What is LCAP in California? LCAP Funding in California? We’ve been hearing a lot about LCAP in California. It stands for the Local Control and Accountability Plan. These plans represent a big change in how California manages its school finances. To understand LCAP, you need to know another acronym: LCFF, which stands for Local Control Funding Formula. LCAPs are the … Read More
How Culturally Familiar Books Foster Reading with Hispanic Parents
Children connect with stories and themes that they know. If something is recognizable to them in a book, they will often relate to it in a way that draws similarities to the people and events in their own lives. Through this familiarity, reading becomes more enjoyable and serves a stronger purpose towards promoting successful literacy outcomes. Teachers who work with … Read More
Rural Poverty in the United States
Poverty, unemployment, and food insecurity are serious concerns throughout the country, but these rates are much higher in the rural regions of the United States than in urban sectors. The reasons are succinct and relentless, starting with lower education levels and higher rates of both unemployment and underemployment resulting in 17% of rural households unsure where their next meal is … Read More
How Educators Can Reach Out to Hispanic Parents
Parental involvement is a crucial part of a child’s educational road map. But this can be tougher to achieve for parents of English learner (EL) students. Communication is a large component of effective engagement and it’s up to educators to ensure that a positive discourse is reached between the school and the parents of EL students. There are a variety … Read More
Measuring Parent Engagement for Success
Parent engagement helps students to succeed academically and helps schools to serve students more effectively. Encouraging, assessing, and measuring parent engagement are all important elements of a successful parent engagement initiative. Parent engagement can be measured in various ways; through parent surveys and questionnaires, measurements of attendance counts at family-school events, and assessments of the number and quality of these … Read More
Parental Education Among Latinos in the US
As of 2015, surveys have determined that there has been a marked increase in the number of parents of children ages 6-18 who hold a Bachelor’s Degree over the past 30 years in the United States. But when you compare figures between Latinos, White, and Black families the numbers don’t favor Latinos. In fact, despite the increases, Latino parents are … Read More
Suggestions for Connecting Art and Literacy with English Language Learners
Using art to communicate is an ancient, international, and powerful practice. Visual art experiences offer opportunities for students who are learning English to express their knowledge in symbolic ways, which builds their personal and academic confidence and their ability to make connections between concepts, images, and texts. For example, if a teacher who is leading a unit on the life … Read More
Bilingual Books: The Secret Recipe for Family Literacy with Hispanics
Literacy begins in the home. Parents who begin to read to their children from a very young age make great strides in the child’s educational and social evolution later on. Reading to a child promotes successful outcomes for literacy even before they start their first day of kindergarten. This is true for families of all languages, backgrounds and cultures. For … Read More
Why Teaching in Two Languages Makes Sense for Programs with Hispanic Parents
Teaching in two languages can provide Hispanic parents with the peace of mind that they need to successfully engage in the education of their children. Family literacy programs that include parents in the curricula help to stymie the fears and lack of confidence that Hispanic parents often feel when it comes to reading to their children. They may not feel comfortable reading … Read More
ELL Support and Programs in North Carolina
With an approximate ELL enrollment of 6.2% among grades K-12, North Carolina has 102,311 English Language Learners in the state public school system as of years 2012-2013. 83.6% of ELL students in North Carolina speak Spanish, with Arabic, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Hmong rounding out the five most common languages spoken throughout the state. North Carolina is among the member states … Read More