TIII Back-to-School Series: Visual Orientation Handbook
I absolutely love this idea of a visual orientation handbook, shared with me by Silvia Tamminen, coordinator at the Aurora Public Schools (APS) Welcome Center in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado.
The Aurora Public Schools (APS) Welcome Center supports one of the most diverse student populations in the country. This demographic includes a large number of folks resettled refugee status. The district is now home to students from all over the world, with especially robust cultural representation from Bhutan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Libya, Syria, Myanmar, Côte d’ Ivoire, and Eritrea.
Families with school-aged children who are new to the district and also new to the English language are directly referred to the APS Welcome Center. Staff guide Newcomer families through the processes of student registration and school orientation.
Sylvia Timmenem heads this effort. She’s a human rights professional with a concentration on refugee and migration issues. Her knowledge of policy and practice is evident. But she’s also approachable and down-to-earth, with a bold, welcoming smile. As I glance through her workspace, I notice elements of her Fin culture.
“Immigration is something I share with our clients,” she tells me. But she’s also quick to point out that while there are some parallels, her path to America was smoother than many of those she sees in her day-to-day work. Sylvia is deeply aware of the privilege that comes with choice, with a previous knowledge of the English language, and even her appearance. Nonetheless, she does have an understanding of just how complex and overwhelming the immgration process can be. This awareness adds an additional layer of humanity to her interactions.
Sylivia came on board with the APS Welcome Center program in its inaugural season. She and her team built the organization from the bones up. The visual orientation handbook is among the group’s creative, solution-seeking efforts.
The handbook is a non-consumable resource with a permanent home in Sylvia’s office. It is composed of full-page photos and illustrations, slid into sheet protectors and organized into a three-ring binder. Each image is captioned with a simple explanation, which is (or can be) easily translated into a preferred language. Sylvia or another APS staff member reads the book alongside incoming families (and a translator, if requested). Page by page, the tool lays out the expectations for a typical school day.
For example, one picture shows a group of students sitting on the ground listening to a read-aloud. The caption reads, “Sometimes, students sit on the carpet during the school day.”
This was an important inclusion, Sylvia assured me. “Many times our parents cannot believe that their child would sit on the floor to learn anything. In some of their own countries, that would be very strange and maybe make a parent very angry.” She points out that often these seemingly “everyday” aspects of the school day can be overlooked. But in the context of welcoming families from culturally diverse backgrounds, taking the time to explicitly detail various aspects of the school experience can go a long way.
Here are some other situations included in the APS visual orientation handbook:
Kids receiving lunch on a tray (many recently arrived learners would have gone home for lunch or packed their own meal)
Young adults putting their supplies in lockers (this may be a first-time experience for many)
Students arriving for school at or before the scheduled time (concepts of time and urgency around timeliness varies greatly from one culture and context to another)
Photos of co-ed teaching staff (learners and their families may have culturally influenced expectations about the appearance of those in teacher and leadership roles).
There are plenty more great ideas. Check them out in the Aurora Welcome Center’s comprehensive list below!
Could you duplicate this resource at your site? As long as you have a camera and a few hours to spare, of course! (Just be sure to send out a thank you to the APS Welcome Center for the idea. Find them here: http://welcomecenter.aurorak12.org)
This version was created by staff. But other great options might include:
Inviting former Newcomers to take this on as a project (a modernized “buddy” system)
Creating a digital and/or interactive version of the handbook
Engaging teacher teams in creating grade-level welcoming handbooks
And here are a few examples of what that might look like in actuality!
(Adapted with permission from Aurora Welcome Center: Refugee, Immigrant and Community Integration. Photos copyright @DiversifiED Consulting)
TIII Series: The Home Language Survey- Ensuring Compliance and Success
The Home Language Survey (HLS), also called a Heritage Language Survey or Home Language Questionnaire (HLQ), is used in the initial process of identifying a student’s potential eligibility for English language support services. A heritage language survey usually takes the form of a brief questionnaire, which may be administered in English print, preferred language print, orally, or through a translator. The purpose of the survey is to establish an understanding of a student’s language-learning background.
Student Example: Khaled’s family has just arrived to register him for school. The family meets with an enrollment specialist at the school. When completing the survey, Khaled’s mother indicates that they are from Somalia. She also notes that Somali is the language spoken in the home. However, Khaled’s first language (and only instructional language) is Swahili, as the family relocated to the refugee camp in Kenya just before Khaled’s birth. Khaled’s exposure to the English language, at least according to the Heritage Language Survey, is limited. These results suggest that Khaled may be eligible to receive English-supportive learning services.
Home/heritage Language Surveys can be extremely useful in identifying potential new-to-English learners. However, keep in mind that these, like other student assessments, are only an indicative tool. They cannot be used as an exclusive measure for language services enrollment. (And they certainly don’t capture the cultural and linguistic funds of knowledge diverse student groups bring to the table).
Next, Khaled will be screened for multilingual programming eligibility (ELL services).
If and when an HLS confirms that a student is new to English, he or she will be considered for language learning services. The enrollment specialist (often the multilingual department head, multilingual coach, Student Assessment Liaison, or other trained personnel) carefully analyzes the data.
Specific testing may vary from state to state or from district to district. Most schools employ WIDA ACCESS, ELPA, Woodcock-Munoz or a similar state/district approved measure. Regardless of the testing instrument, timeliness is key to compliance, but more importantly, as part of our commitment to meeting the learning needs of the child.
It is critical to note that the Heritage Language Surveys (or any other form of registration questioning) is limited in its capacity. That is, no information obtained through school enrollment can be used to evaluate, comment or report on legal immigration status. Federal law strictly protects the rights of all children who are present in the U.S. to attend public school; and it conversely restricts school personnel from any inquiry or interference in legal immigration issues.
I always suggest that schools walk through a HLS “Think Tank” , whether they are starting from scratch to build a questionnaire or have an existing process in place. Here are some of those Think Tank prompts:
What is the schools’ defined purpose for the Heritage Language Survey? (In other words, how and why is the survey meaningful to students and parents?)
Where on campus will the survey be completed?
How is a sense of welcoming and belonging achieved during this process?
Is the assessment culturally responsive? how do we know?
Who at your school will administer the Heritage Language Survey? What is their level of training/expertise to do so?
Who at your school will evaluate the HLS responses? What is their level of training/expertise to do so?
In which languages are print copies of the HLS made available?
In which languages can the HLS be verbally translated/communicated?
Is the language concise and clear?
Are families informed that information is confidential and cannot be used for any outside purpose (including immigration status)?
If a student is highlighted as potentially eligible for English Support Services services, what is the next-step process?
How is Emergent Multilingual (EM) testing and placement information recorded and stored?
How often are student HLS documents revisited/ re-requested?
Finally, let’s explore an HLS example. You’ll find that the first page can be used as a ready-to-roll version, or as a baseline for creating a site-specific version. The template is exactly as we have described, with essential questions for determining potential language services eligibility. That’s it. That’s all you need.
However, you may find it useful to collect additional data. In that case, the additional pages of the survey will provide ideas with regard to collecting additional data and insights about the student and his or her family. Additional data collection is optional for the school, depending on your school’s needs and program goals. It is ideal to have as much information about a student’s specific background and needs at the time of enrollment. The HLS addendum serves this purpose.
Note that if you do choose to ask for additional data, caretakers are not obligated to provide it. If families choose to exercise their right to withhold data, this decision cannot affect child enrollment in any way. In any case, consistency is key. Make it a goal to have 100% incoming family participation in completing the questionnaire.
Title III Back-to School with Multilinguals: Intro to Series
“If you can’t describe what you are doing as a process, you don’t know what you are doing.”
These are the words of American engineer and statistician W. Edwards Deming. I often carry them with me into my work as an educational practitioner.
When it comes to enrolling potential multilingual learners (and determining who might qualify for English-specific support services), a clear process is critical. After all, clarity and consistency create calm. Not to mention, they help ensure that we’re achieving legal compliance.
Intake protocol will vary by district, and sometimes by school, too. Your procedures should make sense for your organization. It is also imperative that they take into careful account national, state and district expectations for student enrollment, registration and ELL placement. But the nuts-and-bolts of these procedures are non-negotiable. They’re clearly outlined by the federal government and further detailed by the Office of Civil Rights.
Each time I work with schools in creating these documents, we begin by examining current intake procedures. I generally start with the one big open-ended curiosity: What does the enrollment process for potential multilinguals look like?
Responses are solicited from various stakeholders: front office staff, ELD leads, classroom teachers, and principals. More often than not, most folks have a whole lot of trouble describing this process.
Think for a moment on your organization (we’re not calling ya’ll out here, just pointing out opportunities for better serving kids!). Who can clearly map out this process? Can team members answer, for example:
Who are the first school personnel that potential students and their family members see when they walk in the door?
Exactly how is registration handled?
What about secondary processes for probable ELLs?
How consistent are these procedures?
Who is aware that they exist?
Where is registration information stored?
What types of translation services are available to families?
Who checks (and re-checks) files for accuracy?
Asking questions and evaluating responses alongside school administrators always reveals a few surprises- and a lot of loopholes. In this space, we have room and perspective to analyze what works and what doesn’t, what to keep and what to toss (outside of compliance-regulated components, of course). We are also able to determine critical missing links (communication and clarity usually take the top spots), and get to work filling those holes in purposeful, directed ways. The focus is on simplicity- creating a process that can be easily explained by any key stakeholder at the school.
We’ll begin with a look at the Home Language Survey (HLS). Continue on to our next article to learn more!