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AFT Toolkitfor Teachers

Reaching Out to Hispanic Parentsof English Language Learners

www.ColorinColorado.org

A service of WETA’sReading Rockets project.

TOOLKIT ACKNOWLEDGMENTSA number of people provided valuable input into the development of these materials. We are grateful for their time and good counsel.Editors:

Susan Petroff, Partner Relations Director, Reading RocketsDavid Meissner, Consultant to Reading Rockets

Contributing Writers:

Dr. Margarita Calderón, John Hopkins UniversityDaniel Duran, Johns Hopkins UniversityDr. Liliana Minaya-Rowe, University of Connecticut

Advisors for Colorín Colorado-AFT Toolkit for Teachers:

Dr. Claude Goldenberg, California State University, Long BeachJohn Ovard, U.S. Department of Education, OELA

American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Staff and English Language Learners Educators Cadre:

Reading Rockets would like to extend a special thank you to the experienced teachers, paraprofessionals,and AFT staff who reviewed this toolkit and provided invaluable feedback. Members of the AFT Cadre areCatalina Fortino, Linda Guthrie, Rita Haecker, Hobie Hukill, Susan Lafond, Cassandra Lawrence, ElaineLeBouef, Cynthia Lundgren, Miriam Martinez, Claudia Navarro, Rebecca Palacios, Ada Pujols-Torres, KristinaRobertson, Milagros Santiago, Janet Montoya Schoeppner, Terri Siguenza, and Miriam Soto-Pressley. AFTstaff members are Margarita Escarfullet, Rosalind LaRocque, and Giselle Lundy-Ponce.

For Reading Rockets:

Noel Gunther, Executive DirectorChristian Lindstrom, Senior ProducerPam McKeta, Online Services Director

Advisors to Reading Rockets:

Dr. Lynn Fuchs, Vanderbilt UniversityDr. Edward J. Kame’enui, University of OregonDr. Louisa Moats, Former Director, NICHD Early Interventions ProjectDr. Annemarie Sullivan Palincsar, University of MichiganDr. Louise Spear-Swerling, Southern Connecticut State UniversityDr. Lee Swanson, University of California, RiversideDr. Joanna Williams, Columbia University, Teachers CollegeReading Rockets is a service of WETA, Washington, D.C.’s flagship public television station. Major fundingfor Reading Rockets is provided by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs.Project Officer: Diane Badgley.

COLORíN COLORADO-AFT TOOLKIT FOR TEACHERS

FOREWORD

A strong partnership between schools and parents is essential to the academic successof students. When school staff and parents work together to reinforce high standards of achievement, the result is a school that “works,” a learning environment that promotessuccess.Recent research shows that students benefit greatly when their parents are involved intheir education. Children are more apt to enter school ready to learn, do their homework,and perform well in school when parents actively support their learning. Reaching outto parents of English language learners (ELLs) may be difficult because of differencesin language and culture. The goal of this toolkit is to help you reach out to Hispanicparents and families effectively and make them a vital part of their children’s education.Hispanic parents, like parents everywhere, want the best for their children. They seeschool success as very important for their children's future well-being. They oftenconsider formal schooling essential to social and economic mobility, and they will usually make every effort to support schools' efforts to help their children succeed.However, some Hispanic parents may not be familiar with common conventions in theU.S. school system, such as the importance of attending back-to-school night orparent-teacher conferences. The key is to communicate with parents in a timelyfashion and provide them with meaningful and “doable” suggestions for how theycan help develop their children's literacy skills and encourage academic success.Although this toolkit was developed with Spanish-speaking English language learnersin mind (since they make up more than 70 percent of all ELL students in the UnitedStates), some of this information should also be helpful for students and families fromother cultural and linguistic backgrounds.