Arias, M.B., & Morillo-Campbell, M. (2008, January). Promoting ELL Parental Involvement: Challenges in Contested Times [PDF File]. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED506652.pdf

Promoting ELL Parental Involvement: Challenges in Contested Times is an article that focuses on the barriers ELL families encounter and the traditional and non-traditional approaches school systems can take in order to foster parental involvement. Some of the major barriers listed in the article include: communication, school/parental perceptions, and logistics. Solutions to these barriers are included to promote ELL parental involvement and include: providing a home-school liaison, sending out bilingual newsletters, acknowledging parents’ cultural values, modifying meetings to accommodate parents work schedules, etc. Due to the diversity in ELL parents and their communities, the article suggests that both traditional and non-traditional models should be implemented into the school system. Incorporating both of these models allows for variation in language proficiency to be acknowledged, facilitates and maintains communication, and recognizes and integrates the varying communities in the school culture. Traditional models for ELL parental involvement focus on Epstein’s typologies, which focus on six areas that schools can focus on to help families and communities become informed about and involved in educational activities. Non-traditional ELL parental involvement focuses on family integration into the school culture. Overall, the article provides immense detail and examples on how to alleviate the barriers ELL parents face.

This article was chosen due to the abundance of information it contains regarding ELLs and parental involvement challenges. The article begins by introducing characteristics and statistics of the ELL population. It emphasized the pertinence of due to the growing number of ELLs in our school system. This information is imperative to include since it emphasizes the number of ELLs in our school systems and sets up the background information needed to understand the rest of the article. The article then transitions to the multiple barriers that ELL parents can encounter regarding engagement with school systems. Some solutions are even included in the section committed to introducing the common barriers ELL families encounter. The article ends with countless ways to help alleviate these barriers and how to promote parental involvement. Ultimately the article serves its purpose in informing the reader on the challenges ELL families encounter and how to promote parental involvement within the school. 

The article Promoting ELL Parental Involvement: Challenges in Contested Times contains a plethora of information regarding the characteristics of the ELL population, barriers ELL families encounter, and approaches for educators to take to help foster parental involvement through traditional and non-traditional ways. The background provided on the ELL population emphasized how the ELL population has expanded and how linguistic isolation has occurred. As an educator, it was insightful to read this article since it thoroughly discussed approaches school systems can take in order to promote ELL family involvement. It also brought awareness to the various barriers that ELL families may face when coming into contact with school systems. Overall, the article effectively communicated the pertinence of ELL parental involvement and how to elicit this involvement without the interruption of the barriers these families can encounter.   

 

 Working with Immigrant and Refugee Families: Broadening Cross-Cultural Understanding with Immigrant/Refugee Families describes the research that was completed to understand Latino families and how they are treated by school officials. This article elaborates on the role of family involvement in each child’s education and how each family’s needs are met by the school. The discussion evolves into explaining that each family must be treated as an individual. This brings to light the discussion of moving from a deficit point of view to a more holistic and positive view of families. The research in the article supports offering after school programs for Latino families in particular and how that can further relate to other families. In addition, the role of the community in other supports that go beyond the classroom environment are discussed.  Overall, this article provides a wealth of information for understanding the cultural differences in families and developing appropriate support systems within the school and community setting. 

This article was selected due to the wealth of research, findings, and strategies that were studied and evaluated to use with families from all cultures. This article begins by emphasizing the role of parental and family involvement in children’s education paired with the treatment and consideration families receive by school staff and administration. This was imperative to include as the discussion fosters the importance of treating each family as an individual rather than following a one-size fits all model. By building that background, the article then established research to study the use of after school programs for families to become involved in school activities and their child’s education. Also with offering the programs, it was important to note that family involvement in the community was dually noted as important for child success both inside and outside of school. This article brought to light the value of embracing cultural diversity and identified strategies for helping families with their needs to offer support in a positive and uplifting manner. Hence, this article provides a solid foundation for utilizing research based strategies and programs to support ELL families with struggles they have with involvement both in the school and the community. 

The article, Working with Immigrant and Refugee Families: Broadening Cross-Cultural Understanding with Immigrant/Refugee Families, contains a countless amount of information for supporting ELL families to be involved with their child’s education both inside and outside of school. The article provides strategies such as after school programs, social engagement activities, and tips for understanding cultural diversity. As a future educator, this article was a valuable resource to read and evaluate as it offers tips for building an accepting and welcoming outlook and view of the all families. The article emphasizes the need to look beyond the traditional approaches and match families with the support they require individually. In addition, the article discusses the need for community support as well. This is imperative for helping families and students assimilate into the new surroundings they are faced with so that they too can succeed in school and life. The after school programs and strategies suggested could be easily implemented and backed with supporting research for any school district. Overall, this article is an excellent source for educators and staff to learn about ways that ELL families and parents can be supported to become more involved in their child’s education. 

I read the article titled “The Role of Skills-Based Interventions and Settings on the Engagement of Diverse Families”.  This article was about how Latino students would benefit from evidenced-based interventions because these students have always had to overcome educational, economic, and social limitations on their opportunities.  The article also talked about how there is an achievement gap for Latino students.  Latino students are also among the population that is overrepresented in special education programs.  The research conducted by the author revealed three themes across the focus group data.  These themes are increased knowledge, enhanced involvement, and family concerns.

            I believe this resource is a good one because the author has done a lot of research to back up her ideas.   The author seems to know what she is talking about and a lot of the stuff she writes, is stuff we have talked about in class.  This tells me that her information is accurate since we have also talked about it too and it isn’t the first time I am hearing some of the information she has found in her research.  I also think it is a good resource because in her research she was able to prove that evidence-based strategies would work on Latino students.  If the research did not prove that it would work, then the resource would not be as effective.

            Recommendation:

            I would choose this resource and recommend it to others because it provides accurate, beneficial information.  If you are someone who is looking for a good strategy to include ELL students and increase their involvement and their parents’ involvement, this resource would be a beneficial read.  You know it would be beneficial because the author actually conducted her research and the findings came to prove that her strategies worked.  I would also recommend this resource because the author cited a lot of different resources that she used in her own research.  This shows that she took the time and researched her subject instead of just using her thoughts.

 

Reference

Latunde, Yvette. (2017). The role of skills-based interventions and settings on the engagement of diverse families. Retrieved from https://eds-b-ebscohost-com.proxy-calu.klnpa.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=1dedc27b-3211-43d5-b48b-3cb8ee731be3%40sessionmgr104

 

“1) Why are Hispanic parents settling in one nonmetropolitan area, generally, not involved with their children’s schools? 2) What factors do the parents identify as the most significant obstacles presenting involvement with their children’s schools? 3) Why are these factors similar or different from those identified in previous research of the large number of Hispanics who settled in metropolitan areas? 4) What, if any, are the yet undiscovered factors influencing the lack of involvement of Hispanic parents? 5) What insight can be gained from the parents’ description of the barriers to greater involvement that might be used to address the problem identified?”. The researcher found that the main barriers mentioned about are the biggest problems associated with foreign family involvement. 

 
Evaluation:
I believe this is a good source, because it includes evidence that verifies what the author already thought. The author found information and concluded what he thought would be the main causes inhibiting Hispanic- speaking families from being involved in the school system, then conducted research that proved these points and expanded on his current knowledge. This source is knowledgeable, accurate, and has good facts with explanations. It expands on the problems and possible solutions to these problems based on the parent’s answers to questionnaires. It focuses on what the parents know, do not know, and what could be improved. Overall, this article is evidence-based, insightful, and well-written. 

 
Recommendation:
I would use this resource, because my ELL student is Hispanic with limited English and a Spanish speaking home. Also, this resource is written specifically about Hispanic families, however the findings and results relate to all foreign speaking families. The three main problems discussed were correspondence in the families’ native language, personal communication with school officials, and the inability for parents to advocate effectively for their children due to their limited knowledge of English are all problems that are associated with every ELL student. I think this information, the details surrounding the information, and the research findings are important for very future educator to know and understand. This article gives specifics that educators may never think of that effect both the family and the student. Overall, the information is reliable, concrete, and short but detailed. I would recommend it to any future educator looking for more information. 

Koyama, J. & Bakuza, F. R. (2017). A timely opportunity for change: Increasing 

refugee parental involvement in U.S. schools. Journal of Educational Change, 18(3), 311–335. Retrieved from https://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer /pdfviewer?vid=11&sid=b61ae435-35d1-486f-a8b8-f1106ed34559%40pdc-v-sessmgr02

 

This article presents information about how school personnel can increase refugee parental involvement in schools. In the study, the parents first felt removed from the school system. The authors mentioned this resulted from school staff and administration finding it challenging to engage and communicate because of cultural dissimilarities. The authors conducted this study to help with the increase of refugee children and parents in schools and to discover how to implement appropriate education, accommodation, and engagement for the students and their families. They discovered that schools in the United States played an important role to the refugees by providing multiple learning environments, a safe area, socialization with others, and rediscover their identities. The study indicated the refugee parents did want to be involved in the school, but they needed assistance to help them understand about American school customs and how to engage in the education system. Overall, the authors found that the higher the involvement of the refugee parents in the school, the greater the education gained for their children. Refugee parents can create their identities and learn ways to participate in society through their children’s school system.

 
Evaluation: 

The authors built dependable evidence based on published documents in their article through a literature review and the reference page. This shows that they completed research prior to conducting their own evaluation creating reliability and validity. This study took place in both a public school and refugee community, which could be replicated again but in select areas. The framework for this study is trustworthy because it is based on Das Gupta’s theory of using place taking, space masking, and identity staking. The study also specified the city, elementary schools, community organizations, and refugee parents to determine a precise population to be examined. Overall, this study was accurately designed by having consistent evidence. Further studies should be conducted to provide more information on how to increase refugee parental involvement in United States schools. 

 

I would use this resource to increase my knowledge about how to adequately work with refugee parents and their child if diagnosed with speech difficulties and are in need of therapy services. This source could also be recommended to refugee parents, informing them how to become involved in the school system. I could display this evidence-based resource as a discussion point that parental involvement in the school will increase their children’s overall educational success due to open communication. I can also share this with parents having difficulty adjusting or discovering their identities because this resource recommends involvement in the school system to create fulfillment for their cultural roles. School staff and administrators could be aware of this investigation when working with refugee parents and children, it would be beneficial for them to gain insight to appropriately include, modify, and collaborate with refugee families.

Zarate, M. E., PhD. (2007). Understanding Latino Parental Involvement in Education. Retrieved November 23, 2018, from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED502065.pdf

This article summarizes the factors that contribute specifically to lack of school involvement of ELL parents, specifically the parents of Latino students.  The roadblocks to involvement are sometimes language barriers because like their children, parents sometimes do not have proficiency in English either. Another roadblock that the article covers is the cultural consideration of school involvement.  What teachers in U.S. schools consider parental involvement may be very different from the expectations that a Latino parent had at a prior school, or what was considered normal involvement when the parent was in school. A third issue was the assumption by English-speaking school staff that all Latinos are the same culturally, in language, and in adjustment to a new environment.  Additional issues include work schedules of the parents, lack of feeling welcomed to be involved, and lack of education of the parents.

 

The purpose of this study and journal article was to get the parental, student’s, and teacher’s perspectives on why parents of Latino ELL students lack involvement in the school setting, and what is expected.  This study has given the Latino community, specifically parents, a voice to discuss their needs in order to better assist the language development and cultural adjustment of their students in English-speaking schools.  School personnel might not consider the little details of a student’s day, as simple as the as the lunch menu. This study brought recognition to aspects of school such as how a parent could better prepare their student for the day if they knew what was being served for lunch or what events would be taking place, not only for the student, but for the parent to attend as well.  These events could include parent-teacher conferences, sporting events, and PTA organizations. Parents of ELLs are not always familiar with the structure of U.S. education, and sometimes need to be educated, too.  

 

I believe that this resource is useful to teachers and school personnel when considering the overall adjustments to English-speaking schools and their structure. Focus is often primarily on the student, which is to be expected, however, parents are a great aspect of a child’s success especially in elementary years. It is extremely important for all perspectives (teacher, student, parent, language support staff) to be taken into consideration to give the student the greatest chance of success. If a parent acquires a sufficient understanding of how school is structured in the U.S., they can pass this information on to their child as well, which assists their learning of the culture. Comfort and understanding will lend to the child’s academic learning in tremendous ways, especially when their culture is respected and considered, and their parents are on board with the teachers. 

 

 Niehaus, K., & Adelson, J. L. (2014, August). School Support, Parental Involvement, and Academic and Social-Emotional Outcomes for English Language Learners. Retrieved November 25, 2018, from https://www-jstor-org.proxy-calu.klnpa.org/stable/24546700?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

This article identifies the many difficulties that ELLs may experience in the school setting and how parents can be a key factor in this critical developmental period. It concentrates on the key connection a child has between their school and home environment. There are struggles that both ELLs and parents will go through such as receiving no language support services, the programs being not aligned with state standards, and also a lack of involvement by parents at home. It is acknowledged that there is a lack of involvement with ELL parents and it is stated that high-ELL populations are more likely than low-ELL schools to provide interpreters, translated documents, and parent outreach activities. It is also noted that ELL students tend to have greater achievement in mathematics and reading when they have a greater family involvement. There is a disturbance that parents will only interact with the teacher when there is a behavioral issue with their child when in reality, the acting out is due to a lack of involvement by the parent in the school setting. Teachers need to make better accommodations for parents of ELLs especially when they may also have a language barrier that causes a lack of communication. 

The importance of this article was to identify that one of the key barriers for ELL students involved the lack of their families in the school settings. It is evaluated in the article that there is a common assumption that parents place little value on education. It is discovered that parents have high expectations for their child and they have a strong desire to be involved and to do anything they can to help them in the school setting. This article also evaluates the importance of self-beliefs and social-emotional skills, rather than a heavy emphasis on academic achievement. It is important to praise ELLs when they have made strong effort and to commend them on their strengths. The more attention granted to them will help them to achieve greater success in the school in the future. 

I would recommend this article to school personnel and parents due to the fact that it places emphasis on an ELLs strengths rather than their academic achievement. I would use this resource due to the fact that the authors recognize the strong connections that can be built between schools and ELL families. They offered several accommodations such as providing interpreters at school events, offering bilingual newsletters, and even providing educational classes for parents. I would recommend this resource to others due to the fact that it provides the challenges and misconceptions parents go through when trying to get involved in the school setting and there are accommodations provided for improvement. It also emphasizes the importance of positive peer relationships and more advanced social skills that can be reinforced by parents at home. Overall, this article recognizes the struggle parents go through in the school setting and it provides ways to make a difference in many different ways.  

Chen, C., Kyle, D. W., & McIntyre, E. (2008). Helping Teachers Work Effectively with English Language Learners and Their Families. The School Community Journal, 18(1). Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ798678.pdf

Summary:

In the article “Helping Teachers Work Effectively with English Language Learners and Their Families” effective strategies are shared that enhance the learning of ELLs. Due to the challenges of working with ELLs students and their families that speak little or no English; the article provides the results that occurred as teachers placed greater emphasis on family involvements practices and strategies. These practices and strategies were introduced through the Sheltered Instruction and Family Involvement (SIFI) project. The project was based on the research of the effects that family involvement has on students’ academic achievement. The article documents the results of the professional development project and how it changed many teachers’ views and practices on family involvement. Many of these strategies and practices are shared within the article in order to help ELLs achieve greater academic success through the teachers experience in professional development that promotes family involvement. 

 

Evaluation:

As I evaluated this article, I believe that it is a good source because it’s based on a real study of teachers between grades K-12. They receive information about current research on the positive effects of parent involvement on students’ academic achievement. The teachers develop action plans of their goals with working with ELLs, including planned strategies for involving and learning from families more intentionally and more often. The practices and strategies were documented and proven to work. The main idea I evaluated as I read the article was the importance of increasing teacher efforts to contact, involve, and learn from students’ families.

 

Recommendation:

I would recommend this to any teacher, teaching grades K-12, because I believe that when data is collected, analyzed and is proven to work then it is worthy to read and learn about. The article explained the importance for teachers to make efforts to have positive and trusting relationships with ELLs families. The study showed that positive partnerships with parents helped teachers not only understand students academically, socially and behaviorally; but they experienced more success with the students as well. A few recommended strategies in the article were to make positive phone calls, asking parents to share positive information about their child, and overall contacting the families often. Another reason I would recommend reading this article is because of the important strategy that is explained on the effect of parent involvement and parent roles in supporting their child’s academic development. This is a great recommendation for teachers who have ELL students’ in their classroom and are trying to learn ways to promote academic success through parent involvement. 

Louie, B., & Davis-Welton, K. (2016). Family Literacy Project: Bilingual Picture Books by English Learners. Reading Teacher, 69(6), 597–606. Retrieved from https://proxy-calu.klnpa.org/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy-calu.klnpa.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1098988&site=eds-live&scope=site

The article chosen was Family Literacy Project: Bilingual Picture Books by English Learners. This reading had a purpose to connect families and teachers of bilingual speakers to “bridge the gap between school and the life experiences of students and families without social, racial, and economic advantages,” (Louie, B., & Davis-Welton, K., 2016). The strategy in this article mentioned is a family picture book written in the native languages of students and their families. The parents and family members share personal experiences or stories with the teachers and children. Then, the children and teachers, or other school personnel help to transform these stories into picture books that are in the family’s native language. These picture books are sharable and accessible to students, families, and teaching personnel. This strategy brings a sense of culture and heritage to these children and families, who are in a foreign place or culture at the time. 

Evaluation: 

The article is a great reading for implementing family involvement strategies in the school system. This strategy is particular highlights a welcoming environment, a goal-orientated activity, and a value to biliteracy. Families are welcome to feel secure and at home while completing this activity. Not to mention that this activity is set with a goal of involving all families in the school community and designing a plan of action to do so. The article discusses a strategy that is great for involving families of English Language Learners. 

After reading this article on family involvement, I learned what types of activities and values are necessary for implementing strategies to involve all families. Specifically, for ELL families, the activities must be able to be completed without being proficient in the English language.  It must also be in a welcoming environment. For the Bilingual Family Picture Book, I think this activity would be best implemented in each classroom. This way the book will still feel personalized and unique to each child and their family who participate. If the entire school completed one, the book would be far too large, even with a low percentage of ELL families. This strategy could be a valuable aspect of ELL family involvement in the classroom. 

 

Li, C.c., Kruger, L., Beneville, M., Kimble E., & Krishnan, K. (2018). The unintended consequences of high-stakes testing on English-language 

learners: implications for the practice of school psychology. School Psychology Forum, 12(3), 79-90. Retrieved from https://proxy-calu.klnpa.org/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.proxycalu.klnpa.org/login.aspxdirect=true&db=eue&AN=132755896

&sit=eds-live&scope=site

 

 

This article is about ELLs and their high risk for academic failure. These students can be at risk because they are expected to mold right into the stereotype of an average American learner. ELLs are expected to not due well during high-stakes testing. Thus, this effects the future of the ELLs in their career and emotional well-being. In the research, this article looks at different ELLs, interventions, and educational needs.

This article does a good job of looking at the negative impacts, interventions, and advocacy plans. The authors pull together all of the different aspects from each of the different learners and takes them into account. I know that the information is accurate because the resources that are perfectly fit for the article. The research and data was collected is fully evaluated and summarized which makes all the information easier to understand. I think this article puts the perspective of the ELLs on paper in order to speak up and advocate for people not in this situation.

After reading this article, I have learned so much about different types of obstacles that come with being an ELL in American education setting. I think that it also helps when the article talks about school psychologists and how they study these perspectives. This article gives advice for ELLs and parents to become more aware of their rights in America in order to help acquire the best education possible. This article is helpful in understanding the social and emotional sides of the ELLs in terms of what they are feeling in different aspects. Lastly, the interventions that are provided to help teachers give ELLs a better chance to achieve what is possible for them.

This article acts as a guidebook for educators who want to develop effective relationships with the families of their English language learner (ELL) students. The authors first suggest learning about the country of origin and the culture of the family by asking questions of school personnel or community members. Then, teachers should reach out to the family to establish rapport and ask questions about their vision for their child’s education. Throughout the article, an emphasis is placed on the importance of teacher-family relationships. Many teachers fear offending families of ELL students and avoid reaching out, but the families may feel excluded. This source provides strategies and question stems for reaching out without creating offense. 

Because it provides graphic organizers and online resources to help with teacher-ELL family interactions, this source is easily accessible to educators. The three charts provide information about cultural values, questions for community members, and questions for ELL families. The authors also give online resources for increasing the readability of documents for ELL families, and there are examples of appropriate and inappropriate documents. Adding to the approachability of this article is a case history that is woven throughout. Before each section, a relevant segment of the history is related, providing a concrete example. Overall, this is a wonderful resource for educators who need help taking the first steps to establish relationships with ELL families because it is easily referenced for examples.

I would recommend this resource to any educator or school personnel who interacts with an ELL student. Families have such an important role in their children’s education. They are the ones who motivate their children and encourage them to reach goals. It is important for teachers to set aside their fears of offending ELL families and learn how to communicate with them. This resource gives examples and nonexamples of questions that teachers may ask ELL families and community members. It will help prepare educators for interactions that may promote the success of their ELL students. 

Reading and beyond. (2011, April 22). ELL parent involvement. Retrieved November 26, 2018, from Youtube website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_-aLWOk9Og  

 

In this video, it speaks to the parents about certain struggles that they encounter when their children are in school. 50% of California schools are Latino students, and 61% of those students in 2008 dropped out in High School. The parents of the younger students want them to succeed, and go onto higher education. The parents took their child(s) education seriously, and instead of just scratching the surface of school, they went to workshops, and conferences to fully understand the process that their child is going through. The parents all said how important communication was with the teacher, as education starts at home and it is the key to the child’s success in the classroom. They also stated how important it was for the teachers to communicate with them because they want to show their child that they are involved in their academics in hopes that it will get their child more excited about school. 

This video does a really great job of showing how passionate the families are. In some cases, teachers may think that the parents do not want to be involved due to the language differences. This proves that parents want their child to succeed, and want to take the initiative to go to workshops or conferences. One parent said that she felt she did a disservice to her older child, because she was unaware of the process of an English Language Learner student. That same mother said she is doing better with her younger child in ensuring she is fully knowledgeable about her education. It was enjoyable to watch the parents talk about how important the classroom environment was to their child and how workshops can help them better understand what occurs. 

This video would be recommended to those who want to better understand how parents feel about the education process. We often do not get to hear form the perspective of parents, but this video gives us that opportunity. It is helpful in the understanding of seeing their point of view, and helps teachers gain some insight on how the classroom environment is seen from parents eyes. Teachers may watch this video and give parents advice on what workshops are nearby, and encourage them to attend conferences. At the end of the day, parents should be appreciated and welcomed into the classroom world just as much as the students are. 

Blogger, I. G. (n.d.). Five Ways to Empower and Engage Parents of ELL Students. Retrieved from http://inservice.ascd.org/five-ways-to-empower-and-engage-parents-of-ell-students/ 

Summary:

5 Ways to Empower and Engage Parents of ELL Students goes over 5 simple and efficient strategies that you (the teacher) can help make families of ELL students feel more involved in the classroom. The first strategy is to connect with the ELL families immediately by writing a letter in the family’s language telling them about yourself and your availability. The second strategy is to educate with love by asking the parents “What do you want to see for your child? How can we here at school support you?” You want to show loving motives to the parents but at the same time, want to empower and encourage those parents to see the great future for their child. Strategy number three is to equip and provide opportunities such as workshops for the parents to attend after hours. Parents are also encourages to keep their culture alive at home by reading in their native language. The fourth strategy is to tap into family funds of knowledge. The teacher should bridge the space separating home and school by contacting the parents and inquire them on what they can add to the classroom. The final strategy is to prepare a long-term plan for ELL parental involvement. To keep a proactive year, find community organizations that support both the students and families that are ELL’s. 

 

Evaluation: 

This article does a great job in showing teachers ways to connect with the parents of their ELL students early in the school year. Each step explained is very doable for the teacher to incorporate and will help build the relationship between both parties. Some of the strategies involve the parents interacting with the community (example: workshops) that will help the parents of the ELL student connect more with the parents of non-ELL students. You, the teacher, want to make the family feel welcome into the classroom setting. This all depends however, on the amount of initiative the parents have when doing any of the strategies.

 

Recommendation/Reflection: 

After reading the article, I learned that you want to connect with the parents of your ELL student or students early on in the school year. You want to build a trusting connection between both parties and let the parents know that you want to help their child and want them to be a part of the experience. I would recommend this article for beginning teachers who are just getting into their teaching career and are looking for ways to connect with parents of ELL students. New teachers want to make a great first impression for every parent of his or her students. I would also recommend this article for teachers who are struggling connect with parents of their ELL students and want to improve themselves in that area.  

 

NC12Flix. (2016, May 04). Using an interpreter during a Parent and Teacher meeting. Retrieved November 26, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzP5XoGssz4

 

In this video, it talks about what challenges teachers may encounter interacting with parents who do not speak English. The video takes place at a parent/teacher conference. The parent and teacher communicate using an interpreter. The video discusses the importance of parent involvement in their child’s education. It also talks about the professional conduct and code of ethics the interpreter must follow. The video talks about tips teachers need to know when using an interpreter to communicate with a parent who does not speak English. 

 

This video does a great job at explaining the process when using an interpreter. It gives tips from beginning to end of the conversation. The video states that it is very important for the teacher to communicate with all parents. The general education teacher models how to interact and maintain eye contact with the parent in the video. This allows the viewers to be cautious when talking to parents even if they are using an interpreter. The video gives six steps to use in the conference process, which creates a useful outline to follow. 

I would use this resource in the future if I ever had a family who did not speak English. I would also recommend this video to anyone else working with families who do not speak English. This video does an amazing job at modeling how to use an interpreter during a parent/teacher conference. This video is easy and simple to follow. It can be used by any teacher who is new at working with families who do not speak English. I will use this in my future career as an educator and would recommend it as a useful resource. 

Cruz, Iris. (2016). Parental Involvement: Barriers Hispanic Parents Face. State University of New York College at Brockport. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1703&context=ehd_theses

The purpose of this thesis is to identify potential barriers to parental involvement and to look for relationships between actively participating parents and student achievement. The research first looked to data to prove that the lack of parental involvement was prevalent across the United States as well as local schools. After validating the original problem, the researcher began looking more in depth into parental involvement, including benefits and variances among student backgrounds. Hispanic parents in particular, have high educational expectations of their children, yet struggle with the unfamiliarity of the American School system. Diversity in American schools is only increasing, Hispanic ethnicities in schools growing millions in 10 years. Language has been named as the most prevalent barrier, effecting parental involvement through lack of communication as well as feelings of fear, embarrassment, frustration, and intimidation. Other than language, there are several other barriers Hispanic parents face in parental involvement, including level of education, feelings of unwelcomeness, socioeconomic status, and family structure. 

In order to increase parental involvement, this source focuses solely on considering the most prevalent factors that effect students in their families. Schools begin with a solid cultural understanding and sensitive planning and find that meeting the needs of specifically Hispanic students becomes more natural. Beginning with community outreach, promoting school based cultural events or even training sessions with parents to learn how to work with students at home. It becomes more than just the school district understanding, but the parent understanding their rights and feeling comfortable enough to be involved in the process. This source effectively evaluates these efforts and provides recommendations for furthering research that can promote understanding of ELL parent involvement. Efforts must be made starting at the district level and span as an ideal for others to follow. 

            I would use this resource because there is multitudes of relevant information pertaining to ELL parent involvement with research to back up the findings. Efforts were made to ensure this covered more than just a school district, but multiple areas of the country. There were many logical ideas as well as recommendations for ways for teachers to begin to involve parents in the classroom. I would recommend this to others because it is very knowledgeable, but also easy to implement and follow. There is limited prior knowledge needed to understand the content and the information is still relevant to the current time period. 

This article is a guide for teachers working with English Language learners (ELL) and their parents. It has seven different chapters explaining ways to help get families involved. It talks about numerous studies that point out how your students will achieve increased satisfaction in school and higher academic achievement when you include the parents in curricular planning, implementation, and evaluation. It explains ways teachers how teachers bring to the school- home relationship, what families bring to the home- school relationship along with many other important aspects of including parents in their children's education. It also gives ways to engage parents as leaders in schools, providing education programs and developing understanding of families and the community. 

The article does a great job explaining ways to include the families in education. It gives ways to include families throughout the whole article. It explains that families serve as a fund of knowledge regarding the individual child along with their culture and their language that is grounded in that culture. It is important to listen to the families especially about their culture to really get to know them and make them feel welcomes. It gives important details about the benefits of family involvement for everyone involved. Most importantly it gives ways to give families to be involved in their children's education that are easy to follow and should not be too difficult if the parents speak very little English. 

I would use this resource as a future SLP if I ever had a student who did not speak English to help involve their whole family. This article gives a bunch of ways to help include the entire ELL family when they are new to a school. I would recommend this article to any professional not just SLPs who have ELLs in their classroom. It can be used by any professional that needs guidance when they are not familiar with working with ELLs. Students along with their parents should feel welcomed and comfortable when entering the classroom, so this article gives many ways to do that.

Hannif, R. Increasing the Parental Involvement of ELL Students in Our Schools:

Improving Teacher-Parent Communication. Teaching and Learning

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. (1-52). Retrieved from https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/67027/1/Haniff_Rabeena_B_201406_MT_MTRP.pdf

 

My chosen source is about a study that was conducted that highlighted the difficulties that ELL parents face when their children attend schools. It shows the importance of including the parents in the classrooms. It also identifies what some of the major ideas for the barriers between the ELL parents and the education system. Also, shows the negative reactions between the systems and the parent involvement, such as dependency on their child. The article also provides strategies for teachers to use in the classroom. 

The resource is informative but not to be used as a sole source for correct data. The research was short and had variances. It would need other extensive further research to prove or deny the information that is in the article. It is a good article to read when the reader is new to the subject and to aid in further personal research about the topic. It provides good ideas how to include the parents in the school system and identifies the pros and cons of the system. 

I would use this resource to remind myself about the struggles that the family faces in the school’s system. It would keep me aware and not ignorant their issues. It provides strategies to keep in mind to try with the ELL and their parents. I would recommend this to a new teacher or specialist that has an ELL family in the classroom or district. It is useful to aid in the beginning knowledge to better help the students and family. 

 

 

 

Within this article, it discusses ways that school administrators can connects, communicate, and engage parents in their ELL students school life. I chose this article because it goes over strategies to involve parents, without using technology. Within this article there are several strategies that will involve not only parent involvement, but community involvement. Another thing that was interesting to me was the suggestion of having an ‘ambassadors’ program to integrate into the schools in which the parents and students are trained to tours, provide information, and involve those enrolled in the program. The article also talks about involvement of school wide activates for ELL families in which they discuses what goes on within the school and provides each parents with a list of resources that would be available to their student. (Both lower level, and gifted)

 

 

The article that I chose to read and evaluate did a great job on providing those working within a school, ideas and strategies to use to communicate and involve parents of ELL students who may not have access to technology or simply choose not to use that as a form of communication. In this article, in order to increase awareness and involvement for ELL parents who struggle with or lack technology, you must get to know them on a personal level and first development a sense of trust and companionship. This, however, goes for any family who has a student enrolled within that school. While evaluating and looking through a few of the strategies for parent involvement, I came upon a strategy that I think could be used to keep parents involved and informed, face-to-face. 

 

 

To answer my question; parents who do not have access or are unable to operate technology, there will be accommodations made for those parents. Those accommodations will be made by hosting events that give ELL parents information, in their home language, and discussing with them personally what their child needs and what is going on within the school. Another recommendation that I would use from this article is the use of sending home letters and information to the parents in their home language. This would be difficult, but in time, and with the right staff it could be made possible. 

 

The main idea of this resource is to give numerous different examples of how to reinforce English learning for ELL’s at home. This resource helps introduce practical ideas and different strategies that can assist with family literacy. The main innovative program that is mentioned is the Florey Family Literacy project. This project helped with parental support in the matters of reading and writing. This allowed ELL students to become familiar with the reading process as they learned more about their new language. This program also helped students get an opportunity to hear a good model of written and spoken English outside of school too. 

 

 

Usually, there are enough resources and enough instruction to help develop ELL students into English speakers. However, not enough reinforcement occurs at the home of these ELL’s outside of school. This is where many ELL’s get held back (developmentally) in regards to their English language proficiency. This resource gives ELL students a great opportunity to have a good English speaking model to work off of when learning their new language. This project described in this resource was a great way to connect ELL student’s parents to their local educational community.

 

In the near future, I feel that the program mentioned in this resource would be very helpful as an educator. The parents of ELL students can be just as flustered and confused with their new language as their children. With this being said, why wouldn’t it be a good idea to include them within the school community? This way they will begin to learn their new language (just as their kids are doing) and can feel more comfortable getting involved in different educational elements to assist their children. When the parents are more involved and dedicated to helping their children progress, it’s like having a teacher at home (this goes for EVERY student, not just ELL’s). 

All About Adolescent Literacy. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.adlit.org/article/42781/ 

 

 This article provides school leaders with 20 strategies to use when trying to engage the family of an English Language Learner. It summarizes how to implement each strategy and how they are helpful to the families. It also summarizes and talks about why each strategy should be used. This is a helpful source for getting creative ideas on how to involve English Language Learners families. This resource also shows how it your role as a school leader effects English Language Learners and their families.

 

The purpose of this article was to give school leaders different strategies to use when trying to engage English Language Learners families in school. It stated the importance of each strategy and how they can be implemented in an organized way. It gave school leaders different steps to make the families feel more welcomed and provide better communication between them and the school. I believe this is a good source, because it states many real life situations in which family engagement is needed and how as a school leader you can help effectively. This article also provides more resources in the strategies for school leaders to use. 

 

  would use this resource because it will help me learn how to engage with families of English Language Learners. I would recommend this resource to others because it provides useful information in a organized way. It also provides 20 different strategies so if one does not seem to work there are many other ones that can be useful. It is important that all school leaders know this different strategies. This is because when an English Language Learners family tries communicates with the school leaders, they need to make them feel comfortable and provide helpful information to them. 

All about adolescent literacy. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.adlit.org/article/42781/ 

This article is a guide to help teachers and specialists with family inclusion. The article has several parts that go into detail on the best ways to include the family. The website provides steps and resources to create a successful and involved learning experience. There is also information on how to respect and show you value the family’s home language and culture. The website has several tips for many situations. 

This article is an excellent resource. Teachers and specialists could find many uses for it. In the article there are sections that tackle a wide range of situations and conflicts. With this resource I think teachers and specialists would have a better understanding of ELLs and their families. This website did an incredible job laying out problems and solutions as well as ideas on how to be more inclusive. 

 I would use this resource because it tackled several situations I had never considered. This resource laid out, in an easy to read format, so much helpful information. I would recommend this article to others because of how easy it was to read and find information. I think others would be able to implement some of these tools in their everyday teaching. With reading this article I think educators would have a better understanding on how to appropriately accommodate ELLs and their families. 

Arias, Beatriz, M., & Milagros. (2007, November 30). Promoting ELL Parental Involvement: Challenges in Contested Times. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED506652

 

 

The main idea of this article is to promote ELL parental involvement. It analyzes related factors to the implementation of effective parental involvement with ELL’s. This article talks about traditional involvement programs, the professional preparation for teachers, and also the community-based education programs. ELL students have become increasingly isolated, segregated by language, ethnicity, and also their socioeconomic status. It also talks about the growth in the adult ELL population and how it mirrors the growth of the K-12 population. 

 

In this article, Promoting ELL Parental Involvement, it says schools are criticized for limiting their approaches to traditional efforts at parental involvement. The ELL parents have reported saying that they are feeling unwelcomed at the school because the environment discourages them from getting involved. Schools should want to have the ELL parents help because they will broaden their experiences. The ELL parents will a lot of different experiences and new knowledge to show the other families. This will break them from the norm. 

 

I used this resource because it talks about several different involvement opportunities for both the ELL and their family. This article breaks everything down into separate sections and also shows tables and bar graphs for illustration. It talks about traditional and non-traditional approaches to ELL parental involvement too. I also chose this article because it mentions a list of traditional involvements, but it also talks about successful non-traditional involvements such as promoting communication and parental advocacy and empowerment. I would recommend this to other simply because you can get a lot of different information out of this article and how to incorporate ELL families. 

While the article was created nearly 10 years ago, I think it is just as relevant today - especially in today's political climate with wildly different interpretations of ELL's and their families. I wish my school implemented TAT, as I had no knowledge of ELL students before taking this class. There were some in my high school, but I didn't ever interact or have a class with them. This lack of interaction definitely put a stigma on them, especially with the lack of information about them. I think if our classrooms educated us on ELL's, ad put them in the classrooms with us, then I would have a better realization on their issues, and possibly be able to help them out as they progressed though school. This project was very successful and I hope more schools can use this to implement.

Much of this article discusses one factor for why immigrant and refugee students end up falling behind in school. It discusses that the students and families face unique emotional and behavioral health issues, that can become a barrier for school success. The article discusses the experiences that the students go through and the impact that it has on them. For example, they must learn a new language, leave their close relatives and their home, and the children often must take on adult roles. The article then goes into how the teacher can empower families and what services should be offered for them.  The sections of the article on “Supporting New Refugee Families” and “Knowing Your Community” focuses on strategies that can be used to involve families and make them feel comfortable with you.

Evaluation:

This article has many strategies for involving the families that would be very successful. The use of “snowballing” was used among programs through the CAC project. This strategy allows parents to bring one friend with them to events. By doing so, the parents feel more comfortable knowing that they have someone else “like them” there. The article also suggests going beyond the school walls and holding meetings outside of the school. This is particularly helpful in getting to know the families and their living situations. Not only are parents honored a teacher took the came to come to their house, but it also allows the teacher to see if the students may have any mental health stressors at the home environment. Schools can help living issues (housing, health, and environment) in order to help the family with these stressors. 

Reflection:

I chose the article because it was interesting to see the information based on the mental health part of students being immigrants and refugees. The experience that the students go through must be very challenging on them and it seems to be unspoken when educating them. I think before a student can learn effectively, they must be in a good place in their mind. A lot of this has to do with their parents support, which is why parent engagement and involvement is so important for English Language Learners. The article provides many strategies in not only helping the students with mental health, but parents as well. This is important because the move can be traumatizing for the parents as well, not just the children. 

Summary: This article focuses specifically on encouraging parents of English language learners (ELLs) to accept leadership roles in their child’s school, and how to eliminate barriers that prevent this. It begins by emphasizing the fact that ELL parents are valuable resources that can provide great insight about student needs, and that encouragement from teachers or other school leaders can give them the confidence to participate actively. It then discusses specific strategies to facilitate their involvement, such as the development of a branch of the PTA specifically for ELL parents and ensuring that interpreters are available when they have opportunities to present ideas. Then, it continues by discussing sustainability of parent involvement and keeping new parents involved as students move in and out of the school. Suggestions here include creating a panel of ELL parents to discuss questions and concerns, and working with current ELL parent leaders to devise ways of recruiting and mentoring new ELL parents. 

Evaluation: This article is an excellent resource for those who need guidance in working with parents of ELLs. Both sections, encouraging leadership roles and sustaining leadership roles, contain a variety of strategies that are practical and applicable in a variety of classroom settings. Most of the strategies, such as encouraging parents to attend school board meetings and making sure to only ask for input if prepared to listen, are relatively easy to implement and therefore not overwhelming for educators or parents. While it is not the most in-depth resource available on the subject, it does its job of providing a basic overview and basic recommendations extremely well. It gives educators seeking to better serve ELLs and their parents and create a more welcoming classroom environment a solid starting point. 

Reflection: I would definitely recommend this article, specifically to educators who teach ELL students or are likely to do so in the future. In addition to containing useful information, the article itself is also presented in an extremely user-friendly manner. The logical flow of information and use of bullet points to separate ideas makes it easy to take in all of the content without becoming overwhelmed. Additionally, all of the ideas presented are straightforward and capable of being implemented if the educator is willing to put in the work. These ideas, combined with the excellent reflection questions asked throughout the article, all work together to create a worthwhile read that can benefit any educator. 

Vera, E. M., Israel, M. S., Coyle, L., Cross, J., Knight-lynn, L., Moallem, I.,Goldberger, N.    (2012). Exploring the Educational Involvement of Parents of English Language Learners.  School Community Journal.  Retrieved November 26, 2018.

This article investigates and examines barriers and facilitators of parental involvement in immigrant parents of English language learners (ELL) in four elementary school districts. School administrators from the four districts contacted the parents of the ELL child and were sent a survey to to be addressed to the researchers.  The survey was created to understand the opinions, experiences, and interests of ELL parents.  In-home types of educational involvement such as monitoring homework and asking children about their day were the most reported behaviors, while utilizing community resources was the least common type of parental involvement.  The authors of the article state that involvement was predicted by parental demographic factors such as comfort with the English language, educational background, ethnicity, and perception.   The findings of this study have the potential to facilitate the implementation of interventions, such as parent programs and school policies, to increase the amount of parent involvement in ELL children.   

 

This article acts as a great resource for teachers and educators, as well as speech-language pathologists when referring to the involvement of parents and families of ELL students.  It has been published within the past 10 years indicating that the research is current.  The information and findings in this article are accessible and important for educators and speech-language pathologists to understand when working with ELL students. The authors exhibit the use of outside resources and literature to support their findings about the barriers and facilitators of parent involvement.  While providing information about the barriers of parental involvement, the authors also provide ways that immigrant parents can become involved in their child’s educational experience and how to improve parent involvement in the future.  The article states that most barriers of parent involvement are linguistic, a lack of familiarity with the U.S. educational system, and a desire to not interfere with how teachers do their jobs.  This information in essential for teachers to acknowledge in order to assist the ELL student and work with the parent of the ELL student to enhance academic success.  
 

Reflection 

I would recommend this article to educators or any school administrator working with ELL students.  Parent involvement is a key factor in the success of any child in the academic setting.  Research shows that students’ whose parents are more involved are more likely to succeed in the classroom.  Many parents of ELL students are reluctant to become involved in their child’s education for reasons that are listed in this article (linguistic barriers, lack of familiarity, desire to not interfere with the teacher).  It is important for educators, school personnel, and any other specialist to be aware of the reasons that parents of ELLs are less involved to give the support needed to immigrant parents and their ELL children.  This article has the ability to influence teachers, school administrators, and other individuals working with ELL students to extend their support while also working to increase parental involvement of ELLs.  

 

 

Palacios, N., & Kibler, A. (2016). Oral English language proficiency and reading mastery: The role of home language and school supports. Journal of Educational Research, 109(2), 122–136. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2014.927341 

This article presents data that shows a discrepancy in reading mastery levels between children who speak English at home and those who do not. The study is explained in detail about different factors, methods for measurement, and controllable variables. The results of this study indicate that there is 7 percent decrease in reading mastery with children who speak a language other than English at home. The article also presents ways in which the teacher can help the child increase their reading mastery. This is a helpful resource for identifying and helping challenges that ELL students and families may face. 

This source provides a lot of data for the reader. It is very helpful if you are looking for statistics on ELL students. It provides a very clear idea of what challenges they may be facing. The article could provide more solutions to the problem in a way that it does not take away the student’s home language. The solutions provided are limited and options that are usually already implemented. 

Reflection:

I would use this source because it has a lot of research to back it up. It lists multiple scenarios that could affect achievement or skew the data. The authors are very thorough in their research. The primary solution to the problem was to provide ELL services and speech therapy supports. This creates a positive learning environment that does not look negatively upon students who speak another language at home. 

Pena, D. C. (2000). Parent Involvement: Influencing Factors and Implications. Journal of Educational Research, 94(1), 42–54. Retrieved from https://eds-b-ebscohost-com.proxy-calu.klnpa.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=18&sid=5eeda125-6e8b-48ed-9a1b-46eff8a9c321%40pdc-v-sessmgr05

The researchers share the effects of parent involvement in the education system. They analyze a variety of articles that discuss the positive effects of parental involvement. It is noted that, the primary factor to a student’s educational success or failure depends on the parent’s interest and support. Mexican American parents from Texas have multiple barriers that enable them to be involved.  The researches have found these barriers and learned that teacher influence is a great factor. Positive teacher influence creates an environment that presents the importance of parental involvement. 

This was in interesting article. It shared information on something that seems obvious, but is not. It was well written and engaging. I wonder if the method of increasing involvement would be different for Mexican Americans parents who are reside in Washington state. It would have also been nice if the change in students was recorded on a chart, after parent involvement. For example, a change in their grades, social interactions, or participation. 

I really like how the article focuses on a specific population. I would recommend this article to people studying English language learners (ELL) with Mexican American parents. Or educators who want to further their student’s success in school. This can be used as a reference as how to interact with an ELLs parent. The success of this research will increase the educator’s involvement with parent involvement.

Panferov, S. (2010). Increasing ELL Parental Involvement in Our Schools: Learning From the Parents. Theory Into Practice,49(2), 106-112. doi:10.1080/00405841003626551
Summary:
The main focus of this article is how to increase parental involvement from parents of ELL students based on their personal views and experiences. In this article there is a section of stories from two different families, the Pavlov family and the Omar family. The two stories from different families and languages explain the viewpoints from the parents themselves and give insight as to what we can do as teachers to help increase parental involvement. Not only does this article give insight as to how we can help parents get involved, it also gives implications that may be faced during the parental involvement process. This article also goes into detail about the background of the ELL students and their families that we as teachers may overlook when creating ways to get parents involved. 

            Evaluation:I believe that this article could act as an awesome resource for teachers, and even parents of other ELL students. For teachers, it would be a great resource to use to get suggestion from parents that would help keep them involved with their child’s education. A good suggestion stated in the article is to consider a way to educate parents more directly about ways they can help their children with school work. Also stated in the article was to encourage ELL parents to volunteer in classes or at school events in order to continue the support the use of their home language. This could also be a god resource for parents. If they are considering ways to get involved in their children’s school district, they could promote these ideas to the school itself to get involved. 

            Reflection:I would use this resource in the future as well as refer it to others for their use as well. I found it to be very interesting to read an article from the perspective of the parents themselves, considering this is a topic where they should have an input on how they get involved. By sharing this resource with others, more people could learn that having parents involved transfers a positive attitude to those ELL children about their first language and learning experiences. I would use this resource personally as a guide on good ideas to speak with parents about getting them involved with their child’s school work. I would recommend it to others, so they could hopefully learn new ideas to use in the future with parents of the students in their classroom.

Kalaycı, G., & Öz, H. (2018). Parental involvement in English language education: Understanding Parents’ Perceptions. International Online Journal of Education & Teaching, 5(4), 832–847. Retrieved from https://proxy-calu.klnpa.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=133004943&site=eds-live&scope=site 

 

This article talks about how students’ educational development is largely impacted by parental involvement and the different studies done on it. This article also focuses on the teachers viewpoints as well as the parental viewpoint. In the article it breaks down the studies and how they did them as well as what the research showed. They discuss statistics on school involvement, homework involvement, the parent teacher partnership and more. At the end of the article it talks about the discussion based on what they discussed. 
 

This article provides a detailed look at the research behind why parents should get involved, it discusses the pros, the cons and both teacher and parental viewpoints. This study in particular focused on Turkish thoughts rather than a large variety of languages. The article also focused mainly on parents thoughts rather than both parent teachers equally. I feel that the data has limitations and could have been expanded a little more, but for the most part it was helpful. There were lots of charts with data and findings that I felt were really helpful especially when visualizing the statistics they handed us. 

 

I think I would only use this resource because of the parental aspects of it. I feel that a lot of times we do not look at how parents feel and this sheds new light. This would be a great supplementary resource for a family unit, however I would probably not use it as a main resource. I feel that this is a great resource to be recommended to others looking for the parental side of things rather than the teacher side. Like  I said earlier, I liked this article because all too often we only focus on the teachers side of things rather than the parents side of things and parents play a large role in the child’s success as well. 

Annotated Bibliography: 
Johnson, Leonissa V.'; Tuttle, Malti,; Harrison, Jamie,; Sell, E. Mackenzie. (2018). Response to Intervention for English Learners: A Framework for School Counselors. Retrieved from https://eds-b-ebscohost-com.proxy-calu.klnpa.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=21&sid=3ea6a04a-eabf-42c2-ba53-4cf41abce7be%40pdc-v-sessmgr05&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=EJ1185865&db=eric 
 

Summary:
The article that I chose to read about is on Response to Intervention for English Language Learners. This article talks about how RTI is a process used to identify academic, behavioral and or social-emotional supports for students with school related concerns. Specifically school counselors often serve on this team as supporters, interveners, advocates and facilitators alongside parents, teachers and administrators. This article presents a framework for school counselors to utilize during their advocacy for English Language Learners in the instructional RTI process. RTI is important because it allows the students to gain supports that are necessary for inclusion and learning English without being thrown right into special education. This article also discusses how parents/guardian supports, interpreter guidelines, and pertinent academic resources needed to advocate for English learners in the instructional RTI process are a must. RTI is used to help struggling students get back on track, and it can be for getting ELL’s moving in the correct, forward, as well. 

Evaluation:
I chose this article due to the current topic of inclusion and RTI in our classroom. This article talks about the struggles that ELLs are currently facing today. ELLs are growing in population but the resources for allowing better supports for them in the school systems are not. It focuses on how to advocate as a school counselor and how that can also apply for parents, teachers and administrators. This article also talks about how the ‘norm’ is for teachers to be referred to special education for services, which is not always what needs to occur. It is a relevant topic in the education world along with a relevant topic in regards to what we are discussing in class. 

Reflection:
This article Response to Intervention for English Learners: A Framework for School Counselors caught my eye from the second I read the title. RTI is an important topic, alongside English Language Learners. We have been talking about services and supports for ELL’s all semester and we also mentioned RTI, but after reading this article it made a connection. RTI doesn’t have to just be used for the general education classroom for struggling students, it doesn’t have to just be for special education students either, it can be used to both of those plus for English Language Learners. RTI is a great way to give ELL’s supports, inside the classroom. It also crossed my mind that parents of ELL’s might not understand what RTI is or what it is for, so reading this article it is important for schools to advocate for the use of RTI and to educate ELLs parents about it as well so that the ELL are provided with the best education and help they deserve. 

Panferov, S. (2010). Increasing ELL Parental Involvement in Our Schools: Learning From the 

Parents. 106-112. Retrieved November 27, 2018, from 

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d351/caa87cb0a021a9671ad427876a4f2b1abc08.pdf.

Summary: This journal deals with getting to know ELL’s parents and their personal lives when it pertains to school and literacy in order to increase their involvement in their child’s school. The journal shows the contrast between two different EL families. The first family, the Pavlov, immigrated to the United States from Russia in June of 1999, because of economic reasons. The second family, the Omar family, immigrated to the United States in 1997, stopping first in Florida for several months before moving on to the Midwest. The journal explains the backgrounds of the families and shows the impact factors such as socioeconomic status and culture have on parental involvement and student success. 

Evaluation: There is a lot that can be taken away from this journal. It is very interesting to see the contrast between the two parents. The way that the two parents see and define literacy is very interesting because it really does come down to their backgrounds and how they were taught. They way that the parents view school also affects their children’s attitude towards school and the likelihood of a positive learning environment at home. It must be culturally relevant to the parents and commensurate with their own formal learning experiences. The parents also need to be given, when possible, notes sent home in their native language. They need to feel as though they are valued and welcome. The journal also suggests that teachers send home notes that contain both positive and negative remarks about the student that day. Basically, getting EL parents involved requires effort from both ends. 

This journal would be useful for multiple situations. I definitely think that teachers can use it to help them understand and connect with their ELL’s parents much more effectively. It opens the readers eyes to the fact that families come from very different backgrounds and various parts of the world and that affects students’ learning. I plan to incorporate my findings from this journal into my future classroom. Getting to know our students’ parents and their education background is so effective for not only ELLs but non ELLs as well, and it will definitely help boost parental involvement. This strategy can easily be implemented in any classroom and the journal provides a lot of insightful information to help obtain these connections with parents.  

Panferov, S. (2010). Increasing ELL Parental Involvement in Our Schools: Learning From the 

Parents. Theory Into Practice, 49(2), 106–112. 

https://doi-org.proxy-calu.klnpa.org/10.1080/00405841003626551

In this article, it talks about two different families they did a study on. Family one is the Pavlov family which they were invited due to their strong Russian sociocultural affinity for literacy and the value of schooling. Also, it was felt that my fluency in Russian might more quickly establish credibility with the family. Family two is the Omar family which they were recruited due to the rapid rates of migration to the region by Somalis. This article just explains the tale of two families, two parents, their literacy, English, and their words, and different implications as educators. Hearing each of their stories really made me understand a bit more how important it is to involve parents no matter the culture in any way possible. 

This article really does a great job at explaining the way these two families function and how different they both are, but expected to do everything the same learning wise. It also does a really good job at helping the reading understand the parent's thoughts and views. By asking them to explore and ask how they recalled literacy practices of their youth and their reports of their current English use and literacy practices in their adult families. I was able to understand how important these parents felt about literacy and reading at a young age in the home. This article also gave me real-life examples and stories so I was easily able to put it into my own life and eyes, understanding how they truly feel about educating their children. As educators sometimes I feel that it is believed that some non-native speaking parents do not care as much as native English speaking parents but that is not true based on what I just got to learn, which I find very interesting. 

I would use this resource in the future to educate other current educators to give them a better understanding of some non-native speaking parents and how much most of them want to be with their child. This is a very good resource I feel to have when trying to fight for ELL students and their families, it is full of real-life stories and examples which make it very easy to understand and put into perspective. I would recommend this article to all people not just educators or other parents, but everyone because I learned so much about these two amazing families that I did not realize. I also learned that school communication strategies that proved to be helpful for these parents were regular, multi-modal (written and spoken forms), and ideally offered in the parents’ first language. Also that messages that were not only reporting negative or disruptive behaviors but also conveyed positive content, were also helpful in establishing an open line of communication between parents and schools. Home visits were highly valued and established mutual respect for both the home and school cultures. Personal interviews with the parents about the best modes of communication for them are recommended. This article gave me so many new ideas and ways on how to implement these ideas to better the students in the class and their families. I would be happy to share this article with anyone and explain in full detail how much and what I have learned, which has helped me become a better future educator. Also, this helps me provide equal and fair opportunity to all children and families no matter their culture, race, ethnicity, etc.