Increasing ELL Parental Involvement and Engagement: Exploration of K-12 Administrators in a Rural State

Abstract

This study reports the findings from an exploration of K-12 administrators in a rural state about how they can more effectively engage and involve families of English language learners (ELLs). The guiding questions for this study are: (1) How does the role of administrators influence the engagement and involvement of ELL parents within K-12 education? (2) What can administrators do within their districts specific to their district in order to facilitate ELL parental engagement and involvement? Through an online survey and in-person interviews, the authors focus specifically on the perceived level of engagement of ELL families as it pertains to districts in general and a specific district. Furthermore, preconceived notions of expectations and language differences and the effectiveness of programs currently offered overall throughout the rural state are explored. Finally, the authors offer suggestions on how to better involve and engage ELLs and their families.

Parental Involvement in a Program for Preschoolers Learning a Foreign Language

“…In addition, it was revealed that the way the teacher cooperated with them, helping them to feel welcomed at school and facilitating their children"s successful learning, empowered parents" role unresponsively to their previous background knowledge on language learning. The aforementioned findings are consistent with those of previous studies (Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 2005;Goodall & Vorhaus, 2011;Paik, et al, 2019;Parsons & Shim, 2019).…”

“…An increasing interest in launching effective FL (foreign language) learning programs in preschool settings (Murphy, 2014;Rixon, 2013) has resulted in research examining the role of parental involvement in children"s language development and their education (Driessen, 2019;Epstein, 2011;Garbacz, et al, 2015;Gaynor, 2012;McDowall, Taumoepeau & Schaughency, 2017;McWayne, Manz, & Ginsburg-Block, 2015;Vellymalay, 2012). Home literacy environment has been recorded as one of the most significant predictors related to early literacy skills (Hume, Lonigan, & McQueen, 2015;Niklas, Tayler, & Schneider, 2015), while parental involvement in school activities is also associated with significant benefits for children's school success and their overall development (Bempechat & Shernoff, 2012;Gordon & Cui, 2012;Paik, et al, 2019;Parsons & Shim, 2019;Wang & Sheikh-Khalil, 2014).…”

Examining Implementation of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports in Rural Schools

“…This finding suggests the need to better understand how enrollment of ELL students may be related to consistent assessment. It would be useful for researchers to examine ELL enrollment in rural schools and how the assessment and implementation of PBIS in rural schools is integrating recommendations for supporting ELL students in rural schools, such as family–school collaboration in support of ELL student learning and social behavior goals (Barrio, 2017; Parsons & Shim, 2019). Thus, researchers might interview parents, students, and school professionals to better understand parents’ reasons for leaving a school and the school systems and practices in place to support ELL students and their families.…”