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English Language Acquisition (ELA) instruction is ever increasing in the United States (US).  California, Texas, New York, Florida, and New Jersey are the top five states where English Learners (ELs) and immigrant families reside.  With over 10 percent of US students being ELs, nearly every teacher has encountered an EL student throughout their teaching career.  EL students face certain challenges … Read More

The United States is one of the most diverse countries in the world, as it is home to individuals from an array of cultures and ethnic backgrounds.  Our diversity makes us a strong and vibrant nation, yet immigrant children and families still face countless obstacles in their new home.  Miscommunication based on language barriers and other cultural differences tends to … Read More

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) conducts a reading assessment every two years with all students in the fourth and eighth grades.  The NAEP continues testing students every four years in twelfth grade.  All 50 states conduct these assessments, as well as the District of Columbia and Department of Defense schools.  Students are asked to read selected grade- or … Read More

Raising a Bilingual Child Helping a child to learn two or more languages is the greatest gift a parent can ever give them.  Bilingualism facilitates communication with family members and others. It is good for healthy brain functionality, and it is an asset in adulthood when seeking employment.  Nowadays, we see more and more parents making an effort to raise … Read More

Testimonials from Spanish-speaking Parents Reaching out to Hispanic parents can be quite challenging for a variety of reasons.  Some of those reasons include a lack of familiarity with the education system in the United States, limited English skills, insufficient exposure to mainstream American culture, lack of education, and scarcity in time.  For example, in some countries, parents are not accustomed … Read More

For those with little to no experience with research, all forms of research seem to be the same.  However, there are two different forms of research that experienced individuals delve into – qualitative research and quantitative research.  There are various aspects that differ in both types of research, and there are some topics that are easier to research using one … Read More

We continue our examination of some of the more groundbreaking and essential theories on the subject of second language acquisition with the work of James Cummins. He believed that there are marked differences between social interaction and academic teaching as a method for acquiring and comprehending a second language. His theory can be broken down into two different aspects that … Read More

Every culture has its own characteristics that make it unique.  It is important for people to share their story, so that they can connect to others and feel less separate from others. This is particularly useful with immigrant families who have uprooted their lives to change their predicaments for the next generation.  For instance, if a newly arrived family from … Read More

Five years ago, we embarked on a partnership with the University of North Texas (UNT) and its College of Education for Project SUCCESS. Under a five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education, The Latino Family Literacy Project became the training arm to engage ELL parents as part of Project SUCCESS in Language and Literacy Instruction: A Title III National … Read More

Research about Latino Parent Involvement in Schools Parent involvement in schools has long been regarded as a contributing factor of academic success.  Although a great deal of research has been conducted regarding parental involvement, there has been a lack of research that focuses on Latino perceptions on the topic.   Organizations such as the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI) have … Read More