WConnecting to Community Resources for Parent Engagement

When organizing a support network for English Language Learners (ELLs), schools and districts connecting to community resources for parent engagement play an important role. With close to 1.3 million students dropping out of high school each year, of which many are ELL students, parents are the most important stakeholders in a child’s academic achievement, according to America’s Promise Alliance.

The article “Working with Community Organizations to Support ELL Students” by Colorin Colorado, a site for ELLs and their families, says that community organizations often have lots of terrific ideas about how businesses and schools, together with community organizations, can work together in supporting this unique population. Some of the services, for instance, include continuing education programs, adult ESL classes and after-school tutoring.

Colorin Colorado also states that if schools and teachers aren’t sure of exactly how to begin collaborating with a particular organization is to just schedule an informal conversation to run ideas by staff on how each can support the other. It’s one of the best ways to start ideas flowing, it says.

To encourage parental engagement, most schools offer:
1) Classes or single workshops on how parents can work with their kids in setting yearly academic, college or career goals.
2) Classes or single workshops on how parents can help their kids meet school expectations and assist in the learning process with at-home activities.

But there is so much more that schools can do to engage families for academic success!

Resource teachers can pull together a directory of community resources linking student talents and skills, including summer programs. Teachers can invite community organizations to introduce services to families, to their parent-teacher conferences and open houses, like back-to-school night.

The Latino Family Literacy Project has been an excellent program for English Learners and dual language programs. To help meet the objectives of both state and federal agencies, the Project offers a variety of programs, such as establishing a regular reading routine for younger kids and offers training for parent workshops for helping adolescent-age kids get into college. Teachers can attend a half-day, program training at a workshop near them or an online webinar for quick and easy training for Parent Engagement.