Engaging the Families of ELs and Immigrants

Ideas, Resources, and Activities

Renee Rubin, Michelle H. Abrego, John A. Sutterby

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780367607548
• eBook ISBN: 9781000415551
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Éducation
• Subtopic: Éducation générale

Learn how to engage the diverse families of English learners (ELs) and immigrants with the effective, practical approaches in this book. This must-have resource for teachers and school leaders is packed with fresh ideas geared toward building a partnership between school communities and ELs and immigrant families at school and at home. The book includes information and activities to:

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• Assess current practices

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• Investigate family perceptions and expectations

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• Overcome challenges

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• Improve communication

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• Fund family engagement

Fully revised and up-to-date, the new edition shines a much-needed spotlight on immigrant families from numerous homelands and includes a chapter on schools and organizations that have applied many of the ideas in the book for successful partnerships. New online resources include 20 new activities to complement the book chapters, over 50 annotated websites, and additional book recommendations to provide insight into the immigrant experience. The support materials can be found at routledge.com/9780367607548.

Organized with the busy educator in mind, the book can be read straight through or section by section to best fit your specific needs.

As the demographics of America's schools continue to grow and change, this book guides you to building an inclusive school community in which every family can thrive!

1

Partnering for Student Success

Scenario: Arriving from Mexico

In the middle of November, Sandra Martinez arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina, from Monterrey, Mexico, with her three children—Marco, age eight; Araceli, age six; and Margot, age three. They had just gotten their visas to join her husband who was working in the United States.

She was a little surprised and unprepared for the cold rain that greeted them on their arrival. Her husband met them at the airport and drove them to the small home he had rented for their arrival. Later that day, he drove them all to the local Walmart to purchase warm clothes.

After settling in, she knew her first task would be to take the older children to school. One of her neighbors, Victoria Mendoza, was a recent immigrant from Hidalgo, Mexico. Victoria offered to go with Sandra since she spoke enough English to translate for the newcomer family.

Marco and Araceli looked immaculate in their new school uniforms that their parents purchased at Walmart. As they walked up to Sallie Smith Elementary, they were a little nervous. The secretary seemed friendly as she handed over the many forms that had to be filled in and signed. The papers seemed endless. Finally, when they were all filled in, the secretary skimmed them and announced that Marco would be joining Ms. Parker’s third-grade class while Araceli would be placed in first grade. The secretary then called an office, and they were joined by a tall, well-dressed woman. She was Ms. Anderson, the assistant principal.

“Ms. Anderson will be taking the children to their new classrooms,” she said.

“Can’t I go with them?” Sandra asked through the interpreter. “Sorry,” Ms. Anderson replied. “Our school policy is to not let parents into the classrooms.” Sandra looked worried. “They’ll be fine,” Ms. Anderson reassured her. “Vamos, let’s go,” she said to the children, who rose obediently and after hugging their mother, followed the tall woman out the door. Sandra was left with many doubts and concerns, which she shared with Victoria on the way home.

“I understand,” Victoria replied. “But we have to adapt to the way they do things here.”

New Immigrants in U.S. Schools

It is easy to understand why schools don’t want families walking into class during instruction, but it is also easy to understand the parent’s point of view. The parent is new to the country, doesn’t speak English, and is used to a different education system. She wants to meet the children’s teachers and see where they will be spending their days. What are some other ways this situation could have been handled? It can be difficult when schools have not had much experience working with immigrants who do not speak English.

New immigrants to the United States often have difficulty understanding the school system here. They generally come with very different experiences in their home countries. It can be especially difficult if they do not speak English well. Much confusion can occur when school personnel are not prepared to work with families from differing linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Those of us who have grown up in the American school system may find the actions or decisions made by these families strange or unusual. They may be thinking the same things about us. Educators who understand this will better be able to help new immigrants make a smooth transition into school. (See more about Creating a Welcoming School Environment in Chapter 3.)

New immigrants like Sandra are proactive in dealing with the school system. One way they try to figure out the school system is to take advantage of local networks to help them navigate it. These may be other parents, community leaders, or religious leaders. New immigrants also seek out school personnel who speak their own language, whether they are custodians or school secretaries. The purpose of this text is to help educators better understand some ways they can help families make the transition to a U.S. school, as well as making schools a more welcoming place for new immigrants. A smooth transition for both families and school personnel can help children better succeed.

Changing Demographics of America’s Schools

Immigrant Families

Schools all across the nation are experiencing influxes of immigrant students from all over the world. In 2017, one quarter of all students in the United States had at least one immigrant parent born outside the United States (Urban Institute, 2019). Although their parents were born elsewhere, 90 percent of these 18.6 million children are U.S. citizens. By 2065, The Pew Research Center predicts that one in three Americans will be immigrants or children of immigrants (Cohn, 2015). Due to the aging US population, immigrants will be needed to build the labor force and support social security.

Languages

The number of English learners in the United States grew 28.1 percent between the 2000–2001 school year and the 2016–2017 school year, totaling almost 5 million students (Office of English Language Acquisition, 2020). (See table 1.1). Spanish is the predominant home language for almost three-quarters of English learners with Arabic and Chinese next (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020). Even less common languages have grown in numbers. Over 16,000 students reported that Swahili was their home language and 14,100 students reported that Nepali was their home language. Cities ranging from New York to Wichita, Kansas, now have over 100 different languages spoken in student homes. Rogers, Arkansas, with a total population of 68,000 people has 51 languages spoken in students’ homes.

Table 1.1 ELLs, ELs, and Emergent Bilinguals

English Language Learner (ELL) or English Learner (EL)	Emergent Bilingual
ELL and EL are terms used by the federal government to identify students who are learning to speak, read, and write English. Students usually lose this designation when they have reached a certain level of English proficiency.	Emergent bilingual indicates that someone is learning a second language while maintaining the first language. This term values bilingualism as an asset. Emergent multilingual is used for more than two languages.

Benefits of Family Partnerships

When schools, families, and communities collaborate, everyone benefits. Family in this book refers to anyone who is concerned and partners with the school for student success. This may be parents, foster parents, sponsors, grandparents, or even neighbors or mentors. Family and community collaboration with schools has been shown to be one of the best predictors of student learning and overall development in studies for the past 50 years (Hornby & Blackwell, 2018). Recognizing this fact, The Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) mandates family engagement and earmarks funding for its implementation. The goal is to create partnerships in which families are respected as experts about their own children and recognized for their ability to support learning regardless of language or education levels.

Student Benefits

Students in particular reap many benefits when families are actively and consistently engaged across all levels of schooling (Weiss et al., 2018). Academic benefits from family–school collaboration include higher grades, higher standardized test scores, enrollment in more challenging courses, higher graduation rates, and greater enrollment in postsecondary education. Additional benefits of family partnerships include better attendance, improved behavior in school and at home, and lower rates of juvenile arrest. Students whose families are engaged also show more resilience and ability to persevere even in the face of obstacles.

Family Benefits

Families derive many benefits from partnerships with schools. School engagement allows families to connect with other families in the school community and build supportive relationships. This is especially important for immigrant families who may not be familiar with the US school system. Such relationships provide a means for families to make new friends and become better informed about the school system and how it operates. It also encourages families to learn about and access community resources. School engagement affords the opportunity for personal growth for family members. They may improve their skills through adult education, English classes, and library use. Such engagement has been found to increase families’ self-confidence in their ability to interact with schools and support their child’s school efforts (Wood & Bauman, 2017).

Teacher Benefits

Teachers often see the benefits of family engagement for the children or the families but don’t realize that having families engaged can make their job easier, too. A hospitalized grandmother may result in a child being withdrawn or tired during school. Without good communication with the family, teachers may assume that the child simply doesn’t want to listen or participate in school. When teachers are aware of family situations, they can make appropriate accommodations. Students need to know that families and teachers are on the same team rather than being pitted against each other.

Schoolwide Benefits

The school organization also derives many benefits from family engagement (Hanover Research, 2018). Schools that have high levels of family engagement benefit from the increased level of trust between the school and families. Such schools report that parents have more confidence in the school and rank teachers higher. Additionally, these schools report higher levels of morale among teachers, better parental understanding of the role of the teacher, and a high level of respect for parents as the child’s first teacher. Schools with engaged families enjoy a better reputation in the community.

Schools benefit most when families are engaged in activities that support student achievement (Weiss et al., 2018). Research is clear that schools and families that work together see many benefits. Schools must reach out to linguistically and culturally diverse families in a variety of ways that allow families and the school to be valued partners in student success.

Challenges to Family Engagement

Almost all families, including immigrants, want the best education possible for their children but immigrant families face special challenges in engaging with schools. In a review of 40 studies, Antony-Newman (2019) found three major obstacles to immigrant family engagement: A mismatch between immigrant and teacher expectations for family engagement, language barriers, and a lack of teacher preparation.

Differing Expectations

Most immigrant families in the studies had expectations for family engagement arising from their experiences with schools in their native nations. This usually meant they saw their primary role as helping their children at home. For example, a study of Salvadoran immigrant parents found that the parents saw their role in their children’s education as providing a good environment at home so their children could focus on their schooling and wouldn’t have to worry about other things (Colón, 2017). This included providing food, housing, personal hygiene, and technology, and being a good role model. Many schools do not value this support at home. They expect families to participate in school activities, including meetings and fund-raising efforts. “Differences in expectations create mutual mis-communication which adversely affects children’s learning” (Antony-Newman, 2019, p. 13).

Language Barriers

Language is another major barrier to immigrant family engagement. Studies have shown that parents who do not speak English fluently are viewed as less competent and less able to help their children academically despite their real capabilities (Antony-Newman, 2019). The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education (2015) issued a fact sheet explaining that schools must provide language assistance for famil...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Meet the Authors
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Notes on the Support Material
• 1 Partnering for Student Success
• 2 Finding Out What Families Want
• 3 Creating a Welcoming School Environment
• 4 Communicating with Immigrant Families
• 5 Learning at Home
• 6 Beyond Open Houses
• 7 Partnering with Families of Students with Special Needs
• 8 Immigrant Families under Stress
• 9 Funding Family Engagement
• 10 Success Stories