As schools look for different ways to build successful partnerships with families, good communication remains crucial. There are more options than ever before for educators and administrators to connect with families of English language learners (ELLs) and keep that communication strong. Here are some tips for schools and resources to explore.

Note: Families have a legal right to information from the school in their home language. You can learn more about those rights in the following:

• Fact Sheet: Information for Limited English Proficient Parents and for Schools and School Districts that Communicate with Them
• Equity Through Language Access: Best Practices for Collaborating with Interpreters
• What Are the Legal Requirements Related to ELL Education?

Keeping contact information updated

It's essential that schools have accurate contact information for families. Understanding why families' contact information might change, how they prefer to update that information, and how the school can make it easier for them to do so can go a long way in helping everyone stay connected.

1. Find families' contact information.

Start by looking for families' contact information and checking to see if information on file is still accurate. This may be challenging if families' housing and economic situations are unstable. Families who use prepaid cell phones may also change phone numbers regularly.

If you don't have updated contact information for families, consider trying to pass on a message through:

• other students or families (including through families' networks among themselves)
• an interpreter, family liaison, or ELL educator who knows the family
• other educators such as teachers, coaches, and counselors
• teachers of other children in the family
• community or faith-based organizations serving your students' families.

2. Help families keep their contact information updated.

Ensure that families understand why the school needs updated contact information, especially during the pandemic. You may wish to provide translated emergency contact forms or other tools that can help.

Learn how to make this easier for families in The Importance of Keeping Emergency Contact Information Updated (and keep in mind that families' with limited internet access may not be able to log in easily to parent portals).

3. Ensure that families know how to contact you or the school.

Make sure that families have:

• updated contact information for their child's teacher 
• updated contact information for any other adult who will be working with their child, such as an ESL specialist or special educator
• information on contacting an interpreter or getting necessary information in their home language
• information on getting technical support in their home language.

You may also wish to provide a translated information form to help families keep this information organized. In addition, ensure that families know that they are allowed (and encouraged!) to reach out to their child's school with questions.

Preferred methods of communication 

4. Find out how families prefer to communicate.

Each family will have their own preferences on how to communicate, although there may be some similarities among families from particular communities who are using the same methods. The more you know about how families wish to communicate, the more successful your communication will be. You can learn more about tech tools that can support this communication in How to Use Technology to Engage Multilingual Families.

Phone calls 

You may wish to start with a call if you have families' phone numbers. This will also allow you to reach some families who don't have internet access. Google Voice allows you to place phone calls without sharing your phone number.  Keep in mind that some families are not allowed to answer their phones while working.

Texts 

Some families may prefer to communicate by text. That will allow them to respond at their convenience. You may also wish to text video messages to your students or families with information, greetings, or messages of encouragement. Many immigrant families use WhatsApp and create large texting groups as part of the app.

Social media

Many schools have had success in communicating with ELL families through social media, including Facebook messenger or a dedicated Facebook group with translated information. For example, the Roseville, MN school districts posts bilingual information for families on its community Facebook pages, including translated messages from a family liaison. For more ideas on how to engage effectively with multilingual families in virtual settings, see these ideas from Dr. Karen Woodson.

Email & online communication 

Many ELL educators have reported that emails and newsletters are not a good option for their families. Sending out updates doesn't guarantee that families have received them or gotten the important information they need from them. If you don't receive responses to your emails, consider calling or texting instead. Just because families have provided an email address doesn't mean they are using it or are comfortable sending emails to a teacher. Other online options include doing a video chat, sharing a survey or family check-in form (perhaps via Google Forms), or sharing some online learning resources.

Notes:

• Assisting families with access to devices and internet may also improve communication, although as our related article notes, the technology alone won't do the trick without strong relationships and tech training and support.
• Your district may have policies in place regarding student privacy and online learning, such as restrictions on videos or images of students. Check with your school administrator for clarification as needed to protect student and family privacy, as well as with your families to find out if they have any concerns.

Mail and more

During the pandemic, some teachers have connected with families through creative ways such as post cards or attaching contact information to food delivery. One teacher who sent her phone number via pizza delivery heard back from the family she was trying to contact!

Partnering with families in the service industry

This video features Juliana Urtubey, 2021 National Teacher of the Year.

5. Find out when families prefer to communicate.

Keep in mind that immigrant families may be juggling a number of challenges and responsibilities that impact how and when they can communicate with the school. Some families may:

• work outside of the home during the school day, during the evening, or overnight
• need to juggle child care and other family caregiving responsibilities during the day
• work for employers that have strict rules about responding to phone calls or texts during their shift
• follow cultural norms regarding family or gender roles around communication.

The better you know your families, the more you can learn about their schedules and their family's situation during the pandemic.

Language access resources 

6. Ensure that families and staff know that families are entitled to information in their home language.

School districts are legally required to provide information in families' home languages. You may need to share information about these rights with families themselves, colleagues, or administrators if families are not getting the information they need in their language.

You can learn more about best practices for increasing families' language access from the following:

• Equity Through Language Access: Best Practices for Collaborating with Interpreters
• How to Expand Language Access: Interview with Dr. Jennifer Love
• How to Fulfill Translation and Interpretation Requirements: Tools for Guiding Decisions (Immigrant Connections)

7. Identify your language access options.

If you are don't know what your language access options are, contact ELL educators or administrators from your school or district to find out more about your options, which may include the following:

School / district interpreters

Your school or district may have trained interpreters, as well as bilingual staff. It is important to note that bilingual staff and interpreters play different roles:

• Bilingual/multilingual staff speak multiple languages. They may also be able to write and translate in those languages, but that is not always the case. They may not have had formal training in translation or interpretation.
• Interpreters have received extensive training related to best practices for interpreting/translation, as well as training on specific legal and educational considerations around matters where they will be interpreting.

If your school or district has interpreters, ask your colleagues:

• if and when they are able to assist with family communication
• what process they prefer for setting up conversations
• what has worked (or not) in the past
• if there are other translation resources that you should be familiar with
• if families have common questions that can be addressed more efficiently
• if there are some ways to make technical support in families' home languages more efficient
• if there is anything you can do to support their work.

Learn more about in Equity Through Language Access: Best Practices for Collaborating with Interpreters.

District translation hotline

Your school district may offer a translation hotline. Find out if it is currently available and, if so, how you can use it to set up conversations with families. If the hotline's hours don't match your families' availability, talk with an administrator about whether other options may be available.

Translation apps

Ideally, districts will have in-person interpreters available as part of their legally mandated obligations to make information available in families' home languages. However, there are tools that can help fill in some of the gaps, especially during the current crisis.

Talking Points is an app that translates messages between teachers and families in many different languages. Here's how it works:

• Parents receive the messages as a text message and do not need to download an app.
• It's free for individuals and can be purchased for broader use by districts.
• Translations are done automatically but human interpreters are available if needed.
• You can send mass texts as well and teachers' numbers are protected.

Illinois multilingual education administrator Sarah Said notes, "It's an application that works as a text message on parents' phones. It enables two-way translation communication with families. You can send mass texts for free!  It has been a LIFELINE."

The Talking Points can help give individual teachers more options in reaching out to families directly rather than relying on an intermediary. Please note, however, that it should not be considered a wholesale substitute for professional, knowledgeable interpreters and liaisons who are familiar with:

• the language and culture of the families
• technical school terms, especially for special education
• strategies that can help build trust and community among ELLs and their families.

When to use what method of contact

Keep in mind that some information may be more suitable for texts (shorter messages, reminders, and check-ins) than lengthy or sensitive information, or information that is legally required to be translated. Please take a look at these privacy and security considerations for ELLs and immigrant families if you are considering using Talking Points or other apps.

Supporting learning

8. Identify the information and updates that ELL families will need in their language.

Does planning and communication in your district take ELLs and their families into account? ELL families will need to know:

• the school schedule
• information about school closures (whether planned or due to weather, etc.)
• how to communicate with their child's teacher
• how to access lessons, assignments, and updates about their child's progress
• access to devices, internet, and technology training and support when learning remotely
• information about ELL or special education services and support.

Families may not be aware of the services the school provides around school meals, health care, social-emotional support, how to support learning at home, or parenting tips for managing schedules and routines. Sharing this information broadly and then getting to know individual families is the best to address their priority questions!

Building relationships

9. Look for ways to build relationships with ELL families.

ELL families are valuable partners, yet they are often overlooked in family engagement. The school-family partnership is a two-way street — just as schools have important information they want to convey to families, families have important information about their children and questions they want ask of schools. This partnership is not born overnight, and it may take time to build trust. However, by working steadily on aspects listed above, schools can increases their chances for success, especially when they make it a priority to make families feel welcome and build school-family partnerships.

As you communicate and connect with families, keep the following tips in mind:

• In the words of one of our advisors, take time to ask how families are doing, not what they are doing. Like many families, they may be facing complex challenges. (You can learn more about how COVID-19 has impacted immigrant families in this article, as well as by talking with educators or liaisons who know your ELL families well.)
• Ask them what their questions are.
• Learn more about the families' strengths and interests. Start with low-key topics and avoid asking direct personal questions that may make them nervous. Over time, you may learn more about their prior experiences.
• Share something about yourself that helps them relate to you as a person, such as a photo of you with a pet or doing a hobby.
• Ask them to tell you more about their children's strengths, talents, and personality. As you get to know the child, share successes and observations that indicate that you are seeing the whole child.

It also helps to keep in mind the following:

• Many families may have different perspectives on the role of the family in schooling based on the experiences within their culture. The idea of a "school-family partnership" — not to mention the shift to schooling children at home — may be very new to immigrant families and they may not respond to the school's outreach efforts in the way that other families do. You can learn more about how to engage families and encourage their leadership from our ELL family engagement guide.
• Some families and students may be more comfortable in settings that are more oriented to the group as opposed to the individual. For example, some families may prefer group family conferences where they can learn from each other's questions and then break off for smaller individual conversations as needed.

10. Ask families what has worked (or not) so far.

Your families will have helpful insights about their recent experiences with their children's schools. Topics related to communication might include:

• getting updates from the school
• being in touch with their child's teachers
• how they prefer to communicate
• questions about technology access and tech support
• whether they have had enough information to support their child's learning.

In some cases during the pandemic, families didn't hear back from the school, or schools were unable to reconnect with families. In others, families were contacted by so many different people that they got overwhelmed. Finding out what their experiences were will help planning in future communication.

How administrators can help

Making space in teachers' schedules for the time and effort needed for the above strategies (especially if they do not yet have a relationship with the family) may seem difficult given all that they are juggling. In the long run, however, it will:

• fortify those critical connections
• allow them to plan more effective and efficient instruction around students' situations.

Administrators can help in this effort by:

• acknowledging the importance of this communication
• ensuring teachers have the necessary time to communicate effectively with ELL families in their schedules
• ensuring that current policies and resources support teachers' ability to succeed in ELL family communication.

Administrators may wish to reach out to staff members, including ELL and bilingual educators, interpreters, family liaisons, and paraprofessionals, to talk about:

• schedules
• case load
• availability
• their ideas on how to make communication more efficient.

Closing thoughts

Most importantly, don't give up! While it will be a challenge, as this teacher notes, families you connect with will likely be appreciative to hear from the school:

I spent a chunk of my day today calling families using Google Voice. I didn't get through to most, but the ones I did talk to were SO grateful for the clarification about what's going on. I even got to hear a few of my sweet kiddos' voices. — Megan Kingery 

If we can recognize and seize the challenge, there may be some opportunities that come out of this crisis, such as the chance to:

• better understand and address inequities within our school communities
• improve digital access for all students
• strengthen family communication
• think creatively about student engagement and instruction in new ways.

We are all in this together. Your ELLs and their families will be powerful partners on this journey — once they are invited to the table!

Acknowledgements

Note: Special thanks to Larry Ferlazzo and the educators who contributed to his Education Week series on distance learning and responding to the school closures early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools have had success in using technology to communicate with families of English language learners (ELLs).

Benefits of this outreach include the following:

• families can receive information in their own language
• families can attend school events from home (or another location) without having to arrange transportation, child care, or different work schedules
• archives of school events can be posted for later viewing.Strengthening Partnerships with ELL Families: 15 Strategies for Success

The following article offers some ideas for using technology to support ELL family engagement and examples of success stories and lessons learned from educators. See additional ideas in our related article, Strengthening Partnerships with ELL Families: 15 Strategies for Success.

Increasing Language Access for Multilingual Families

Before jumping into the nuts and bolts of the tools schools are using, it's important to remember the broader goals of increasing language access for all families. Keep the following in mind:

• Families are legally entitled to information in their home language from their children's schools.
• As schools must continually adjust to new developments in the pandemic, it is critical for families to have updated, accurate information in real time from schools in their home languages.
• Providing information from an official interpreter or presentations from a speaker who is fluent in the home language is the best way to ensure that families get accurate information, even when using technology to get the message out. (See our note on translation tools at the bottom of the article.)

As you review different tools, here are some additional tips to keep in mind:

• Start small! This will take some trial and error; you can try new platforms with small groups of families before rolling something out more broadly to see what works best.
• Find out what tools and platforms the families are already using and how they want to receive their information. Engaging families in this process will increase your chances for success.

You can learn more about the ways to expand families' language access through our related article, Equity Through Language Access: Best Practices for Collaborating with Interpreters.

A note on privacy

Families may have questions and concerns about privacy when using technology. Please take a look at these privacy and security considerations for ELLs and immigrant families if you are considering using any of the following platforms.

Related videos

Partnering with families in the service industry

Juliana Urtubey, the 2021 National Teacher of the Year, talks about the importance of flexibility and good communication when partnering with families in the service industry, such as her students' families in Las Vegas.

What does appropriate language access mean for multilingual families? This interview features Dr. Jennifer Love, the Supervisor of Language Access and Engagement in Prince George's County Public Schools, Maryland.

Using Facebook for Community Outreach

Roseville, MN Area Schools ISD 623 is a school district in the greater Twin Cities area serving many diverse communities. The district has developed a series of Facebook pages for its families, including immigrant communities, African American families, and American Indian families. The pages serving ELL families include translated messages and posts from family liaisons and educators. These pages have been critical outreach platforms during COVID-19.

How it started

Kristina Robertson, English Learner Program Administrator at Roseville Public Schools, realized early in the pandemic that families were getting inundated with bilingual robo-calls, often multiple messages in a day. It wasn't an efficient way to communicate. In consultation with the district cultural liaisons, the EL team created a series of cultural Facebook pages as many families use this social network platform. Facebook posts allowed families to view and respond to messages at their convenience if they had questions or comments.  

It's important to note that many of the Roseville Public Schools multilingual communities are refugees who did not have an opportunity to develop literacy skills in their first language or English. It was critical to have visual and audio messages for the families as an alternative to written translations. The cultural Facebook pages became a source not only of posts and updates but of video sharing through Facebook Live sessions on important topics.

The data shows that videos are viewed by hundreds of people after the events, showing how easy it is to share the information with others. For example, one of their first Karen Facebook Live videos was seen by 3,000 people. Kristina notes that it was so rare that the community could find information presented in their own language that they just kept sharing it with others.  She says, "We only have about 350 Karen students in our district so it definitely went beyond our district boundaries.  I call that a win if it helps others!  Families and community members can receive the information and don't really need to navigate much or register."

Creating community Facebook pages

The most important things to consider when developing cultural Facebook pages are:

• Audience: What communities will these pages serve?
• Name: The name should be inclusive, consistent, and specific to your particular school and location.  For example, there are many Roseville Schools in the U.S., so all of the district's Facebook group names include ISD 623. 
• Content: Will this include school events, information updates, cultural events, and external resources? Can different departments post on it?
• How information will be translated: Who will post the content and how will you provide it in families' languages? It's important to have frequent content posted to keep families aware of the site and information. Information translated by an official translator or interpreter, or presented by someone fluent in families' home languages, is best.
• Page administrator: Who will be the administrators of the Facebook page? Who can post content or change settings? In Roseville, the schools communications director set up the FB pages and gave Kristina administrative access so she could add cultural liaisons and leaders from other departments to post directly.
• Security settings: You want your page to be secure from trolls, but not so secure it prevents families from accessing information.  Monitor the pages to ensure there is no malicious activity.  In a year of managing cultural Facebook pages, Roseville schools has not had any troll incidents.

Finally, bring in guests to provide interesting content.  It's best if video presentations are short (15 minutes or less).  If you can do the presentation in the native language rather than having an interpreter, that is best, but don't hesitate to use interpreters.  The families will appreciate the information in their languages

Roseville's Facebook pages

To see what this outreach looks like, take a look at the pages below. On the Spanish page (Familias Latinas), you will see numerous presentations from middle school ELL teacher Alonso Jaque-Pino on topics ranging from hand-washing to hybrid schedules. Alonso is just one of the many staff members working actively to share information on these pages.

• Familias Latinas de las Escuelas de Roseville
• Hmong Families of Roseville Area Schools ISD 623
• Karen Families of Roseville Area Schools ISD 623
• Bhutanese Families of Roseville Area Schools ISD 623
• Ubuntu Families of Roseville Area Schools ISD 623
• African American Students and Families of Roseville Area Schools ISD 623
• Roseville Area Schools Indian Education ISD 623

You can also learn more from our Share My Lesson webinar that features these resources!

Town hall meetings on Zoom

In addition, the district has used Zoom more for school-based town hall meetings. Kristina notes that it can be challenging for families to navigate Zoom.  It takes a lot of staff time on the ground to provide direct support for families who want to attend. The other issue is getting Zoom info and log-in information to families.  Most people register for events through email and receive a link.  That won’t work for many of the district's multilingual families who aren't regularly using e-mail, so the district needs to rely on staff to connect with those who express an interest in attending.

One benefit, however, is that Zoom allows for simultaneous interpreters (secured by the district) through a language channel, and so the district has used that feature when possible.

In short, with practice and support, families can get familiar with Zoom and the district can take advantage of the simultaneous interpretation features. More broadly, though, Roseville has found that the Facebook Live events are more public and easily accessible, so the meetings focus on community or district-wide information that families can share with others. As noted above, however, the events will need to include interpretation if bilingual speakers aren't available to present.

Creating Grade-Level Groups on Facebook

Dr. Karen Woodson is the former principal of Mother Jones Elementary School in Adelphi, MD, a school with a large number of ELLs. In this excerpt from her Colorin Colorado article on creating equitable access for ELL families during COVID-19, she shared the following lessons learned from her experience.

"Working to our advantage was our new Facebook page, established one week after the closing of schools. Through our interactions with families, we were aware that many of them were already using Facebook on their cell phones...It was gratifying to see the families interacting with their teachers and counselors by sharing pictures and stories about their experiences living in our new normal."

Teachers and counselors used private grade-level groups to:

• communicate with families around instructional expectations
• post videos showing families how to log into various portals used for instruction
• provide encouraging communication related to self-care and social-emotional health
• offer schoolwide activities, such as a spirit week and a dress up day.

In addition, the school used the Facebook channel to broadcast back-to-school nights and parent workshops. Critical lessons learned from their bilingual virtual town follow below:

• Use the Facebook chat window and the Q&A window on Zoom, WebEx, or other online meeting platforms, to interact with families and address their questions in real time.
• Communicate to families the dates and language to be used for the presentation. Explain that the other language will still be used on both dates, but in a closed caption format. This give families the flexibility to choose the linguistic environment that best suits their learning preference.
• Streaming live to Facebook or Youtube creates a recorded archive on your school’s page. Families and community members can revisit the information, in the language of their choice, as their schedules permit and as many times as they wish.
• Use a platform that enables the presentation to be streamed live to the school’s Facebook page (or the school’s Youtube page) as it is being presented by school staff.

In addition, Dr. Woodson shared their approach on presenting bilingual information. It's important to take time to figure out what will work best for your families given your staff and technology available. Here are the steps they used:

• Their team developed a slide presentation containing the information to be shared in English and Spanish (or any target language) on the same slide. They planned to do the presentation twice, once in English and again in Spanish (or any target language).
• When they delivered the presentation in one language, they had it translated to another language via closed caption.

Texting Apps

Finally, it's worth mentioning that many schools are using texting apps to communicate with families. In some cases, this might be WhatsApp, which is popular among many immigrant communities.

It might also include translation apps like Talking Points, which translates messages between teachers and families in many different languages.

Here's how Talking Points works:

• Parents receive the messages as a text message and do not need to download an app.
• It's free for individuals and can be purchased for broader use by districts.
• Translations are done automatically but human interpreters are available if needed.
• You can send mass texts as well and teachers' numbers are protected.

Illinois multilingual education administrator Sarah Said notes, "It's an application that works as a text message on parents' phones. It enables two-way translation communication with families. You can send mass texts for free!  It has been a LIFELINE."

The Talking Points app (or other similar apps) can help give individual teachers more options in reaching out to families directly rather than relying on an intermediary.

When to use what method of contact

Keep in mind that some information may be more suitable for texts (shorter messages, reminders, and check-ins) than lengthy or sensitive information, or information that is legally required to be translated. Please take a look at these privacy and security considerations for ELLs and immigrant families if you are considering using any translation app and review the product carefully before recommending it.

A note on translation

Keep in mind that translation tools such as those in Talking Points, Google Translate, or Facebook's translation tool are not fool-proof; they should not be considered a wholesale substitute for professional, knowledgeable translators and trained language staff who are familiar with:

• the language and culture of the families
• technical school terms, especially for special education
• strategies that can help build trust and community among ELLs and their families.

Building on Successes

The ability to reach more multilingual families through tools that schools are using more widely is a valuable opportunity. That outreach will continue to be critical as schools adapt and adjust to realities on the ground. Families will appreciate the efforts to communicate with them in their languages, even if there are some bumps along the way, and they will let you know what's working. By keeping your eyes on those broader goals of reaching more families, you will chart the course that works for your school community. Bon voyage!

Recommended Resources

For more tips on how to communicate effectively with multilingual families and help them keep their contact information up to date, please see the following:

• Communicating with ELL Families: 10 Strategies for Schools during COVID-19
• The Importance of Emergency Contact Information