Monday, March 02, 2009

Should schools teach English to immigrant parents?

Toyota sponsors a program to teach English to immigrants in a family-literacy program. If the parents speak and read English, it helps the whole family and community. DP

by Donna Gundle-Krieg, Education Improvement Examiner

Immigrant parents who don’t speak English can sit in school and learn alongside their children, thanks to a revolutionary family-literacy program.

Over the past 20 years, more than a million families with parents who couldn't read or speak English have participated in the program.

"Studies find that the parents' educational level and the family's poverty status play a huge role in a child's academic success," says Sharon Darling, the founder and president of the nonprofit National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL).

34 million adult Americans—14% of the population, struggle with reading and writing English.

“Lack of literacy affects every aspect of a person's life,” according to Parade Magazine.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

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