Page 19 - Project ALPHA Brochure FINAL 042919

Project
Teach Out of the Box
PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT FOR CONTENT AREA TEACHERS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
Project ALPHA has as one of its goals to help content area teachers identify the needs of parents of ELs and provide strategies for addressing those needs including (1) improving parental engagement at parent-teacher conferences and other activities; (2) extending capacity to implement a funds-of- knowledge approach to involve parents in their children’s instruction and support their role as educational advocates for their children; (3) raising parents’ of ELs capacity to communicate effectively with school staff and make informed educational choices; (4) enhancing EL parent engagement for all school personnel in general, as well as building relationships among student’s parents or families to support student learning; and (5) implementing community engagement initiatives between families and school staff to cultivate sustained partnerships.
ALPHA promotes parental engagement by emphasizing the following steps: (1) assess participants’ knowledge of approaches to engage parents of ELs; (2) provide exemplary examples of parental engagement practices; (3) prepare participants regarding laws and regulations, practices, and research affecting ELs to empower parents to be active participants in their children’s schools. The Blueprint Initiative is based on New York State’s Blueprint of ELL Success. The “Roadmap to College for ELs” brochure has been developed to be translated into multiple languages with college readiness information for ELs and their families (http://www.nysed.gov/bilingual-ed/roadmap-college). It helps ELs learn with their parents steps to (1) target college as a viable option; (2) pay for college; and (3) follow a timeline for ELs to graduate from high school and enter college.
Resources:
TESOL Community & Family Toolkit: Engaging the Families of English Learners in Classrooms, Schools, and Communities https://www.tesol.org/docs/default-source/advocacy/tesol-community-and-family-toolkit.pdf?sfvrsn=0
Understanding the Challenges of English Language Learners and Increasing College-Going Culture: Suggestions for School Counselors https://www.counseling.org/knowledge-center/vistas/by-subject2/vistas-multicultural-issues/docs/default-source/vistas/article_81_2016
Engaging ELL Families: 20 Strategies for School Leaders http://www.adlit.org/article/42781/ Five Ways to Engage Parents of ELL Students
https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/five-ways- to-engage-parents-of-ell-students/
4 Parent Engagement Strategies for English Language Learners https://medium.com/global-perspectives/4- parent-engagement-strategies-for-english-language-learners-f779107bdd75
Contours of the Field: Engaging Parents of English Learners
https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/engaging-parents-english-learners/
Improving Home School Connections through a Funds of Knowledge Approach
Funds of Knowledge and Home Visits Toolkit
http://www.k12.wa.us/MigrantBilingual/HomeVisitsToolkit/default.aspx
Tap Into Funds of Knowledge http://blog.tesol.org/tap-into-funds-of-knowledge/
ELL Students' Funds of Knowledge: Use Authentic Personal Experiences for Background Knowledge
https://www.thoughtco.com/ell-students-funds-of-knowledge-4011987
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