Effect of Involvement of Spanish Speaking
Parents
When
deciding an action research project, my site supervisor had me research several
issues concerning parental involvement at our school. The result of this
research was astounding. Sadly, our ESL students who have Spanish speaking
parents, are functioning well below the average student. Attendance,
discipline, and grades are all significantly below the average student.In
addition, the drop out rate for these students is over 20% higher than the
average student. In order to address this, I planned and implemented the
Hispanic Forum. After the initial meeting with parents in September, the
attendance, discipline, and grades of the ESL students whose parents attended
improved. The results were so promising that the parents requested a second
meeting which will be held in February.
The
objectives of my action research project, the Hispanic Forum, are twofold.
First of all, I want to provide assistance that enables all Spanish speaking
parents to become involved in their child’s education. In order to do this, I
had to provide Spanish speaking assistance, tours of the school, help accessing
our online Grading system, etc. The second objective was to evaluate if
parental involvement had a positive effect on the performance of our ESL
students.
Literature definitely supports the
premise behind my action research project. The article, Schooling Disadvantaged
Children, states, “The most
important change in the school population over the next two decades is the
continued increase in both the number and proportion of traditionally
disadvantaged students. The population under 18 is expected to increase by
about 4 by 2020, as the number of children in this age group rises to 66.4
million in 2020. During this time, the number of white students is expected to
decline by about 27 percent and the number of Hispanics will nearly triple, increasing
to 18.6 million in 2020.”
(Natriello, 1986) The fact that our demographics are changing so drastically
calls for prompt action. The article also explains how a majority of Hispanic
students are also dealing with economic disadvantages in addition to the
language barrier. The article, Dropout Rates in the United States, states, “Gaps also exist in academic performance of Hispanic
students as measured by the National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
Differences in reading, mathematics and science measured at age 9 persist
throughout school years. For example in 1992, the average proficiency scores
for Hispanic 13-year-olds was about two years behind their White peers. This
was also the case in reading and even worse in science, where mean proficiency
of Hispanic 13-year-olds was similar to that of 9-year-old white students. By
the time these students reach their last year of high school the gap is too
wide to be remedied. Dropout rates for Hispanics also remain high. Counting all
Hispanic aged 16 to 24, including those who have entered the United States with
less than a 12th grade education and never enrolled in school, the dropout rate
is about 30 percent. Among those who have enrolled in school in this country,
the dropout rate is about 19.6 percent. This figure is the highest of the last decade
and more than double the national rate.” (U.S. Census Bureau, 1997) The
National Institute of Education reported that, “The evidence on the positive
impact of parental involvement on educational outcomes14 is solid. Research
shows unequivocally that parent involvement has a positive effect on children’s
self esteem, self confidence to do well in school and cognitive development.
Also studies show that teachers can do their work more effectively when they
have the collaboration of parents, particularly those whose children are more
at risk. Several policy documents produced at the national, state and local
level have taken up these findings and recommend that schools implement
parental involvement programs. For example, A Nation At Risk, published by the
National Commission on Education in 1983 had a strong impact on school
restructuring efforts, where parental involvement became a key concern. This concern
continues to be a priority in the current administration’s Goals 2000: Educate
America Act.” (Becher, 1984) It is largely due to this research that I decided
to create the Hispanic Forum in an effort to increase parental involvement on
my campus.
The vision of the Hispanic Forum was communicated
in a number of ways. We have a weekly newsletter, Oak Notes, that is sent out every
week. The Hispanic Forum was highlighted in Oak Notes as well as on the school’s
web page. In addition, flyers were created and sent home. The flyers were
English on one side and Spanish on the other. In addition, the native Spanish
teachers had all of their students call a parent during class to invite them to
the Hispanic Forum. This was by far the most effective means of sharing the
vision.
Managing the organization of my action research
project was a large amount of work and very time consuming. Working with the
Spanish speaking teachers, we planned what would benefit these parents the
most. We discussed things like how their culture doesn’t emphasize parental
involvement in education and what we can do to overcome such obstacles. I compiled
discipline, attendance, and academic records for all ESL students. I will
compare the same information at the end of the school year to determine if the
parental involvement had a positive impact. The native Spanish speaking
teachers created a PowerPoint in Spanish highlighting the information parents
would need. I had laptops charged and set up to assist parents in creating
accounts to access our online grading system. Everything we shared with parents
was done in the context of helping their child succeed in education.
In managing the operations, I made a couple of
mistakes. Initially, before the first Hispanic Forum, I spent hours compiling
data for every single ESL student on our campus. Unfortunately, only the
parents of 22 students attended. In hindsight, the data collection could have
waited until I knew exactly which students we could follow to get an accurate accounting
of the effect of parental involvement. I also tended to want to do everything
on my own since this was my action research project. My site supervisor advised
me to ask for assistance. She further explained that sometimes being an
effective leader was to ask for help with experience in needed areas. This
advice was a life saver. The Spanish speaking teachers were not only willing,
but excited to create the PowerPoint and present at the Hispanic Forum. As far
as communication, we had several planning meetings and numerous emails.
Perhaps the most exciting thing about the Hispanic
Forum is that it meets our school and community’s most pressing need. The
Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students are not performing on a level
with the other students. By involving these parents in their child’s education,
we have already seen an improvement in performance. At the conclusion of the
first Hispanic Forum, parents requested a follow up meeting. As a result, we had
them fill out a survey to evaluate the meeting and asked for suggestions on
what else they would like to learn about. The results were amazing. In
February, we are hosting the second Hispanic Forum. We will have counselors on
hand to review graduation requirements with parents. Hopefully, parents will
become more informed on what their child needs to be able to graduate high school
and have a more successful high school experience.
Natriello, G., McDill, E.L., Pallas, A.M. (Eds) (1986) Schooling
Disadvantaged Children. New York:
Teachers
College Press.
U.S. Census Bureau. National Center for Education Statistics. “Dropout
Rates in the United
States: 1995.”
(Released in May 1997).
Becher, R.M. (1984) “Parent Involvement: A review of research and
principles of successful practice.”
National
Institute of Education, Washington, DC.
