Students in the United States often have the pleasure of being educated with a diverse group, but many face the challenge of crossing language barriers. These students come from homes where they speak little to no English, so their proficiency in the classroom is spread across varying levels – which can have a significant impact on their ability to learn.
Another obstacle is communicating with the parents. Not only do they want to help their children learn, but they also need to understand the education system. Unfortunately, they are unable to do that without the proper resources.
This leaves it up to schools to provide language access and support for students and families with Limited English Proficiency (LEP).
Depending on where you live, the amount of LEP students may not seem so severe. Some of these statistics help put it in perspective.
If you’re a school which receives state and federal aid, this is an issue for you to pay attention to. There are regulations in place that require you to accommodate the needs of LEP families.
Some regulations come from the state (such as Title III funding in California), and others are at the federal level (including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964).
It’s critical that you know which regulations cover your school district.
Meeting these requirements can feel overwhelming for overburdened schools, but an action plan can be broken down into a few steps.
Some schools are able to handle all language needs internally, but a professional language service provider can be a very useful asset to a district. They can provide assistance for many more languages, and their knowledge and experience help make sure all laws and regulations are being followed.
This post is meant to give you an overview of how to better provide language access and support in your school, but it is by no means an exhaustive resource.
If you’d like to read about all of this in more detail, read through our free eBook. It will provide you with a lot more information to help you make sure everyone connected to your school is speaking the same language!