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I have previously shared my soggy "meh" feelings about using surveys to gather data from families about the equity of your multilingual communications, and my whole-hearted support for having personal conversations with parents instead. January to February is the time I most recommend for conducting these interviews, because: a) families have had a whole semester’s experience with communication from school, b) you still have a whole semester to analyze responses, make a plan, and get the appropriate people on board before summer (when it will be to late to initiate systemic change). I’ve shared lots of tips related to interviews before. Today, let’s talk about how to generate the most useful information if you are relying on a team of one or more people to do the interviews. These are lessons I have learned the hard way, and I hope to save you years of subpar interview data. Tip of the WeekStandardize the wording of your interview questions with your team. At the same time, prepare your interviewers to be fluid in following up with parents and caregivers in order to draw out the most useful information possible. The StoryThe first year I did family interviews, I did them solo. It was a helpful experience for creating a clear vision and understanding of how those conversations can go. Because I naturally understood what I was trying to do, I intuitively asked follow-up questions of parents when I needed more clarity. Because didn’t have to communicate my purpose to anyone, I didn’t realize that asking follow-up questions is something I would need to name explicitly when I did bring others on. The second year, I added one person to the effort. I was generally happy with the usability of the information from her calls, because she took detailed notes. Yet there were instances when I read her responses where I wish she had prompted for more detail or clarity. For example, when one parent said, “I receive materials in English, but I can’t understand them,” I wish she had prompted with something like, “Do you receive texts and emails in English as well? And documents that go home? When you receive calls from people other than me, are they in Spanish or with a Spanish interpreter?” As humans, we often talk in broad strokes, and it is helpful to break down the information as much as possible in order to be able to take take targeted action in response to parent feedback. One of our questions was geared at inclusion. We asked whether their child had opportunities to see or share their culture at school. When one parent responded, “It’s fine for Fatima to share about her African culture at school” (essentially giving permission, rather than answering if this had been her experience so far), I wish I had trained my teacher to reiterate the question to get that information; I was glad to have mom's approval, but I also wanted to know what her experience had been thus far. Getting partial information, instead of the full picture wasn’t the teacher’s fault. She did a great job at what I had trained her to do, but I hadn’t trained her to prompt following parent responses. Training staff in how to prompt isn’t easy, but the best thing to do is to just start. Simply name why, when, and how. I wish I could say I got better at that piece immediately, but I didn't. It took a couple years of hitting this frustration for me to step back and reflect on how to improve it. Call to ActionOn Monday of next week, sit down to plan your parent interviews.
Here’s a free template you can use to structure the follow-up questions for your team. Examples of follow-up questions: Question: Are you receiving all school communications in Somali? Follow-up Menu: If unclear:
If doesn’t answer the question: Repeat the question. Reword if necessary. Question: How well informed do you feel about your child’s progress at school? Follow-up Menu: If unclear:
If doesn’t answer the question: Repeat the question. Reword if necessary. Question: How included did you feel in parent-teacher conferences in October? Follow-up Menu: If unclear:
If doesn’t answer the question: Repeat the question. Reword if necessary. Better TogetherSo many leaders know that their multilingual families aren't getting equitable access to information, programming, or people in their schools. But most get stuck when trying to fix it because they are over-tasked and under-staffed. Anne Truran focuses centrally on this topic to help educational leaders make progress faster without all the trial and error, so they can focus their energies on the many other challenges that deserve their attention.
Make this one problem solved without adding it to your plate. Bookings for Fall 2024 support are now open! If you are interested in creating systemic change at your district so multilingual families have equitable access to information, your schools can be compliant with federal law, and all your kids can get what they need, find out which one of the following pathways will work best for you:
2) Tell me about yourself, your school and community. 3) Get started on your best pathway forward to create real change for families and kids.
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I want to take a moment to acknowledge that even if you are still observing challenges with equitable communication for your families, you are not alone. You can and should give yourself and others grace. Take care of yourself each day. Acknowledge the efforts you make. And if it is right, get yourself some help. You don't have to do it alone, and it doesn't have to be so difficult and exhausting. Fast forward to "Better Together" below for more information on how to get help and community. Tip of the WeekPause to identify if there are barriers above you. Is there anyone higher than you who is not aware of or not invested in solving this problem? Perhaps they are a barrier in that they have actually been an obstacle to your efforts in the past. But maybe they are a potential powerful ally, who could be supporting you, but just aren't (yet). Identify who and why, so you can start chipping away at that barrier in order to: a) get their thought partnership, and b) hear “yes” more often when you make requests (for time with schools, PD for yourself, a new position, outside help, etc.). The StoryJust a couple weeks ago a friend introduced me to someone who I think we could call a local influencer in education. We had a brief chat, and when he found out what I do (i.e. multilingual family communication), he said, “Principals aren’t feeling the need yet. There just aren’t many [ELs], but numbers are growing slowly”. This person gets rave reviews from people I trust, so I have faith that this person does a lot of influencing for the better. And I think the comment above illustrates how even smart, “good”, educated people can be entirely out of the loop when it comes to multilingual family communication. He was trying to emphasize future need, but was reflecting back the lack of common awareness of the very pressing and urgent current need, no matter what the numbers are. I responded to him, “Part of my job is to show principals that not only is growth imminent, but in the meantime, the students that they have already are suffering while they aren’t making this a priority.” There is so much more I wanted to say, but for a passing introduction, I kept it short, with the promise to connect further. Like me, this comment might have you thinking:
Plus, who is to determine when the number is high “enough” to become a priority? It isn't principals. It is the DOJ and the DOE, and they say …
Have you encountered thought processes like this one in people you know and even admire? In my experience, higher-level positions are often unaware of the problem because it isn’t a part of their daily experience or responsibilities, and if they don’t hear about the problems, they understandably think all is well ... or similarly to the story above, they think that this isn’t a priority because the percentage of students is too low to merit attention. But your experience is more important than mine. Yours will lead you to the key that unlocks the barriers you encounter. Call to Action1. Take a moment to reflect on the barriers "above" you. You can fill this out to help you think it through, and receive your responses back in an email to yourself to revisit after break. I’ll take a peak as well, and reach out if I have any thoughts or suggestions!  2. If you meet regularly with your manager, whether or not this person represents one of your barriers, start sharing about the world of multilingual communication regularly. For example, create a standing “Section VI Compliance” agenda item where you tell them what issues arose this week, including any erroneous action and inaction that you are aware of. 3. When you share, recount the actual human stories about how staff members, families, and students were affected by the school's mistake. If you spent time cleaning up a mess, make sure you share the cost of that time. If you weren't able to work on really important A, because you were dealing with dysfunctional B, they should know about that wider impact. You can share steps you have taken to correct the issue, systemic problems you see, and the legal implications as well. If you need help backing up your legal claims, you can either a) get really granular and show them pages 37-40 of the DOE’s 2015 Dear Colleague Letter, or b) get really practical and use the checklist I created. The checklist is aligned with Dear Colleague letter, absent my own opinions on the matter, so you can be sure you are presenting text-based evidence to your higher-ups. It is a shortcut for determining where your schools are in or out of compliance. Just use the checklist, or also use the article that precedes it. (I like the article, but I am biased.)  Better TogetherSo many leaders know that their multilingual families aren't getting equitable access to information, programming, or people in their schools.
Yet often times these leaders are the only ones who see it, because multilingual communication has been segregated to them and/or their team alone. This makes it an uphill battle to fix a serious problem that everyone else thinks is going just fine. Anne Truran helps educational leaders advocate for their multilingual families and lead measurable change to the communication support they receive. To get support from Anne: 1) Schedule a free no-pressure consultation. 2) Tell me about your school and community. 3) Get your plan for creating a better experience for multilingual families, and better results for kids. |
Anne TruranI taught, coached, taught again, founded an ELL program and taught and coached some more. From the border to central Texas to the Midwest. Now I work with schools to improve communication and connection with multilingual families. Archives
May 2024
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