Teams have been gaining popularity, reportedly spreading to 250 U.S. schools in just five years. A 2012 report from the nonprofit research organization Child Trends shows that family engagement is crucial to student achievement and can also alleviate or even prevent behavioral problems. It's important to effectively relay information to non-English-speaking parents and keep them involved, and districts can seek out innovative ways to make engagement happen.
Other districts, like North Carolina's Guilford County Schools, have tried offering cash in return for some volunteer activities from parents.
