 A growing interest  Why ESL students fail in schools  Why research ESL students?  Churches make a difference  Negative effects (academic focus, training/self-confidence, motivation)  Successfully meeting ESL needs

 Warm and family-like atmosphere  Involve students’ families  Bridge communication gap between schools and parents  Meets students’ academic needs  Academically and culturally knowledgeable staff

 What characteristics are portrayed and strategies implemented in a church- based after-school program to meet the needs of the attending ESL students?

 Case study  3 methods of data collection: interviews, observations, and collection/study of documents (triangulation)  Data analyzed using the constant comparative method  Connections to literature, limitations, questions, findings and implications

 History and overview  Attendance and volunteers  Funding  Diversity  Program description and routine  ESL outreach (knowledge about personal life, family involvement, cultural aspects, desire to attend, atmosphere, motivation, communication)

 Short amount of time for data collection (4 days, interviews, follow-up questions)  End-of-school-year activities  Amount of parents who participated  More interviews of staff members

 What are the specific needs of the attending ESL students, and how are schools/the ASP meeting or not meeting those needs?  Do parents want to be directly involved in school or the ASP?  Are there no noticeable academic benefits to the ESL students from attending the ASP?

 Shows warm, comfortable, and supportive staff-student relationships  Situated in community, allowing for closer relationships and easier access to attend  Life values taught and sense of belonging created  Intimate, family-life quality  Efforts made to engage and motivate students to attend and work hard  Tutors professionally trained in their work and know how to confidently work with students

 More knowledgeable about the ESL students’ personal lives and learn about their hardships and pressures in school  Students’ families included more to reinforce cultural ties  Literacy-rich activities that promote and enhance success in school  Systematic approach to promote students’ attendance and work ethic  Increase in communication with students’ mainstream teachers

 COLLABORATION is KEY  Program and staff members work together to learn about ESL students’ lives outside schools   Use knowledge to create culturally relevant learning environments  Ensure optimal language and literacy support through communication  ASP staff meetings

 Regardless of program, there are still some sort of benefits  Individual  no set formula that can be completed to meet everyone’s needs

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