One of the outside links I chose to follow is the
Child Care & Early Education Research Connection. The sites lead to another link that is about
children and education. I found
information about immigrant access to prekindergarten. Gelatt, Adams, & Huerta 2014 children of
immigrants make-up a quarter of children in the United States and they have
lower rates of prekindergarten enrollment than children born in the United
States. Gelatt, Adams, & Huerta 2014
indicate immigrant parents may need extra assistance enrolling their children
in kindergarten when they face language and literacy barriers, Transportation
and work schedule challenges, or difficulties providing documentation. The authors suggest using other sources of
documentation as proof of age, residence, income and social security number
because immigrant parents may not have these forms of identification for their
children and requests for this information can make parents nervous. Gelatt, Adams, & Huerta indicate the use
of baptismal or hospital records can prove a child’s age; the income of parents
can be verified by pay stubs, tax statements or letters from their employer.
Families should be made aware that Social Security information is optional and
necessary for school enrollment for their children.
The information from Gelatt, Adams, & Huerta
helped me understand that immigrant families are not aware that enrolling their
children can be without challenges if they had this information written for
them in language they could comprehend or if they were provided translators, or
immigrants serving in community organizations.
Another strategy for making the enrollment process accessible for
immigrant families is to offer a variety of location and times as well multiple
ways to enroll such as by phone, online, in person or by mail. The end goal is to ensure an education for
all children.
Reference:
Gelatt, J., Adams, G., & Huerta, S. (2014,
February). Improving access to prekindergarten for children of immigrants
enrollment strategies . Retrieved from
http://www.researchconnections.org/childcare/resources/27143?author=Gelatt,
Julia&paging.startRow=1
I actually never thought of enrollment by phone; we are always offered spanish alternatives on the phone! I suppose it would be difficult to provide documentation, but explanations could be offered during the phone call. I followed your link and found some interesting information and ideas for immigrant families. My work does not involve any families who are not US citizens, as I care for the children of military families, but should my status change it is helpful to know where to look for this info.
ReplyDeleteCynthia,
ReplyDeleteWhile the enrollment in PreK programs is lower with immigrant families, I wonder how much of this is being an immigrant vs. a cultural choice. My program also serves all US citizens yet I have realized that many of the families that have a history of immigration to the US don't utilize preschool experiences due to cultural choice.