Mark Byrne
Language Access Consultant at PGLS
English learner (EL) students often face achievement gaps compared to their peers. Recent National Center for Education Statistics data found that 6.1 percent of twelfth graders remained English learners through graduation. With 15 percent of first graders entering elementary school as English learners, as many as 40 percent of EL students could be slipping through the cracks.
The factors contributing to these outcomes are multivariable and complex, which means promoting language access is not the sole responsibility of one person or department. Rather, it is the responsibility of the entire school system. A cohesive language access plan is essential to helping multilingual students and families receive equitable access to opportunities. Without a plan, EL students are at risk of falling behind, parent engagement will be impacted, and school districts could someday face litigation.
We spoke with experts in K-12 language access planning to create the following best practices guide. Administrators and teachers can use these tips to map out, fund, administer, and refine a plan that works for their schools and student populations. Each best practice contributes to an overarching goal: improving outcomes for students by engaging with EL families competently and compliantly.
Best Practice #1: Identify Your Language Access Champions
It’s no secret that most K-12 professionals work long hours. To increase awareness and adoption of language access resources, you need to make the process streamlined, and you need champions committed to cultivating enthusiasm. This is true whether you are designing your first language access plan, working to improve existing policies, or expanding a plan’s scope to support more students and families.
A language access champion may help with some or all of the following:
- Inform parents about their rights
- Show parents how to request language access resources
- Facilitate staff adoption of language access services
- Answer questions and pass along staff feedback
- Advocate for funding
Language access champions bring energy, awareness, and follow-through to maximize the reach and impact of this important work. Your champions may be responsible for the internal adoption of policies, while others may focus on encouraging parents to take advantage of services. In either case, the best way to locate your champions is to find out who is already making an effort.
Consider hosting a training that covers how to work with interpreters, engage with technology, and understand when it is appropriate and compliant to deploy language access. The teachers and administrators who show up with enthusiasm might be open to formalizing their role as language access champions.
Best Practice #2: Quantify the Need for Language Access
In many school districts, the need for language access is underestimated. This can lead to a false assumption that a larger investment in language services is unnecessary. Instead, follow the data: often times, you will find that EL families and students are underserved.
Quantifying the need for language access is a foundational step of language access planning. One straightforward method to gather this data is tagging EL students and families in your student information system (SIS). This process should be repeated with every new school year.
Understanding the scope of language access needs will not only help allocate internal resources. You will also need this data to take full advantage of ESSA Title III funding for EL programming.
Best Practice #3: Identify When Professional Language Services Are Required
In certain situations, language access is not just helpful—it’s mandatory. When meetings or documents influence decisions or outcomes related to student academic performance, enrollment, safety, or disciplinary action, professional language services must play a role. Without it, there is a risk of families not fully understanding their rights, responsibilities, or the impact of a decision on their child’s education.
Common scenarios that require professional language services include:
- IEP meetings
- 504 plan meetings
- Parent-teacher conferences
- Emergencies
- Disciplinary hearings and legal proceedings
Activating professional language services for any of the above scenarios should not present bottlenecks. Procedural guidance ought to cover the following proactive steps:
- Schedule interpretation services in advance—don’t wait until the last minute.
- Add 50% more time to scheduled meetings to ensure all parties have adequate time to communicate with each other.
- Provide interpreters with key documents in advance to prepare for the conversation.
- Assure families of confidentiality by confirming that interpreters adhere to FERPA regulations.
Last but not least, there is one policy every school must follow: multilingual students are not interpreters. Using students or untrained staff can compromise the accuracy of communication, jeopardize trust, and expose the school to lawsuits.
Best Practice #4: Clarify the Role of Multilingual Staff
Multilingual staff play an essential role in schools with diverse populations, but it’s important to recognize they are not a replacement for professional linguists.
Teachers who speak more than one language can offer valuable support for informal communication needs. In contrast, interpreters are trained to facilitate accurate, culturally competent communication in formal settings with higher stakes.
Experienced interpreters have the knowledge and skills to handle complex educational terminology, navigate sensitive topics, and build trust with families. They have experience in situations like IEP meetings, 504 planning sessions, school board meetings, parent-teacher conferences, and disciplinary hearings, where neutrality and confidentiality are essential.
While multilingual staff bring language skills to their classrooms, they may not have the formal training or experience to provide unbiased, accurate interpretation. It also introduces liability to the school district if a bilingual staff member handles interpreting and a misunderstanding occurs.
Best Practice #5: Create (or Refresh) Your Language Access Plan
Recent settlements between school districts and the Department of Justice have made requirements clear:
- Have a consistent, accurate process for identifying families with language barriers
- Provide essential information to families in a language they understand
Maintaining an up-to-date language access plan is essential to increase engagement with EL students and families and comply with anti-discrimination laws. It should detail the who, what, when, how, and why—and identify the procedures to access language services in a timely manner.
For low-risk, informal communications, texting apps and devices can be useful. Be mindful that these tools leverage machine translation, which is not guaranteed to be accurate without expert linguist supervision. For conversations that require more nuance, persuasion, impartiality, or trust-building, your language access plan must identify how to reach a professional interpreter. They may be accessed over the phone, via a virtual platform like Zoom or Google Meet, or in some cases work onsite. Additionally, forms and handouts for parents should be translated into your district’s most commonly spoken languages.
Partner with PGLS for K-12 Language Access Planning
Ready to work on your language access plan? Whether you are starting from the beginning, making improvements, or simply looking for a language services provider with education-focused linguists, PGLS can help.
PGLS works with school districts across the United States to build a pathway to compliance and support better outcomes for EL students and families. For more information on creating, implementing, and optimizing your school’s language access plan, reach out to our team of experts today.