Reaching Out to Latino Families of English Language Learners

At a time when the number of Latino schoolchildren is increasing more than ever, Campos (education, U. of the Incarnate Word) et al., who are teachers, English learners, and are of Mexican heritage, argue that parents are vital to helping children learn and so aim to help teachers learn how to communicate and collaborate with the families of these English language learners to increase their school engagement. They describe how to change school perspectives about Latino parental involvement; understand the worldviews, culture, and language learning of this group; gather information about language use; involve parents in classroom activities and homework; create a campus plan for increasing involvement; and learn about students' cultural backgrounds by using them as resources, creating project-based assignments, conducting focus group meetings with parents, spending time in the community, reading about Latino culture, and using Spanish-language media. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)