ENGLISH LEARNERS' COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACY 1

Communication and Advocacy: Contributing to an English Learner Student’s Success

Heather Brindle

Kennesaw State University

July 2022

Dr. Jason Harron

August 2021
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Communication and Advocacy: Contributing to an English Learner Student’s Success

Setting and Context

The setting for the proposed project is a suburban area school in the state of Georgia.

Mountain View High School (MVHS) is in the northeastern area of Gwinnett County. MVHS is

located in Lawrenceville, Georgia. MVHS is a traditional public school that serves ninth through

twelfth grade students. MVHS has 2,849 students for the 2020-2021 school year. According to

the data posted by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (2021) for MVHS, Limited

English proficiency, 5%; eligible for free/reduced meals, 36%; students with disabilities, 13%;

Asian, 10%; black, 27%; Hispanic, 23%; white, 35%; multiracial, 4%. There are 1,347 female

students and 1,477 male students. There are 953 students identified as economically

disadvantaged. There are 181 students identified as being limited English proficient. The four-

year graduation rate at Mountain View High School is 82% however with 74% of those students

moving on to enrolling in college. Students identified as having limited English proficiency had

a graduation rate of 78.8%. There are 52 male teachers and 81 female teachers. The average

experience level for teachers is 12 years. The racial breakdown for the teachers is black, 11;

white, 108; Hispanic, 8; Asian, 5; and multiracial, 2.

MVHS opened in 2009 and the school has one principal and eight assistant principals.

The major change that has occurred in the school is the growth of the ESOL program. The

MVHS ESOL program has grown from one teacher in 2017 to currently having eleven ESOL

certified teachers in the department. After March 2019, MVHS had to move to a fully digital

platform with the school shutting down for the COVID-19 pandemic. MVHS is currently using

concurrent teaching with teachers teaching both in-person and online students at the same time.
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MVHS and Gwinnett Public Schools (GCPS) are not a one-to-one Chromebook program. GCPS

has checked out a device to any student who had a need for education purposes along with

hotspots for connectivity. Currently MVHS 1,689 students have a Chromebook checked out to

them for the 2020-2021 school year.

There is currently a discretion in graduation rates between traditional English language

students and English language learners (ELL) at MVHS. The Georgia Department of Education

College and Career Ready Performance Index (2019) states that the MVHS four-year graduation

rate for all students is 82.64%. The rate for English learners is 69.23%. The MVHS five-year

graduation rate for all students is 90.28% for all students and 70.59% for English learners. This

discrepancy can be attributed to many factors within the school and community. Panferov (2010)

states that “parents have a positive effect on their children’s second language learning. However,

encouraging support by parents of ELLs can be difficult” (p.2). This difficulty could be for lack

of English proficiency by the parent/guardian and the lack of communication between

parent/guardian and teacher. These factors and more can lead to lack of ELL progression in

grade level and can directly affect a school’s graduation rate.

Statement of Problem, Need, and Rationale

Problem Statement
The problem or need that prompted this project is the significant gap in graduation rates

between traditional English language students and English language learners (ELL) at MVHS.

ELL graduation rates and quality of education directly correlates with parent/guardian

involvement. Parents/guardians are not able to be a part of their child’s education due to lack of

English language proficiency and teacher communication. This lack of involvement is due to

lack of translated communication (emails, school communication, community information and

ENGLISH LEARNERS' COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACY 4

activities). Knowing what ELL students need to succeed to graduate requires a working

relationship between the ELL’s teachers and parents. Teachers at MVHS have had limited access

to professional learning sessions explaining best practices and using translation tools to

communicate with parents. This lack of communication has led to disengagement of ELL parents

in their child’s educational lives.

Connection to Research

Zaff et al. (2017) studied research from the past 25 years to find best practices that would

promote and help secondary students reach graduation. Zaff et al. have concluded from their

study that parent connection, positive teacher and peer relationships, school engagement and

intrinsic motivation have a direct correlation on graduation rates especially for minority and low-

income students. Factors such as family and community can influence these groups success in

graduating on time. Socio-economic influences can also be a contributing factor to these groups

not being successful in schools. Given the groups findings, I must consider the factors that are

influencing my ELL’s educational lives as these have a direct correlation on their goal (or

missing goal) to graduation. This study did include all students in a secondary school setting

which includes native English speakers and ELL students. The study did not focus individually

on English language learners for any direct studies while this Capstone Project will focus directly

on ELL students and graduation.

Yates (2008) researched why minority students (focusing on socio and multicultural/

second language students) were consistently falling behind in their educational pathways,

including lower graduation rates. According to Yates, in 2006 one out of five minority students

did not graduate or complete high school. Immigrant students had an even larger rate of not

completing high school than the other groups at 40% dropping out. Yates concluded that
ENGLISH LEARNERS' COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACY 5

equitable educational outcomes must be available for all students in the U.S. educational system.

Utilizing good policy and best practices such as effective interventions and allocating resources

will help our minority, multicultural and multilinguistic students succeed and graduate from

secondary schools. Given Yates findings, I must consider the equability of resources and

interventions to help ELL students succeed in their classes at MVHS to help them graduate in

four or five years. In this study a focus was put on minority students being disproportionally in

special education classes due to lack of remediation. I will not be focusing on ELL students who

are dual served (receiving ESOL and special education services) in this Capstone Project.

Li (2013) researched the best practices and technology to help ELL students be

successful in the U.S. education system. Li found that there are four practices along with

including technology that teachers and schools could use to help ELL students be successful in

their educational career. Some of the best practices were encouraging social collaboration,

bringing real world applications into the classroom, and providing a supportive learning

environment. Technology can be used to help the ELL students practice their English skills in

real world applications and give them a comfortable platform to learn new English skills. Given

Li’s findings, I must consider that teacher’s need to be taught best practices and technology tools

to help their ELL students be successful. By helping teachers learn new strategies and

technology tools they can make a positive environment for their ELL students. This positive

environment can help the ELL students strengthen their English language skills and stay on track

to graduate. This study focused on ELLs in the U.S. education system. Unlike the study this

Capstone Project will be focusing only on one suburban public high school.

Proposed intervention/solution.
ENGLISH LEARNERS' COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACY 6

There is currently a significant gap in graduation rates between traditional English

language students and English language learners (ELL) at MVHS. ELL parents/guardians are

unable to communicate with teachers and read school information due to lack of English

proficiency and translated school information not being available. Content teachers do not use on

a regular basis translation tools in their classrooms. The purpose of this Capstone Project is to

provide teachers with a teacher toolbox of research-based instructional strategies and translation

technology tools to help communicate and involve parents and guardians in the educational lives

of ELL students and to help ELL students understand academic language. This toolbox will be

delivered through a series of professional learning events at MVHS along with group and

individual coaching sessions.

Connection to Research

Various researchers have found that using instructional strategies, translated

communications between teachers and students, and creating positive teacher and ELL student

relationships can help create a positive learning experience that will correlate with the ELL

student graduating from a secondary school. Mitchell (2020) states that ELL students are

expected to achieve all graduation requirements along with learning a new language. Schools

should be educating teachers on the best practices and technology tools to help ELL students

succeed. Panferov (2010) research reminds us that school communication (good or bad) is

dependent on the access of availability of translated information in the ELL’s native language

and that the family defines the importance of education. Panferov concluded that if

communication is sent home in English only, the ELL student will need to translate, and

information may not be passed along. Parents will not be able to express their questions or

concerns to the teacher with this lack of communication. Given Panferov findings, I must
ENGLISH LEARNERS' COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACY 7

consider that communication in an ELL families first language can have a direct influence on

family involvement in their student’s education career. In this study, a focus was put on two ELL

families. In this capstone we will be focusing on the entire ESOL community at a public

suburban high school.

Karge and Lasky (2011) researched ELL parents and guardians and how their values and

culture influence how involved they are in their student’s educational lives. Karge and Lasky

concluded that ELL parents can be discouraged from participating in their student's educational

lives due to lack of communication in native language with teacher and school, cultural

differences, and having a prior history of lack of school environment. Given Karge and Lasky’s

findings, I must consider educating teachers on how to help their ELL students by learning about

thier cultural norms and prior educational histories of our ELL students and families. In this

study a focus was put on ELL students with special education needs and how to help these

students be successful in all grade levels. I will not be focusing on ELL students who are dual

served (receiving ESOL and special education services) in this Capstone Project.

I believe that creating a coaching relationship with teachers will allow me to help

teachers with ELL students in their classes use best instructional practices and technology tools

to create a relationship between ELL students and parents and help with ELL graduation rates.

Using Knights (2018) guidance from The Impact Cycle, I will utilize teacher surveys to allow

teachers to show me their current practices of helping ELL students and parents through

communication. From the information collected, I will create a series of working professional

lunch sessions that will discuss instructional best practices with working with ELL students.

These lunches will allow me to create professional partnerships with teachers in either a group

setting or if needed an individual setting. In these small group or individual coaching sessions I
ENGLISH LEARNERS' COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACY 8

will utilize some of Knight’s Identify questions to help teachers create goals in using the new

strategies and technology tools that they have learned in their classrooms and communication

with ELL students and families. The goal for these coaching sessions and professional

development will be to improve ELL graduation rates for MVHS.

Project Objectives

My Capstone Project will help MVHS raise the graduation rate of our ELL population by

helping teachers use teaching strategies and technology tools to help communicate with ELL

students and parents/guardians. Teachers communicate with parents/guardians and create a

working partnership that will help students succeed in an educational setting. Research has

shown that students are more successful when parents and community are involved in their

educational career. Positive interactions between teachers and ELL students have a direct

correlation in ELL students graduating in four to five years. The objectives for this Capstone

Project are:

1. 65% of core content teachers will use Microsoft Conversations to communicate with

ELL students to help with academic language understanding by May 15, 2022.

2. 60% of core teachers will use Talking Points app to communicate with ELL

parents/guardians to help with educational communication by March 15, 2022.

3. 70% of MVHS teachers will engage in a minimum of five hours of professional

learning intended to provide teachers with instructional tools and strategies to use to

increase communication between teachers and ELL students and parents/guardians by

April 1, 2022.

PSC Standards
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The Georgia Professional Standards Commission standards that are associated with this

project are primarily from the third, fifth, and sixth domains. The standards can be clearly

connected to the objectives and deliverables for the project. The comprehensive list of the PSC

standards that are associated with this project are provided below.

 PSC 3.2 Managing Digital Tools and Resources: Candidates effectively manage
digital tools and resources within the context of student learning experiences.

 PSC 3.6 Selecting and Evaluating Digital Tools & Resources: Candidates
collaborate with teachers and administrators to select and evaluate digital tools
and resources for accuracy, suitability, and compatibility with the school
technology infrastructure.

 PSC 3.7 Communication & Collaboration Candidates utilize digital

communication and collaboration tools to communicate locally and globally with
students, parents, peers, and the larger community.

 PSC 4.3 Diversity, Cultural Understanding & Global Awareness: Candidates

model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to support diverse
student needs, enhance cultural understanding, and increase global awareness.

 PSC 5.1 Needs Assessment: Candidates conduct needs assessments to determine

school-wide, faculty, grade-level, and subject area strengths and weaknesses to
inform the content and delivery of technology-based professional learning
programs.

 PSC 5.2 Professional Learning: Candidates develop and implement technology-

based professional learning that aligns to state and national professional learning
standards, integrates technology to support face-to-face and online components,
models principles of adult learning, and promotes best practices in teaching,
learning, and assessment.

 PSC 5.3 Program Evaluation: Candidates design and implement program

evaluations to determine the overall effectiveness of professional learning on
deepening teacher content knowledge, improving teacher pedagogical skills
and/or increasing student learning.

 PSC 6.1 Continuous Learning: Candidates demonstrate continual growth in

knowledge and skills of current and emerging technologies and apply them to
improve personal productivity and professional practice.
ENGLISH LEARNERS' COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACY 10

 PSC 6.2 Reflection: Candidates regularly evaluate and reflect on their

professional practice and dispositions to improve and strengthen their ability to
effectively model and facilitate technology-enhanced learning experiences.

 PSC 6.3 Field Experiences: Candidates engage in appropriate field experiences to

synthesize and apply the content and professional knowledge, skills, and
dispositions identified in these standards.

Project Description
This Capstone Project will be focusing on creating a coaching relationship using

techniques and guidance from Knights (2018) Impact Cycle. This coaching relationship with

teachers will be to focus on raising graduation rates for ELL students by utilizing instructional

strategies and technology tools to help teachers communicate with ELL students and

parents/guardians to create a positive learning environment for the students to be successful in

their content classes. First, I will utilize teacher surveys to allow teachers to show me their

current practices of helping ELL students and parents through communication. From the

information and data collected, I will create a one-day professional development for teachers to

learn about the issues that ELL students are facing and introducing instructional best practices to

help ELL students and to open communication between teachers and ELL parents/guardians.

Then I will create a series of working professional lunch sessions to be held once a month that

will discuss instructional best practices and technology tools with working with ELL students.

These lunches will allow me to create professional partnerships with teachers in either a group

setting or if needed an individual setting. Lastly, teachers will be surveyed throughout the school

year on using the tools and best practices presented, any noticeable differences in relationships

with ELL students and parents/guardians, and any change in performance data throughout the
ENGLISH LEARNERS' COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACY 11

year. Table 1 outlines the project items/activities, objectives, and deliverables that will comprise

this project.

Table 1
Project Items, Objectivity, and Deliverables used in Capstone Project
Project Item/Activity Project Objective(s) Deliverable(s)
Teachers will complete a 65% of core content teachers will  TPACK survey
survey during August use Microsoft Conversation to adapted to ELL
preplanning that will discuss communicate with ELL students students using Google
what technology tools they to help with academic language Forms
use to help their ELL students understanding by May,15 2022.
understand academic
language.
Teachers will complete a 60% of core teachers will use  TPACK survey
survey during August Talking Points app to adapted to
preplanning that will discuss communicate with ELL communicating with
what technology tools they parents/guardians to help with ELL families
use to help communicate with educational communication by using Google Forms
parents who are non-English March 15, 2022.
speakers.
Teachers will attend a live in- 70% of MVHS teachers will  Zoom session for
person or online professional engage in a minimum of five online participants
development session in hours of professional learning  Informational
September to discuss intended to provide teachers with handouts about
communication best practices instructional tools and strategies technology tools and
with communicating with to use to increase communication strategies (digital)
ELL students and families. between teachers and ELL  Informational
students and parents/guardians handouts about
by April 1, 2022. technology tools and
strategies
 Informational
presentation and
introduction to school
goal for ELL
graduation
In October, teachers will 65% of core content teachers will  Instructional handouts
attend a lunch and learn use Microsoft Conversation to for teachers
workshop that will showcase communicate with ELL students  Informational
a technology tool to help with to help with academic language presentation (digital)
communication with an ELL understanding by May,15 2022.  Strategies and
student and families. technology will be
modeled and practiced
during I Do, We Do,
ENGLISH LEARNERS' COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACY 12

You Do breakout
 Zoom session (digital)
In November, teachers will 60% of core teachers will use  Instructional handouts
attend a lunch and learn Talking Points app to for teachers
workshop that will showcase communicate with ELL  Informational
a technology tool to help with parents/guardians to help with presentation (digital)
communication with an ELL educational communication by  Strategies and
student and families. March 15, 2022. technology will be
modeled and practiced
during I Do, We Do,
You Do breakout
 Zoom session (digital)
In December, teachers will  65% of core content teachers  Google Form
complete a survey to access will use Microsoft evaluating knowledge
their usage of the ELL Conversation to of technology tools
technology tools and evaluate communicate with ELL  ELL passing rates will
their communication students to help with be collected for Fall
relationships with ELL academic language semester 2021
students and families. understanding by May,15
2022.
 60% of core teachers will use
Talking Points app to
communicate with ELL
parents/guardians to help
with educational
communication by March 15,
2022.
Create lunch and learn for  65% of core content teachers  Data collected from
teachers who need additional will use Microsoft teacher survey
support using technology Conversation to  Digital workshop
tools in January. communicate with ELL model
students to help with  Q & A forum
academic language  Zoom Session (digital)
understanding by May,15
2022.
 60% of core teachers will use
Talking Points app to
communicate with ELL
parents/guardians to help
with educational
communication by March 15,
2022.
Create group and individual 70% of MVHS teachers will  Schedule for
coaching sessions for teachers engage in a minimum of five meetings
(January, February, & March) hours of professional learning  Calendly used for
focusing on communication intended to provide teachers with scheduling
ENGLISH LEARNERS' COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACY 13

skills with ELL students and instructional tools and strategies  Questions used for
families to use to increase communication coaching
between teachers and ELL
students and parents/guardians
by April 1, 2022.

Evaluation Plan
For this Capstone Project the evaluation process will include a survey seeking how teachers

communicate with their ELL students and families. This assessment will also assess the teacher’s

knowledge and usage of technology that helps communication during the academic class and

with communication with the ELL families. Teachers will do self-evaluations in August and

December to see how their knowledge and usage of technology has either grown or stayed the

same. ELL students in their classes will have their passing rates pulled for the Fall 2021

semester.

Objective One Evaluation

In order to assess this objective, I will be using an adapted TPACK survey that will

assess teachers’ usage and knowledge of technology tools and best practices in communicating

with an ELL student in the classroom no matter if it is in-person or digital classroom. In

December, the adapted TPACK survey will be sent out again to have the teachers self-evaluate

again how they have used the best practices and technology to help their ELL students in class.

The survey will be the same as the one given in August to allow for comparison. From January -

March 2022 teachers will be assessed by using an informal question and answer group

discussions.

Objective Two Evaluation

ENGLISH LEARNERS' COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACY 14

In order to assess this objective, I will be using an adapted TPACK survey that will

assess teachers’ usage and knowledge of tools and best practices in communicating with ELL

families. In December, the adapted TPACK survey will be sent out again to have the teachers

self-evaluate again how they have used the best practices and technology to help their ELL

students in class. The survey will be the same as the one given in August to allow for

comparison. From January - March 2022 teachers will be assessed by using an informal question

and answer group discussions.

Objective Three Evaluation

In order to assess this objective, I will be using Google Forms to have the teacher’s sign

in when they attend the professional development in September. I will also be using Padlet as an

exit ticket from the professional development for teachers to leave comments and questions they

may have. This Padlet will help me observe if teachers are understanding the best practices and

tools to help with ELL communication. I will also be using the Google Forms for check-in

purposes for the small group and individual coaching sessions in the Spring of 2022.

Project Timeline

My project is going to be implemented from starting in August of 2021 and be implemented

through April of 2022. This Capstone Project will be reported in Summer of 2022. Table two

will include all the hours needed to complete this project.

Table 2
Project Timeline
Month/Year Project Item/Activity, or Evaluation Item Hours
July 2021 Research best practices and technology tools for 15 hours
communication with ELL students and families
July 2021 Design and create adapted TPACK survey for working and 2 hours
ENGLISH LEARNERS' COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACY 15

communicating with ELL students

July 2021 Design and create adapted TPACK survey for working and 2 hours
communicating with ELL families

August 2021 Compose a video and email with survey attached for 2 hours
teachers to take the survey on helping and communicating
with ELL students
August 2021 Compose a video and email with survey attached for 2hours
teachers to take the survey on communicating with ELL
families
August 2021 Review survey results and start preplanning for professional 5 hours
development
August 2021 Plan logistics for professional development 2 hours
August 2021 Create and plan professional development 10 hours
September 2021 Create Zoom meeting for professional development 1 hour
September 2021 Hold professional developments in person and digital for 8 hours
teachers. Support teachers as needed.
October 2021 Create and plan lunch and learn program 4 hours
October 2021 Hold lunch and learn for teachers. Support teachers as 5 hours
needed.
November 2021 Create and plan lunch and learn program 5 hours
November 2021 Hold lunch and learn for teachers. Support teachers as 5 hours
needed.
November 2021 Create a Google Form survey for teacher implementation of 1 hours
new strategies and tools for communicating with ELL
students and families.
December 2021 Compose a video and email with survey attached for 2 hours
teachers to take the survey on communicating with ELL
families
January 2022 Review and analyze data of ELL succeeding in passing 3 hours
classes from Fall 2021
January 2022 Review and analyze data of teacher survey 2 hours
January 2022 Create and plan lunch and learn coaching program 6 hours

January 2022 Hold lunch and learn for teachers. Support teachers as 5 hours
needed.
January 2022 Analyze results from Padlet and observations taken during 1 hour
lunch and learn.
February 2022 Hold lunch and learn for teachers. Support teachers as 5 hours
needed.
February 2022 Analyze results from Padlet and observations taken during 1 hour
lunch and learn.
March 2022 Hold lunch and learn for teachers. Support teachers as 5 hours
needed.
March 2022 Analyze results from Padlet and observations taken during 1 hour
lunch and learn.
ENGLISH LEARNERS' COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACY 16

April 2022 Meet with administration on synopsis of project and 2 hour

implantation with teachers
Total Hours: 102 hours
Resources Needed

Table 3
Resources Needed
Resource Category Specifications
Time MVHS administration will allot me time outside of my
classroom to conduct meetings and collect and analyze data
MVHS administration allowing time for teachers to attend
professional development sessions
Virtual Space Zoom digital conference application
Google Drive Folder
Technology Tools Teacher computers
Google Forms
Padlet
Overhead projector
Screencast-o-matic
Calendly
Microsoft Translator
Microsoft Conversation
TalkingPoints App
PowerPoint Live
Physical Space PLUS conference room for professional development and lunch
and learn events
Physical Materials Instructional handouts for teachers
Informational handouts for teachers
Human Resources MVHS Administration help and support
Teachers to complete surveys
Teachers to attend professional development, coaching
sessions, and lunch and learns
ENGLISH LEARNERS' COMMUNICATION AND ADVOCACY 17

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GaDOE. (2019). 2019 College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) Reports. GADOE
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Georgia School Reports. (2020). https://schoolgrades.georgia.gov/mountain-view-high-school.

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Disabilities in Their Child’s School Achievement. Multicultural Education, 18(3), 29–
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https://doi.org/10.19030/jier.v9i3.7878
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Panferov, S. (2010). Increasing ELL Parental Involvement in Our Schools: Learning from the
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Yates, J. R. (2008). Demographic Imperatives for Educational Reform for Culturally and
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