Strategies to Achieve Parental Participation

Non-English-speaking elementary-school children face a daunting task in efforts to learn English. The learning and teaching problems are further exacerbated by the No Child Left Behind Act because of the heavy reliance on standardized testing for school and student performance evaluation.

A key component of successful English As A Second Language (ESL) programs is the active participation of the parents of the students in such programs. To gain insights for use in the development of effective strategies to achieve active parental participation, a parent of a child recently arrived from Puerto Rico who is attending elementary school in a small city in the State of New York was interviewed. This memorandum summarizes what was learned through the conduct of this interview, together with information gleaned from journal articles reviewed in preparation for the conduct of the interview.

A salient point that emerged during the conduct of the interview concerned the difficulties that confront parents of ESL students with respect to finding the time to come to the school and participate in their child's ESL instruction. This point is both valid and important. Because research has validated the importance of parental involvement to student success in ESL programs, schools must find ways to facilitate parental involvement.

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eacher. An additional benefit accrues to the participating parent who acquires some English language skills through the process of participation. Flexible scheduling of ESL instruction likely will pose important resource problems for many schools; however, the literature indicates that many schools have been successful in dealing with the resource issues. Equally as difficult, if not as problematic in relation to resource use, is the persuasion of parents of the importance of their involvement in their child's ESL instruction. Superficial orientations will not be successful. Clearly presented relevant information concerning successful ESL programs will be necessary to maximize success in attaining meaningful parental involvement.References Devaney, B., & Armengol, R. (2001, Fall). Heritage Language Literacy Club: Developing literacy in two languages. Heritage, 25(1), 1-5. Accessed on the Internet on 2004-09-10 at: http://www.cal.org/resources/News/2001fall/ heritage.html Ensle, A. L. (1992, Summer/Fall). Critical elements in parental involvement of culturally and linguistically diverse parents. Bilingual Research Journal, 16(3-4), 141-143. Accessed on the Internet on 2004-09-10 at: http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/pubs/nabe/brj/v16/1
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Approximate Word count = 1651
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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