ABSTRACT
While involving parents in education has been outlined in legislation since 1964, Title I and Title III of the NCLB Act of 2001 place a renewed and expanded emphasis on the involvement of all parents and, in particular, ELL parents. NCLB defines parental involvement as “the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities” (Section 9101(32)). Furthermore, Title III of the law requires that schools provide “an effective means of outreach to parents of ELL children to inform them of how they can be active participants in their child's education to help them learn English and succeed academically” (Section 3302(e)(1)). To communicate in a meaningful way with ELL parents, schools must “hold regular meetings for these purposes, and the information must be presented in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, in a language that the parent can understand” (Section 1118(e)(5)).
