Why Schools Must Learn from Recently-Arrived Salvadoran Parents

¿Alguna vez te preguntaron a ti?

Did they ever ask you?

I asked my mom if any of my high school teachers or administrators ever asked her thoughts on the education I was receiving in school when we arrived to the United States.

No, a mi nunca me preguntaron nada.

“No, they never asked me anything,” my mom responded.

My parents, like many recently-arrived immigrant parents, trusted my teachers and administrators to give me a good education.

I was born and raised in El Salvador and came to the U.S. when I was a teenager. My experiences as an immigrant and English learner (EL) have deeply influenced my research on improving the services offered to recently-arrived Salvadoran families and their children in District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS).

This work is relevant and essential now more than ever.

The number of immigrants from El Salvador is growing nationally. In Washington, DC, and metro area, Salvadorans represent the largest community of Latinos. And Latinx students represent 20 percent of the students attending District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS).

Learning the perspectives that recently-arrived Salvadoran parents and families have about their children’s education and implementing them in schools can be a solution to better serve Salvadoran students. In order to do so, school should create spaces where parents and families feel welcomed and empowered, a place where their voices are not only heard but where their perspectives influence changes that benefit their children’s education.

Recently-arrived Salvadoran parents want to share their perspectives on the education their children are receiving in U.S. schools.

As a researcher in the nation’s capital, I have learned that recently-arrived Salvadoran parents want to share their perspectives on the education their children are receiving in U.S. schools. However, schools are not approaching these parents to share their thoughts about their children’s education.

In the meantime, schools are struggling to engage with recently-arrived Salvadoran parents.

This is a major problem because parents have valuable knowledge about their children that only they know, and it can inform schools with the necessary tools and resources to serve them. Most of the time, schools expect parents to become engaged in their children’s education. And, when parents don’t come to these activities, they are blamed for not being engaged in their children’s education.

Schools try to engage parents in traditional parent involvement activities that have been implemented in U.S. schools, such as open houses, parent-teacher conferences, and parent organizations. These “parent involvement” activities may work with mainstream group of parents but do not account for the unique needs and wants of recently-arrived Salvadoran parents and often fail to attract them to become engaged. As a result, these activities are initiatives that disregard the many challenges that recently-arrived parents experience in this country like learning how to navigate the U.S. school system and survive in this political environment.

So, let’s learn from recently-arrived Salvadoran parents.

Considering the increasing presence of Salvadorans in the U.S. and the fact that Salvadorans have lower levels of education than other Latinxs, school districts serving this community must pay attention to the specific needs that Salvadoran students have. This is not only important to improve the education we provide to this community of parents and students but to underscore that Latinxs living in the U.S. are not a monolithic group and need unique and specific resources for their education success.

There is no better way to learn how to engage parents in schools than by directly learning from them. Asking recently-arrived Salvadoran parents to share their perspectives about their children’s education can create a foundation for educators and stakeholders, such as policymakers, state and local administrators, and advocates to modify their interactions and the services that schools need to offer.

This article was originally published by Univision and was translated from Spanish by the author.