Engagement of Non-Native English Speaking Parents - Education Capstone Research Proposal

Non-Native English Speaking Parents in an English-Speaking School

CAPSTONE RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Setting

Epstein, Coates, Salinas, Sanders, & Simon reported that there are six areas of parental involvement that can stimulate children to higher academic achievement. These areas cover nearly all areas of a child's life: parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, making decisions, and collaborating with the community. It can be difficult to stimulate parental interest in participating as partners in their children's education, but it can be doubly difficult to engage non-English speaking parents or parents with limited English-language ability. Federal law now mandates that progress reports be sent to parents of limited English capacity in their native language, so that they can monitor their children's progress. The question arises as to what other initiatives might stimulate parental interest if the student has non-native English speaking parents.

The literature is abundantly clear that parental involvement equals better student outcome. Vygotsky (1978) suggested that children learn from the community around them; learning is a social activity scaffolded by those around them. Interactions of parents and children are critical to the learning process. Kozulin, Gindis, Ageyev, and Miller pointed out Vygotsky "emphasizes the importance of sociocultural forces in shaping the situation of a child's development and learning and points to the crucial role played by parents" (p. 2). School involvement is but one of the factors in this crucial role. Interaction between parents and teachers is another critical factor (Brien & Stelmach). This interaction can be very difficult when one of the parties does not speak English well.

Schools must also be very careful to obey any existing state or federal laws on involving parents who have limited English capabilities. The federal mandate to provide parents with progress reports in their native language was a good first step, but the courts have consistently ruled that parents have the right to information about their children's education. In Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925) the Court ruled that "the fundamental liberty upon which all governments in this union repose excludes any general power of the State to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public teachers only." Thus, parents have the right to participate in teaching their child, and with that right comes responsibility. Neither can be ignored by the school system.

Proposed Research Question

How can teachers make it easier for non-English speaking or limited English proficiency parents to communicate and participate in their child's school activities?

Possible Benefits

With large numbers of non-English speaking or limited English speaking children (and their parents), communicating with these parents can be challenging. Yet, it is clear that better communication contribute to better educational outcomes. The results of this project could benefit any school with non-English speaking or limited English speaking populations.

Research Proposal

The type of research proposed is Ethnographic research.

Proposed Activities

The researcher proposes to meet with groups of non-English speaking or limited English speaking parents, with the assistance of a translator. The researcher will observe non-English speaking parents who attend school activities and open houses, and will interview parents regarding their feelings about school communications and their level of participation in activities. This ethnographic research will be triangulated (interviews, observations, literature research) to reach conclusions about improving the level of participation by non- or limited English speaking parents.

Once the study has been completed, suggestions for future research and for integrating findings into the classroom will be presented in the research report. The proposed study has the potential to contribute significantly to the body of knowledge on the subject of non-English or limited English parental engagement in student learning experience.

References

Brien, K. & Stelmach, B. Parent-teacher interactions with schools and schooling: Legal and cultural contexts. EMSA.

Epstein, J.L., Coates, L., Salinas, K.C., Sanders, M.G., & Simon, B.S. School, family, and community partnerships: Your handbook for action.

Essay Coupons. Writing a Capstone Project (Student Tutorial). Web. https://essaycoupons.com/research/capstone-project-writing/

Kozulin, A., Gindis, B., Ageyev, V., & Miller, S. Vygotsky's educational theory in cultural context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 US 510 (1925). Oyez Project. Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.