Marcela Meave

Describe what brought you to this research:

​​The overall purpose of my action research study was to strengthen my practice by making a series of interventions to increase ELL parental involvement in a small charter school in urban San Diego. At my fieldwork site, existing efforts by teachers and staff to generate parent involvement had been ineffective. Yet research has shown the impact parent involvement has on student success. I utilized an action research approach to address what I could do to enhance ELL parent involvement. The challenges that any parent faces in supporting his or her child in school can be daunting and these issues are often magnified for parents of English language learner (ELL) students as the parents themselves may have minimal proficiency in English and vastly different formal schooling histories (Panferov, 2010). Understanding the challenges that prevent ELL parents from becoming involved is essential to increasing their participation. Given that the majority of the parent population at my fieldwork site were ELL parents, it was important to acknowledge the challenges they faced when trying to become involved in their students’ education. Ways to address the challenges include providing bilingual information and materials, baby-sitting, and establishing meeting times and locations that are convenient for the parents (Inger, 1992). I wanted to try this approach as a way to strengthen my practice by designing, implementing, and assessing a parent involvement intervention for parents of ELL students. With the school’s counselor I implemented a series of parent workshops.

What was your specific research question?

As a practitioner, what can I do to improve parent involvement in the school community and strengthen the collaboration between the parents and the school?

What are you currently doing as a credentialed practitioner?

​​Currently I am the program counselor for the San Diego State University Upward Bound Program. I have three different school sites where I work with low-income, first generation college students addressing their academic, career, social, and emotional needs. I provide individual guidance and support to students for the college admissions, financial aid, and scholarship processes. During the summer I assist with the development and implementation of a six-week Summer Residential Program in which Upward Bound students reside at SDSU and take classes that count towards their high school elective credits. I am responsible for establishing and building community through the planning and implementation of program activities, paying special attention to the needs of first-generation and low-income students; working cooperatively with fellow staff to create a safe and learning environment. Additionally, students interested in a health, science, or math related career are able to take a paid internship that exposes them to hands-on experience in their field of interest.