Addressing the Barriers to Family Involvement in School for Families of English Learners

Strategies for educators to move from “barriers to family involvement”
​to “leveraging strengths through family engagement”

A few years ago Family Engagement Lab facilitated a gathering of parents to discuss parent-teacher partnerships at their elementary school. During the discussion, the group moderator pulled us aside to let us know that a parent was there because her child had been retained a grade and she did not know why. A few weeks later at a similar gathering, we were pulled aside by the moderator again, this time to tell us about a parent whose child was receiving decent grades throughout the year but scored poorly on the state test and now needed summer remediation. 

In both cases, the teachers and parents did not share a common language. Language differences often come in between the two most important figures in a child’s life—parents and teachers, and limit their ability to communicate early to identify problem areas and partner together to support struggling learners.

The consequences are severe. English Learners (also referred to as English language Learners, ELs, or ELLs) make up 9.5% of public school students, and 16% of kindergarteners nationally, yet proportionately far fewer achieve academic proficiency compared to their English-speaking peers. For example, national data reveal that fewer ELs achieve proficiency compared to non-ELs in mathematics (14% versus 43%) and Reading (9% versus 40%). Lost learning during the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to reduce academic progress even further. The long-lasting negative impacts are well-documented and range from lower high school completion rates to lower earning potential and underemployment.

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Opportunity to Move from Family Involvement 
​to Family Engagement

When schools and educators invite parents into their child’s learning process, key relationships are built that set students up for success. When parents are invited to collaborate with teachers to support learning, we open the door for positive relationships that are marked by regular, ongoing, two-way communication about learning. Teachers know more about their individual students’ needs and are able to better meet those needs in the classroom, and parents are inspired and empowered to provide extra encouragement and support at home. Gone are the days when communication occurs primarily when there is a problem, and oftentimes, when we’ve missed opportune windows to intervene.

Why are there still barriers when the benefits of meaningful family engagement are immense? 

While it’s true that educators and families experience real challenges, including limited time, language and cultural differences, and mindsets, focusing on families’ aspirations and assets can provide kindling for building supportive relationships. A strengths-based approach helps move us from one-way family involvement strategies to models of family engagement that are two-way and collaborative.

Strength-based Mindset for Shifting Family Involvement to Family Engagement in School

Here are some examples of how schools and educators can shift to a strengths-based mindset for promoting family engagement:

​How Family Engagement Lab Helps Schools Support English Learners and their Families 

We founded Family Engagement Lab to improve student achievement by helping schools and teachers strengthen family engagement in school to support learning, particularly for English Learners. Through listening sessions and research with families and teachers, we developed a tool called FASTalk (Families and Schools Talk), designed to leverage the strengths families bring to supporting effective parent-teacher collaboration and meaningfully improve academic achievement for English Learners. FASTalk helps to:

• Build parents’ knowledge and confidence through weekly tips and activities sent via text, in their home language. Importantly, all tips and activities are aligned to high-quality curricula, connecting families of English Learners with key information about classroom instruction and how they can help support that learning at home. 
• Strengthen key relationships between parents and teachers from the moment children start their formal education. All FASTalk text messages come from their child’s teacher, parents’ most trusted source of information to support learning (e.g., see Deloitte, 2016). Furthermore, messages are delivered with warmth and gratitude and promote ongoing, two-way communication about learning in a family’s home language through weekly polls that allow parents to provide feedback on their experience with the activities.
• Make ongoing academic partnership easy for busy teachers and parents who may not share a language with their child’s teacher. FASTalk’s parent-child learning activities are tied directly to classroom learning and easy to do anywhere. Messages are pre-loaded and pre-scheduled for teachers (who, as we know, have a lot on their plates already). 

FASTalk is having an impact on the academic achievement of English Learners. When looking at report card grades, we found that grade acceleration was most pronounced (2-3 months) for students whose families did not share a common language with the teacher. 

By inviting parents to collaborate in student learning and strengthening the relationships between parents and teachers, we employ a strength-based approach to family engagement so that all students succeed.

Contact Us today to discuss how we can help your district or state move to a strength-based approach to family engagement!

About the Author

Vidya Sundaram is co-Founder and CEO of Family Engagement Lab. She previously led research and insights at GreatSchools, championing a test and learn culture across the organization. Over her nearly 20-year career in family engagement, she has managed development, research, and strategy for digital resources used by more than half of US families with school-aged children. ​

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