As an educator or an education professional, you know how vital it is to engage students and parents in your school and district. Meeting the needs of each individual student when you have tens, hundreds, or even thousands in your care can be particularly challenging, but taking care to do so can increase your overall student success and graduation rates. When it comes to meeting the needs of your Limited English Proficient (LEP) students, there are many great reasons to employ translation services in your school or district.
Increasing LEP student success
While regulations dictate what you need to translate in your education institution, there are many benefits to translating your documents beyond regulatory compliance. LEP students face a particular set of challenges. Learning how the English language is structured, how to use idioms, and how to verbally engage with other students are just a few examples of the challenges that LEP students need to overcome.
LEP students also face social challenges when they enter school. They may depend on body language, have limited school experiences, or remain silent in class settings. Providing translated documents at the appropriate reading level can help these students to feel more confident in their English abilities, which in turn supports higher levels of student success. Beyond that, these translations can support a more welcoming environment in school, supporting these students’ personal growth as well.
Parent engagement and LEP student success
Parent engagement is simply when teachers and parents share a responsibility to help their children learn and meet their educational goals. This kind of engagement happens at school meetings and events, with parental volunteering, and with documents sent home to communicate important education-related information.
It is particularly important to establish two-way communication from home to school and back when looking at increasing LEP student success. There are many ways to establish this communication and to ensure your staff can support it:
- Hire staff that matches the linguistic needs of your population if possible
- Develop ongoing relationships with community organizations
- Ensure you understand the applicable regulations for parent communication
- Ask parents which language they prefer to receive communications in, and how they prefer to be communicated with (phone, email, text, etc.)
- Inform parents they can bring an interpreter to the school or be prepared to provide one on-site
Parent engagement, in all cases – not just with LEP students, is the most important predictor of student success. If you successfully engage the parents of your LEP students, these students will have more support at home and be more inclined to finish their assignments.
If you want to start seeing higher levels of student success and graduation, no matter the grade level of your students, translation services can help. Engaging both the LEP students and parents in your school or district helps promote an inclusive atmosphere where LEP students can thrive. We can help you get started on your education translation projects; give us a call at 530-750-2040, or request a free quote today.
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Ash is the Marketing Coordinator at Avantpage, Inc. Ash works to create high-value, targeted content that allows consumers to connect with us at Avantpage. They are a strong proponent of everyone having equal access to communication and information. They have written and created content for a variety of online platforms, and have been published in over 30 online platforms with varying topics. But Ash is other things too! An avid athlete, Ash enjoys spending their free time rock climbing, partaking in aerial circus sports, and practicing acroyoga.