Reply to Do wrap-around resources, 3 free meals, after-school activities, etc. move the needle?

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Reply to "Do wrap-around resources, 3 free meals, after-school activities, etc. move the needle?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I disagree with but understand the rationale behind a lack of support for extensive social services in schools including a lot of free food. What I truly do not understand is the opposition to translation. If the idea is that engaged, invested families who support their children's education are what is needed to lift children out of poverty and low achievement, how does making engagement less accessible to parents by refusing to provide translation services further that goal?

For what it's worth, I'm a social services provider based in a Title 1 school. There is certainly a mentality among some parents that they have a lower obligation to provide for their children because things like free uniforms, free food, extensive assistance with social-emotional functioning, etc. is all available at school. The flip side to this is that for children, school is where they are most easily reached. If their parents are NOT invested in helping their kids succeed, removing services from school will likely result in fewer kids getting services that support success, since we would then need to rely on parents bringing them to and from appointments. [/quote]

PP back to add that I have no opposition to translation services, but like most socio-economic services, it's mismanaged and abused.  I shouldn't have to call a contracted translation service in CA to conference call a parent to ask about a student's absences or to discuss why an acutely ill student needs to go home.  The parent liaison is over-burdened. The ESOL student parents are not, as a whole, attempting to speak English.  Sure, a few are taking English lessons, but where's the motivation?  You can call any FCPS school and announce, "Spanish?" and you'll get to speak to someone in Spanish.  We end up segregating these families in the interest of "translating."  Principal meet and greets with only Spanish-speaking parents? My school spent outrageous time and effort sending home translated paperwork and forms, only to have most returned or "lost." The parent liaison bore the burden and ended up meeting individually with a few parents to go over forms and explain policies.  Most were unable to read in their native language or were asking their school age children to translate.[/quote]

PP here. Okay. I generally agree that translation is not done in an effective way. The school where I work is 45% ELL. I'd estimate that the parent community is probably 70% Spanish-speaking and that probably half of them do not speak English well enough to communicate in a nuanced way about their child's education in English. I appreciate the many truly bilingual staff members we have in my school, and frankly, I wish that people who sign up to teach or work in schools with a known high percentage of Spanish speakers would attempt to learn Spanish as well. Sign up for language classes. Use Rosetta Stone. Hell, use Duo Lingo - it's better than nothing.

Talking about literacy in their native language is a separate issue, to me, from opposition to providing translated materials. I know that in some parts of this area, there is also the need for translation into languages other than Spanish. For me, though, it's Spanish. If we need Amharic or Vietnamese, we call Language Line, but people who are making calls about absences have some proficiency in Spanish.[/quote]

[i]I wish that people who sign up to teach or work in schools with a known high percentage of Spanish speakers would attempt to learn Spanish as well. Sign up for language classes. Use Rosetta Stone. Hell, use Duo Lingo - it's better than nothing.[/i]

let me gently and delicately add that once again, the effort/burden is on the school staff.  Why?  I have a decent working knowledge of Spanish (I can overhear and understand, read/remember some vocabulary words from a few years of long-ago high school Spanish and immersion in school environment), but it's been discussed at meetings that unless you are truly bilingual and fluent, you may not "wing it" especially when it comes to student information. Expected to use parent liaison or contracted services. Can't the parents learn enough English to safely communicate?  Where's the compromise?[/quote]

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