Julia Robinson

December 10, 2015

Dr. Dana Walker
ECLD 602
Advocating for Bilingual Students
I had never heard the word advocacy in any of my teacher education courses, nor had I
known that to make a positive impact on ELs educational experience and increase their
chances for academic success, someone had to speak up for them (Fenner, 2014, p. xiii).
In my first reflection paper, I discussed the relationship among: language, culture,
diversity, and equity in CLD education. It is extremely important to recognize this relationship
because these are the aspects that create a students identity. In order to properly get to know
ones students, it is important to be aware of their identity and what is important to him/her. It is
also important to encourage students to maintain or find their identity so they can feel as if they
are a part of group and valued. With that being said, in order to help students maintain their
language, culture, diversity, and equity, it is important to advocate for students, not only in their
CLD classes, but also in their mainstream classes as well. Fenner refers to this in the quote above
advocacy is necessary for an ELs success in school.
One way to properly advocate for a student is to work collaboratively with ones
coworkers. It is the job of the CLD teacher to be a source of support to other teachers (Fenner,
p. 65), meaning that collaboration is a necessity. It is also important to make all teachers aware of
English language learner students and their instructional needs. Content and CLD teachers need
to create a plan for each student in order to ensure their success and to ensure that all of their
needs are being met (Fenner, p. 69). By collaborating with content teachers, to ensure that all EL
students services are being met, it is ensuring that each students language, culture, diversity,
and equity are being respected and represented.

Another way to properly advocate for a student is to advocate for them to be labeled with
an IEP, if it is necessary, and defend them if an IEP is not necessary. Often times, ELs get labeled
as needing special education services. This is because they have language deficiencies, and
educators do not always keep in mind that the speaking and writing aspects of language develop
later than the reading and listening aspects of language. Therefore, it is important to test students
more than once to determine whether they need more language skills or if they need special
education services (Ovando, 2006, p.343-344). In order to properly advocate for students and
determine if they are receiving the correct services, Fenner (2014) states that, by assessing them
[students] as equitably as possible and using their data thoughtfully to improve instruction (p.
169). This means that the best way to advocate for an EL student and whether they need
additional services is to test, formally and informally, constantly and then to use that data for
instruction and recommendations for necessary services.
In addition, another way to advocate for a student is to get their parents involved.
According to Fenner (2014), All parents engagement in schools fosters improved student
attitudes toward school, correlates with student success, and reduces the dropout rate (p. 110).
Therefore, in order to help students succeed, it is extremely important to get their parents
involved in the school system. Many parents are unsure of how the education system functions in
the U.S. or they do not speak English well, which holds them back from being involved in their
childs education. This is problematic because it is essential for a parent to develop a positive and
comfortable attitude towards school so that their attitude transfers to their children. Also, by
reaching out to parents and encouraging them to be involved, it shows them that their culture,
language, diversity, and equity matter to the educator and to the school. In addition, not only is it
immensely important for parents to become involved in their childs education, it is also

important to teach parents to advocate for themselves and their children. Fenner (2014) states
that, EL families awareness of the U.S. education system, contributions to their childrens
schools, and development of their own voices as advocated for themselves and their children (p.
116). At times it is difficult for an educator to provide their complete attention and advocacy to
one student because they have many students. However, if educators can get parents to connect
with the school, then they can teach parents to advocate for their children so that their children
are receiving all the services that they need.
After discovering how to adequately advocate for students and how advocacy can help
them preserve their identity, which contains their language, culture, diversity, and equity, I found
that advocacy is necessary for my students. By advocating for my students, they will see that I
care about their identity and success. This will then help build relationships of trust within the
classroom, and therefore create a positive classroom environment. By collaborating, testing for
data for correct services, and involving students, the education of culturally and linguistically
diverse learners will improve immensely.
Overall, advocacy is essential in order to help EL students become successful in the
classroom and to help them preserve their identity. It is important to collaborate with content
teachers in order to come up with an effective plan for EL students, to make sure ELs are
receiving the correct services that they need to be successful, and it is important to get parents
involved in their childs education. By incorporating these advocacies in the classroom, it will
build an environment of trust, which will allow students to flourish in school. Therefore, going
back to Fenners quote on page xiii: not only is it important to advocate for EL students, but it is
essential in order to increase their academic success in school.

References
Ovando, C., Combs, M. C., & Collier, V. P. (2006 or latest edition). Bilingual and ESL
classrooms: Teaching in multicultural contexts (5th ed.). San Francisco: McGraw-Hill.
Staehr Fenner (2014). Advocating for English Learners: A Guide for Educators. Thousand
Oaks: Corwin Press.