I have a love-hate relationship with email. In education, especially, email can feel like an untameable beast. For that reason, I am constantly thinking about how I make my emails actually helpful in the whirlwind of our work. In that spirit, I am trying something new! To see what I mean, keep going. I would love to know if you find this approach helpful or not. Also, if you have a specific challenge you would like to receive a solution for, I'd love to hear from you about that, too! I'll send a tip like this about communication equity every two weeks. In between, I'll send you something specific to Spanish for staff. Tip of the WeekUse real family case studies in your professional development when you train staff on language access in order to drive home the "why" of what you are asking them to do. The StoryWhen I stepped into the role of ELL Coordinator in 2018, it was the first time the department had existed. There were absolutely no resources for translation or interpretation, much less protocols and systems around their usage. I spent the first year researching our options for telephonic and in-person interpretation, translation, etc. I spent the next three years training staff on using them, and seeing almost zero change in staff behavior. They continued to either rely on me to communicate for them or just not doing it in a language accessible way at all. Finally, in my fifth year in the role, I nailed it. I led a summer PD session with all staff that was the catalyst for changing staff behavior during the school year. Interpreter phone calls have increased more than 10 times in one year, and translation and in-person interpretation increased by more than 7 times without me stepping in to do it for them and without much of an increase in our multilingual family numbers. Multiple times, building leaders and staff named my summer PD as the most effective support they and their staff received. One of the big changes I made in my PD session was to use case studies to emphasize why their ownership in language access is crucial. Case studies were the very first item on my session agenda. I wrote up four case studies: three were real stories about how failure to provide language access had a tangible and real impact on a student or family in our district, and the fourth was a collection of parent/caregiver quotes that I compiled from our annual parent interviews so staff could hear the "why" in their voices. I was going to do a jigsaw activity with the case studies to save time -- split up into four groups, read one case study, then teach the whole group what they read. However, our President of Academics gave me the feedback that I should have everyone read every case study, and just take the extra twelve minutes it would take to make that possible. I was so grateful for that feedback. It made all the difference, and the reason I think the case studies were so important for everyone to read is this: When we are asking non-ELL staff to ensure translation of every message, form, document, email, etc.; when we are asking them to book an interpreter for meetings, conferences and events; when we are asking them to place a call using an interpreter, we are asking them both to do something extra and change they way they have been doing things for a really long time. Why would anyone do something extra or be motivated to change old habits without deeply understanding the why? And with a group that hasn’t been communicating or building relationships with multilingual families, they don't have that understanding. It is literally our job in the PD session to give them a window into the lives of the people it is their job to serve, and how their actions impact their lives and student outcomes. The case studies cultivate empathy, which opens people ears and hearts to the instructions you are about to give them. That is why they are so crucial. Call to ActionStart a google doc for keeping a bank of stories throughout the year, so that when when a problem occurs that could have been avoided by staff implementing multilingual communication correctly, write it in your google doc.
Then, when it is time to write your PD session, you will have a bank of stories to draw on to build your case studies! *Bonus: To ramp up the effectiveness, select four stories to create a collection that will resonate with different roles. For example, some people care deeply about attendance, others about academic outcomes, others about the family experience, etc.
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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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