1. Circumventing the Language Disconnect between Home and School in Hispanic Populations: The Use of Google Translate to Promote Parental Involvement Carolyn M. Leary University of Notre Dame

2. Changing Demographics in American Schools Number of Hispanic Students has tripled in the past 30 years predicted to increase to over 25% of K-12 by 2030 20.5% of students speak a language other than English at home (2007) High demand for qualified Spanish-speaking teachers

3. Hispanic Students: At Risk Majority of Hispanic students are achieving below average Hispanic students are three times more likely to grow up in poverty than their white peers (Smith 2006) Parental involvement in their child’s education is a predictor of academic and behavioral success in school Positive cognitive and affective benefits documented across ethnicities and socioeconomic levels (Jeynes, 2007)

4. English Speaking Teachers vs. Spanish Speaking Households Research supports solutions to the language barrier: hiring bilingual staff, teaching staff Spanish, teaching parents English, and hiring translators for materials sent home (Turney & Tao, 2009; Smith, Stern, & Shatrova, 2009).

5. An Immediate Solution Free online translation tool Advanced software producing 80% accuracy (Ha, 2010) To what extent does Google Translate enable English speaking teachers to facilitate parental involvement though correspondence with Spanish speaking households?

6. Methods Context Coolidge K-4 Primary Center in a mid-sized city 93.8% of students at the school receive a free or reduced lunch 50% of students are classified as English Language Learners Participants 2 Teachers in English Language Learners (ELL) with at least 5 years of experience Mrs. Briar: Kindergarten ELL Uncomfortable on the computer, or with her limited Spanish skills Mrs. Fox: 4 th grade ELL Familiar with existing translation technology Proficient in Spanish, but not comfortable writing or listening Students and their families Limited Spanish literacy

7. Methods cont. Data Collection Procedure Google Translate tutorial Attention to cultural implications Nuances of the language Limited literacy Disclaimer Log of correspondence Copy of message Recipients, date, response (if any) In-depth interview Impression parental involvement Assessment of Goggle Translate

8. Methods cont. ObservationInterviewsRecord of correspondence Types of Parental Involvement  Active  Supportive Presence of parents in school Existence of parent resources in schools Teachers’ impression of parental involvement Examples of involvement Examples of parental involvement Effects on teachersTeachers’ initial reaction to Google Translate Motivation for participation Sense of capacity Examples of the expanded capacity to communicate Uses of Google Translate Level of comfort with technology Level of comfort with the Spanish language Motivation for correspondence Examples of correspondence Purpose of correspondence  Informative  Request/Demand  Complimentary Intended recipient  Individual student  Entire class Data Analysis

9. Significant Findings Types of Parental Involvement Active involvement to foster supportive behaviors Effect of Google Translate on the Teachers Growing sense of capacity Uses of Google Translate Informative notes allow for parents to keep tabs on the events in the classroom Requests/demands open up an opportunity for participation and communication Complementary notes have the potential to form a base of trust in a school-home relationship

10. Growing Sense of Capacity Mrs. Briar Expressed pride that she did not have to rely on her aide Parents were now coming to her with questions/concerns “Mrs. Sonora hasn’t been getting as many phone calls, so maybe that’s a sign.” Mrs. Fox Now able to bypass usual chain of personnel “It has made me be more thoughtful about opening those lines [of communication].”

11. Significant Findings Types of Parental Involvement Active involvement to foster supportive behaviors Effect of Google Translate on the Teachers Growing sense of capacity Uses of Google Translate Informative notes allow for parents to keep tabs on the events in the classroom Requests/demands open up an opportunity for participation and communication Complementary notes have the potential to form a base of trust in a school-home relationship

12. Implications Replication Convenience of Google Translate Unique setting within Coolidge Primary center Limitations Significance of volunteer participants Short term solution

13. A Summary of Significant Findings “ Now that I know that I can use [Google Translate], …it has made me be more thoughtful about opening up those lines, so for example: I have a kid who started off kind of rough at the beginning of the year, and he is doing so great! And I want to write a letter home to say what a great job he is doing. And I can’t call him, and I don’t want to bug people, like ‘Hey, can I take time from your busy day to make this phone call for me?’ So now I know that I can just type that up really quick and send that home, and that’s great!” -Mrs Fox