JessicaSotelo

EDSS555
11/28/15

SocialJusticeandEquityActionPlan
ToName:
EnglishLanguageLearners(ELs),inparticularthoselabeledasLongterm
EnglishLanguageLearners(LTELS),areusuallyunawareofthecoursestheymust
completeinordertoobtaintheirhighschooldiplomaandapplytoafouryearuniversity.
Moreover,keyinformationabouttheAGrequirements,examssuchastheACTorSAT,
ortheresourcesavailableisnotalwaysprovidedtoparentsintheirprimarylanguage.
Consequently,neithertheparentsnorthestudentshavethenecessaryinformationto
ensurethestudentsareontracktoapplyandbeadmittedtoafouryearuniversity.To
addressthisissue,formySocialJusticeandEquityActionPlanIhavedecidedtocreatea
workshopfortheSpanishspeakingparentsofstudentsintheschoolaboutthebasic
requirementsstudentsmustcompleteinordertoapplytoauniversity.Theworkshops,
andallinformation,willbepresentedinSpanish;furthermore,theywillbecreatedwith
thestudentsclassifiedasELsinmind,butallSpanishspeakingparentsarewelcometo
attendandreceivetheinformation.Byprovidingthiskeyinformationtoparents,they
willbebetterabletosupporttheirstudentsandensuretheyarebeingenrolledinthe
necessarycourses.
ToThink:
ThenumberofELsintheUSpublicschoolshascontinuedtoincreaseatarapid
rateeveryyear;however,theamountofsupportstheyreceiveandtheirabilitytoattend
fouryearuniversitieshasremainedlow(Olsen,2014,p.2).EnglishLearners,forthe
mostpart,areeagertogotocollege,andbelievetheyarereadytodoso,buttheydonot
realizethattheyhavenottakentherequiredclassesorpossessthenecessaryskillsin
ordertoapplytoauniversity(Olsen,2010,p.25).ELsdonotreceivetheinformation
necessaryforthemtomakesuretheyareontracktomeetthebasicrequirementstoapply
toauniversity.ThemainbarrierfacingELsroadtotheuniversityistheirlimitedaccess
tothegeneralcurriculum.Atthehighschoollevel,ELstendtobeenrolledinEnglish
LanguageDevelopment(ELD)classes,withlimitedaccesstoothercollegepreparatory
courses(Olsen,2010,p.30).Furthermore,theparentsofELsalsodonothaveaccessto
keyinformationthatcouldhelpthemsupporttheirstudentsespecially,sincethe
majorityofinformationisonlyprovidedinEnglish,notintheirprimarylanguage.In
ordertoaddressandalleviatethissituation,Ibelieveitisessentialtohelpinformthe
parentsandgaintheirsupport.Byprovidingtheparentswithkeyinformationabout
collegereadiness(i.e.AGrequirementsandSAT/ACTinformation)intheirprimary
language,theparentswillbebetterabletoensuretheirstudentsarereceivingaccessto
thecorecurriculumandareontracktocollegeacceptance.
ToAct:

InordertoprovidekeyinformationforcollegereadinesstotheparentsofELs,
whoseprimarylanguageisSpanish,Idecidedtocreateaworkshopforparentsin
Spanish.Theworkshopswillprovideparentswithinformation,inSpanish,about:theA
Grequirements,examssuchastheSATandACT,andtheresourcesavailableatschool
tosupportandpromotestudentachievementthroughouttheschoolyear.Furthermore,in
ordertoaccommodatefortheneedsparentswithchildren,childcarewillbeprovided
duringtheworkshop.
ThestepsIwilltaketoimplementtheworkshopareasfollows:
PartOne:First,Iwillcreateaflyerpromotingtheparentworkshopanddistribute
themtotheparentsviamailandbyprovidingeachstudentone.Theinformationon
theflyerwillbeinSpanish;itwilllistthedate,time,location,andbriefdescriptionof
theworkshop.Theflyerwillalsoinformparentsthatchildcarewillbeprovided
duringtheworkshop.Fortheworkshop,Iwillcreateapresentationwiththe
informationandahandoutparentscanusetofollowalongastheinformationis
presented.Ultimately,theworkshopwillbecreatedwiththeneedsoftheSpanish
speakingELsinmind,butallSpanishspeakingparentsarewelcometoattend.
PartTwo:Thedayoftheworkshop,therewillbetwoclassroomsavailableone
classroomwillhosttheworkshopandtheotherwillbeforchildcare.Duringthe
workshop,theparentswillreceiveinformationandhaveanopportunitytoaskany
questionstheyhave.Theagendafortheworkshopwillbe:
o 5:005:10pm:Asparentsarrivetotheworkshop,theywillsignin,receivea
handoutofthepresentationtheywillview,andtherewillhavetheoptionof
grabbingalightsnack.
o 5:105:20pm:Theworkshopwillbegin,Iwillwelcometheparentsanddothe
introductions;andthen,Iwillexplainthepurposeoftheworkshop.
o 5:205:40pm:PresentinformationabouttheAGrequirementsandminimum
GPArequirements
o 5:405:45pm:Provideabriefbreakfortheparents.
o 5:455:55pm:PresentinformationaboutSATandACT,theexamsstudents
musttaketoapplytoafouryearuniversity.
o 5:556:05pm:Presentinformationabouttheavailableresourcesforstudents
attheschool(i.e.AVID,Tutoring,Counselors)
o 6:056:15pm:Q&Asession;provideparentswithanopportunitytoaskany
questionstheymayhave.
ToReflect:
Throughmyactionplan,thesocialjusticeissueIidentifiedwasthelackof
informationprovidedtoELsandtheirparentsaboutthebasicrequirementsstudents
mustmeetinordertobeeligibletoapplytoafouryearuniversity.Inordertoaddress
thatissue,andensureanequaloutcomeforadiversesetofstudents,Idecidedtocreatea
workshop,inSpanish,fortheSpanishspeakingparentstoprovidethemwithkey
informationsuchastheAGrequirements,SATandACTexams,andtheresources
providedbytheschoolforallstudents.Throughtheworkshop,Iwillbeableto
collaboratewiththeparentsofELstoprovideanequitableoutcomefortheELsinthe

school.Moreover,sincetheworkshopisopentoallparents,notjusttothosewhohave
studentsclassifiedasELs,studentsfromavarietyofculturalandsocialeconomic
backgroundswillalsobenefitfromtheactionplan.

LinkstoResourcesfortheWorkshop:
1. Flyer
2. Agenda
3. Presentation
4. FollowAlongNotesforParents

Bibliography

Olsen,L.(2014,March1).MeetingtheUniqueNeedsofLongTermEnglish

LanguageLearners.NationalEducationAssociation.
Olsen,L.(2010).ReparableHarm:Fulfillingtheunkeptpromiseofeducational
opportunityforLongTermEnglishLearners.CaliforniansTogether.