PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT WITH ELL STUDENTS

The limits of Parental involvement with ELL students

Jose Joseph J. Ybarra

University of Arizona
Parental involvement and ELL students

Abstract

This paper will venture into five different scholarly articles that focus

on ELL students as well as the involvement that their parents have on their

schools, their teachers and themselves. The focus of my paper ELL stands for

English Language Learners, so I am talking about kids who cant speak, read

or understand English thus are being taught English through different

methods. The history of ELL has progressed to our humble beginnings in the

late 1700s to the present where while there are many laws to help the

students the system still hasnt fully grown yet. The involvement that

parents have on ELL students can range from helping them with their

homework, going to school events to help or participate and being there to

help the student when they need it. The views Ive given on parental

involvement shows that this can be both a blessing and a curse such as

many situations but I feel the good can overcome the bad except when the

situation goes overboard.

KEYWORDS: English language learners, school support, parental

involvement, bilingualism, Bilingual Education Act, academic achievement,

social-emotional outcomes
Parental involvement and ELL students

The limits of Parental involvement with ELL students

Since the beginning of the ELL program in the late 1700s there has

been many studies on ELL from the teachings, first language acquisition,

bilingualism, and others but what is curious is how much parental

involvement should do with ELL students. The journey of bilingual education

in the United States began in 1785 when European immigrants settled in

rural areas and used their native languages for instruction (Cuartas et al).

The involvement of parents in education in the United States has been going

for decades possibly even a century or two, but during that last 20 or so the

parental involvement has increased exponentially. To understand more

about the involvement that parents have on ELL students Ill be focusing on

different scholarly articles that follow these. This paper will explore the limits

that parental involvement should have with ELL students throughout these

different academic journals from ERIC, ProQuest and others; also what is the

middle ground that parents and teachers can have with having involvement

with ELL students in school as well as outside of school.

Parental involvement and ELL students

The history of ELL has shown us the progress that ELL has had to

venture though many loops to get to this point it is in this time as well as the

involvement that parents are in their childrens education. Bilingual

education began in 1785 in the US, this occurred when European immigrants

came into rural areas and used their native languages for instruction to

teach their kids and others in the area, and sometime after this the local and

federal governments enacted laws to address bilingualism. The first state

to pass a law regarding bilingual education was Ohio in 1839, when

instruction in German was officially sanctioned after German speaking

parents petitioned the state.( Cuartas et al) Throughout the following years

many states passes laws to teach different languages from New Mexico with

Spanish and Louisiana with French. But although many states were

establishing laws to teach different languages the federal level, measures

regarding bilingual education began in 1864 when Congress passed a law

prohibiting Native-Americans from being taught in their own languages.

Then, in 1879, Federal officials began separating Native American children

from their families and forced them to attend boarding schools off the

reservation. Students were punished when caught speaking their native

language. This law was voided in 1934 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs

(University of North Carolina Television, 2001). (Cuartas et al)

It took sometime before acts to help ELL students truly began on a federal

level that would hit everywhere in the United States, but soon during the

Civil rights movement the next step began. When the Bilingual Education
Parental involvement and ELL students

Act was enacted in 1968, some states had English-only laws. Those states

were required to create innovative programs designed to help ELLs acquire

content knowledge while developing English language skills. However, school

districts often failed to successfully implement such programs. The fear of

violating desegregation laws by separating ELL students into special classes

was also a significant obstacle to successful implementation. (Cuartas et al).

Now well look into the parental involvement with ELL students more.

In Yens (2012) paper it shows his investigation of population

heterogeneity of parental involvement in English Language Learners with

factor mixture model. One of his investigations on parental involvement

shows that parental involvement ranges from providing valuable learning

experiences in the home environment or volunteering at school to

collaborating with community organizations on educational programs and

activities (Yen 2012). In his study Yen describes parental involvement as

being that when any parents and/or any primary caregivers are involved in

their childrens education to help grow both their academic and social

achievements (Yen 2012). Even though the importance parents in education

as well as the development of the No Child Left Behind legislation is

established, the purpose of parent involvement is still not going as well as

we would prefer it in our schools (Yen 2012). Next well talk about the

importance that parental involvement has on the students.

Yen also talks further about the importance that parental involvement

has on the students and though this positive involvement that they give this
Parental involvement and ELL students

helps influence the childrens positive learning outcomes, plus their social,

cognitive, and emotional development (Yen 2012). Originally schools were

seen as the main focus to be responsible for the childrens academic

progress but since it was seen that even with reforming the school system no

real change with the childrens education was made there needed to be a

change. This provoked debate in bridging the gap between school and

home learning, because childrens learning is rooted in real life, not just in

the classroom. The accountability is determined by how well partnership

activities between school, families, and communities are implemented and

connected (Epstein, 2001). Schools were no longer held solely accountable

for childrens academic success. (Yen 2012). This truly began the official

importance of parental involvement with students and thus began how our

society is functioning today as a culture. Also Arias & Morillo-Campbell found

that the barriers that most often confront ELL parents regarding

engagement with schools include the following: (1) school-based barriers; (2)

lack of English language proficiency; (3) parental educational level; (4)

disjunctures between school culture and home culture; and (5) logistical

issues. (Arias & Morillo-Campbell). But not only did Yen (2012) look at the

importance of this but others such as Niehaus and Adelson (2014) surveyed

parents on different aspects of school. The info from these parent surveys

was mostly used to measure the involvement that the parents were with the

school. On the survey the way parental school involvement was defined by

specifically how much participation in were parents in school events for

Parental involvement and ELL students

example fall festivals, grandparents day and more; as well as parents

communication with their childrens teachers like parent-teacher

conferences, open house, shadow your kid day and etc.(Niehaus and Adelson

2014). The next trek we will explore on parental involvement is my own

personal views of the topic itself.

After looking over the views that I have seen in the involvement of

parents with ELL students I think back to when I first thought of this being

my chose for my paper and now that I have seen what Ive searched it gives

me not only a new look as a student but also as a future teacher. The

reasons I believe this has changed me is because before going into this

course let alone this project I had no real knowledge on why parents really

need to be involved with ELL students, now I know that the parents are the

bridge that helps them use this knowledge they gain in school and use it in

real life to become something else. Also I look back on all of the internship

Ive done in three schools now and I think back to how some of the kids were

always struggling in English, math, history and science but when see them

improve better and when I hear the stories that they have of their parents

helping them study I know parents are extra teachers to help their kids

understand anything they may not get. Another reason is that Ive had

friends who came into America from the Philippines, Mexico, Japan and more;

some struggled but never gave up especially when they got help so I truly

respect parents being there to help their kids and progress further. Although

while most parents have a good heart they can also go a little too far and
Parental involvement and ELL students

push both the teacher and the students when they feel both can do better.

Also they can call the school out of nowhere and blame the teachers for the

kids no progressing when the teachers can only do so far and the parents

need to involve themselves in their kids studies. Overall I feel that parental

involvement with ELL students can be a shining grace to everyone but at the

same time depending on the situation and the task that is done involvement

can hurt everyone especially when there is too much involvement. Finally

well look back on the paper itself from the beginning to the end.

This paper explored the limits that parental involvement has with ELL

students throughout these different academic journals from ERIC, ProQuest

and others; it also looked at the middle ground that parents and teachers

can have for involvement with ELL students in school as well as outside of

school. I looked at the history of ELL to show how it has progressed over the

years and demonstrate the lengths that have been taken to further the

future of ELL from its humble beginnings in the United States. Then I looked

at the importance that parental involvement has on ELL students whether

good or bad in our current lifetime. Then Finally I expressed my own views of

parental involvement that while it can be a good thing for everyone it can

also be bad depending on the situation that they are in. Overall parental

involvement should be expressed further to help the students become better

students and in the future better people, but it should be done in proportions

when in school so the teachers dont get stressed from the parents.
Parental involvement and ELL students

References

Abdo, Rania, Bogart, Stacey, Cuartas, Lina, Gonzlez, Gustavo Gutirrez,

Loos, Ellen, Miller, Mary-Leslie. (2014) History of the United States Legislative

Policy and English Language Learners

http://www.greensboro.edu/sites/default/files/files/History%20of%20the

%20United%20States%20Legislative%20Policy%20and%20ELL%20-

%20Handbook%20(Corrected).pdf

Arias, M. Beatriz & Morillo-Campbell, Milagros. (2008) Promotin ELL Parental

Involvement: Challenges In Contested Times http://eric.ed.gov/?

id=ED506652
Parental involvement and ELL students

Lien, Rosa E. (2014) ELL Parental Involvement Toward Building Collaboration

and its Policy Implications http://search.proquest.com/docview/1525980358?

pq-origsite=summon

Niehaus, Sarah Kate & Adelson, Jill L. (2012) School Support, Parental

Involvement, and Academic and Social-emotional Outcomes for English-

language Learners in Elementary School.

http://aer.sagepub.com/content/51/4/810

Yen, Hsiao-Ju. (2012) The Investigation of Population Heterogeneity of

Parental Involvement in English Language Learners with Factor Mixture

Model. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1112839564?pq-

origsite=summon