新兴多语言学习者(EML, often called “English Learners”) and students from immigrant families are the fastest-growing student group in Minnesota, 总计73,2018-19学年有919名学生(超过公立学校所有入学人数的8%).
新学年开始了, it’s essential that our schools and districts promote equitable practices that 支持 our EML students and their families, 并确保明尼苏达州为所有学生推进种族平等和优秀教育.
我们必须创造教育空间，不仅仅是支持, but also celebrate and honor the linguistic diversity and richness of culture that our children bring into our schools each and every day. 历史是很重要的. 股权问题. 正义的事情. ,语言问题.
To ensure EML families have the information they need to make well-informed decisions about their child or children’s learning during the school year, the MnEEP EML Network has outlined steps to improve school-based and district-level communications with EML families.
The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the need to continue working to improve the ways that educational institutions and systems communicate with and 支持 EML families and students. MnEEP希望学校和地区能够采纳这些建议, 在MDE的支持下.
While it is imperative to implement the following best practices in communications during the 2020-21 school year, these multi-pronged approaches for communicating with EMLs should be implemented well beyond the current COVID-19 pandemic.
校本沟通的建议:
1)学校应该通过各种持续的接触点(电话)与家长沟通, 文本, 社交媒体, 调查和电子邮件).
- Schools and Districts should communicate with EML families through multiple forms of communication, 确保至少有一种通讯渠道能到达所有家庭. 另外, 学校和地区不应该只依赖一种交流方式, as it will not likely be sufficient in meeting the communication and informational needs of all EML families. There should also be ways for families to communicate feedback to schools about what type of communication is most preferred.
2)学校应优先与难以接触的移民和难民家庭沟通, 包括英语水平有限的家庭, 低读写能力(任何语言)和/或低数字读写能力的父母. The following are some approaches to communicating complex information to immigrant and refugee families:
一)首选语言: 只要有可能，用家人喜欢的语言与他们交流. 这包括所有形式的交流——书面的和口头的.
b)电话: 优先向移民家庭直接打电话. This personalized and individual outreach method is the most effective at reaching immigrant families.
c)视频: 通过社交媒体分享信息视频, TV and text messaging applications in families’ home languages will ensure that low-literacy households are able to understand the intricacies of whatever learning model the school and district are using.
d)广播: Employing ethnic/local radio communications is another strategic approach to reach low-literacy and low-digital literacy individuals in specific communities.
e)文本/ WhatsApp /微信: Regular and clear text messages in families’ home languages should be employed to share important deadlines and reminders. Schools should also create an easy way to update cell phone information (such as text XX to #### to sign up to receive information).
3)应该引导学校采取最佳策略，战略性地利用社交媒体. 以下列表可以帮助学校了解如何最好地利用社交媒体.
一)视频:文化水平低的家庭从视频通信中获益良多, 因为它们可以用来解释非常复杂和时间敏感的信息. Schools should deploy videos to explain to families the type of learning model employed by the school and how to share their preferences with the school. 这些视频不应该简单地发布在学校或地区网站上, 因为一些EML家庭没有数字素养来定位复杂网站上的内容.
b)图片和信息图: 就像视频一样，可以使用图形向广大用户快速解释信息. 在传递深度信息方面，信息图表可能不如视频那么适合, yet they can be useful to explain the top line ideas schools would like parents to remember and where to get more information.
c)何处查找信息: Schools should share links to their school website and share where more information can be found on 社交媒体.
d)联系信息: 社交媒体是一个与家人分享重要的学校联系的好地方. 学校也应该包括如果你不会说英语，如何联系学校. Schools should be encouraged to have a 脸谱网 or other 社交媒体 account that is regularly updated.
e)截止日期和提醒: It is important for schools to use multiple platforms to remind families of important deadlines or timelines.
重要的社交媒体来源:
●推特
●脸谱网 (脸谱网 Live)
●微信
●Snapchat
●TikTok
学校应该提供每周的信息交流会和办公时间: Schools should schedule weekly remote “info sessions” where families can learn about the school or district’s chosen learning model and school policies with interpreters on hand. Schools should also offer weekly office hours for families to speak to school-based representatives (with interpretation on hand) for families to ask questions and share concerns.
地区通讯的建议:
地区应与学校分享中心信息，以确保统一和一致性.
一)地区 应该创建视频, 图形, 以及预先打包的信息，供学校在与EML家庭的通信中使用.
2)地区应分享翻译后的影片, 小册子, one-pagers and 图形 to the community-based places where EML and immigrant families may find the information.
a)移民/难民服务组织: Legal services; immigrant rights CBOs; academic 支持 CBOs; direct services CBOs; worker rights, 工作培训, 职业生涯, and employment centers; adult literacy CBOs. 如果可能的话, provide funding opportunities for these community-based 组织 to broadly share this information with their constituents.
b)卫生和社会服务组织: Hospitals; clinics; health access CBOs; social work 组织 (e.g. 申请SNAP或其他公共服务的地方)
c)宗教机构: Churches; mosques; temples; other religious centers that serve immigrant communities
d)大型移民雇主: restaurants; supermarkets; factories; cleaning services; dollar stores; laundromats; pharmacies
e)其他地方的移民可能会发现信息: Bus/metro ads; food banks
其他注意事项:
●难以接触到的EML家庭可能无法在线. 学区和学校不应该仅仅依赖在线交流. Emails and websites should be only one of multiple options for communicating effectively with EML families.
- Schools and/or Districts should create a directory of up-to-date contact information for each school, 包括他们的父母和/或文化关系.
- Schools should use their parent and/or cultural liaisons as the main point of contact for EML families .
- 网站应该对家长更友好, 使用更基本的语言, 并接受LEP和低数字素养父母的审查.
- Important information about learning during COVID and ELLs should be easily found on the homepage without any additional clicks.
- 学区应该确保所有学校都有一个网站，上面有最新的联系信息.
●内容不应该以大段的形式发送. 地区和学校应确保为EML家庭提供清晰的信息, 简洁和项目符号或显示在易于理解的块. 共享的信息应始终努力包括EML族的资源. 应该对内容进行审查，以确保它是EML家庭友好的.
