ERIC Number: EJ929402
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1523-5882
EISSN: N/A
Communication Is More than Language: Adult ESL Classes Foster Parent-School Collaboration
Waterman, Robin
Bilingual Research Journal, v31 n1-2 p227-250 2008
Public-school policy and federal law both emphasize parental involvement, yet there is insufficient research guiding meaningful collaboration between school practitioners and immigrant parents. This article reports on results gleaned from a larger study of school-based adult ESL classes, focusing on the role that these classes could play in supporting effective parental involvement. The focal study was quasi-experimental and included Mexican mothers previously enrolled in school-based ESL classes (N = 87). Analysis included mixed-methods data drawn from treatment and control groups (N = 8). This article presents the results of an intervention that guided treatment-group ESL teachers to integrate parent-involvement knowledge and behaviors into instruction, in comparison to a form of ESL classes typically offered in public schools. The final analysis reveals a significant increase in both ESL and parent-involvement skills acquired by the students in the treatment group. It also demonstrates numerous ways that the intervention supported meaningful parent-school collaboration, reflecting new knowledge and behaviors, on the part of both the Mexican mothers and school staff. Thus the study yields implications for practice as well as theory development in the field of parental involvement. (Contains 7 endnotes and 2 tables.)
Descriptors: Educational Change, English (Second Language), Teaching Methods, Parent Participation, Parent Teacher Cooperation, Second Language Learning, Adult Education, Second Language Instruction, Hispanic Americans, Control Groups, Intervention, Parent School Relationship, Mothers
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Adult Education; Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Colorado
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A