Chapter 5: Family Engagement in Heritage Language and Literacy

Finding ways to effectively engage immigrant families with their children’s education at the school level is challenging currently as it has been historically. From research we know that often immigrant parents are less likely to get involved in school-based activities such as volunteering or joining leadership teams (García Coll & Pachter, 2002; Turney & Kao, 2009). Some immigrants understand their role with schooling as different than that typically expected by U.S. teachers or speak a language other than English, which makes them feel uneasy in a school setting (Hill & Taylor, 2004; Shumow & Lyutykh, in press). Nevertheless, many immigrant parents have high expectations for their children’s school success (Goldenberg, Gallimore, Reese, & Garnier, 2001; Hidalgo, Siu, & Epstein, 2004) and are deeply involved in fostering academic success at home despite being minimally involved at school (Strickland & Shumow, 2008).