The New York City Department of Education and Learning Leaders today held their annual conference for parents of English Language Learners. The 1,500 families who registered for the event, held at Columbia University, received important information about the school system and programs available for students learning English. Translated materials and simultaneous interpretation were provided in 14 languages.
“This event is another indication of the Department of Education’s commitment to overcome language barriers and help all parents to navigate the school system and actively participate in their children’s education,” said Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein. “In the last few years, our ELL students have made significant academic progress. If we are going to make further progress, we need to give families of ELL students resources that allow them to be involved their children’s education.”
“We are pleased to co-host today’s conference with the Department of Education,” Learning Leaders’ President Mindy Duitz said. “New York City has changed enormously since Learning Leaders was founded in the 1950s, and those changes have been mirrored by the increasing diversity of our school volunteer base. We now conduct our programs in eight languages and engage a significant number of parents of English Language Learners among our 14,000 volunteers. When parents have access to accurate information about the school system, ideally in their native language, and feel welcome in school, they can best support their children's education.”
The one-day event offered 13 different workshops specifically designed to meet the needs of immigrant parents. The 90-minute sessions provided tools for parents to make informed decisions about their children’s education. Translated documents and simultaneous interpretation were available in Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Bengali, Urdu, Arabic, Punjabi, Haitian Creole, Korean, Albanian, Cambodian, French, Greek, Hindi, and Vietnamese.
In 2006-2007, 42% of New York City public school students reported speaking a language at home other than English, even though only 13% of New York City students were designated English Language Learners.
The ELL parent event is an initiative sponsored by the Department of Education’s Office of English Language Learners, the Office of Public and Community Affairs, and the Office for Family Engagement and Advocacy, in collaboration with Learning Leaders.
Learning Leaders, formerly the New York City School Volunteer Program, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that helps New York City public school students succeed in school by training volunteers who provide tutoring and other school-based support, and by equipping parents (including non-volunteers) to foster their own children’s educational development. In the past school year, over 14,000 volunteers helped over a quarter of a million young people in 960 of the City’s 1,400 public schools, including 90% of its public elementary schools.
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Contact: David Cantor / Maibe Fuentes Gonzalez