How to Make Parent Workshops Effective for Immigrant Families

How often have we said: “The parents are not involved—they are just not interested”. My two-year action research study evaluated a variety of methods which led to more immigrant parent participation in family workshops. The study took place in a Chicago public school, in a first grade bilingual classroom. All of the families are Spanish speaking. I concluded that teachers need to first consider the experiences of their students’ families and only then design ways to ask parents to be involved