English Language Learner KnowledgeBase for Administrators & Teachers

Casa Notes

As noted at its website, "Casa Notes is designed to allow teachers to make and customize typical notes that are sent home to parents or given to the students. This is done by using templates and allowing the teachers to customize some of the content, choose a color scheme and add a graphic. The notes can then be printed on a black-and-white or color printer. Teachers can select whether the notes should be in English or in Spanish."

ELL Family Toolkit

The English Learner Family Toolkit was created to help families choose education services that meet their child’s needs. U.S. educators, elementary and secondary school teachers, principals and other school staff can also share the toolkit as a resource for English learners and their families. The English Learner Family Toolkit consists of six chapters, and each chapter contains five sections—an overview, enrollment, family and student rights, questions to ask schools, tips and resources. Download the complete toolkit by using the quick links for the information needed most.

ESSA Parent Outreach Toolkit

This ESSA parent outreach materials to parents on the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

Parent Notifications by State

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, districts using Title III funds must provide information to parents about their child's participation in a language instruction educational program. This table contains links to each state's Title III notification information.

Translated Materials

This resource provides links to websites with special education-related documents translated into various foreign languages.

Translated Materials - Pacer Center

The Pacer Center offers bilingual workshops, individual assistance and translated publications focusing on issues facing families from diverse backgrounds.

Hmoob/Hmong        Soomaaliga/Somali      Español/Spanish

Individualized Education Program (IEP) Guide from the U.S. Department of Education

The U.S. Department of Education has produced this reference guide for the IEP process.

Communicating with ELL Parents: Outreach & Strategies

Having trouble touching base with the parents of your ELL students? Not sure where to start? This lesson will help. We will go over some strategies you can use to reach out to your students' parents. This lesson will give you some strategies to help make communication easier, so you can keep ELL parents involved in their child's learning. The following strategies will help you reach out to your students' parents in order to help create a home-school connection. By creating this connection, students will feel more supported; therefore, they will have a better chance of attaining their academic and language goals. 

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

FERPA is a federal law designed to protect the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools receiving funds under any applicable U.S. Department of Education program. School districts should ensure all staff members and outside contractors, such as counselors and interpreters, are familiar with the applicable policies on the privacy of student records.

Education in the United States

This pamphlet, developed by the ENLACE project of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, provides immigrant parents an overview of the U.S. educational system. (Note: Because of the colors used in this brochure, it can be difficult to read when printed in black and white. If possible, it is recommended that this document be printed in color.)

Educational Interpreting Services

This Virginia Department of Education pamphlet provides a general description of educational interpreting services. Though intended for Virginia educators, its content may be useful to educators in other states.

Example of a Parent's Guide

Developing a guide for parents of students of other cultures is a positive way of explaining the school district's basic policies and describing the ELL program. This sample guide is accessible through the website of Montgomery County Public Schools in Montgomery, Maryland. Many schools have their own Parent's Guide.

Free and Reduced School Meals Applications and Information Translations

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service website provides free and reduced school meal applications and related information in 19 languages.

Quality Indicators for Translation and Interpretation in Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve Educational Services - Guidelines and Resources for Educators

This California Department of Education document was developed to assist educators who might serve as translators and interpreters or who work in multilingual educational settings. Its purpose is to improve the quality of translations of parental notifications and other documents into languages other than English and to ensure more appropriate and effective interpreting practices. Though intended for California educators, educators in other states may find the content useful.

Working with Translators and Interpreters

This resource provides a collection of documents about different aspects of working with translators and interpreters.

Writing to Linguistically Diverse Audiences

Writing effectively for an audience with a wide variety of backgrounds is difficult. This page provides several resources to help writers craft their message to reach the widest possible audience.