How to Build Relationships with Immigrant Families

When families speak indigenous languages

Families who speak Mixtec

A couple of years ago, staff at Wolfe Street Academy in Baltimore, MD began to notice an unusually high number of special education referrals among their Spanish speakers. After the special education and ELL team looked at the issue more closely, they realized that a significant number of families that the school thought were dominant Spanish speakers actually spoke Mixtec, an indigenous language from Mexico. The students who had been flagged for special education were in fact trilingual!

Due to the stigma they faced in their home country about their language, the families had not shared this part of their background with the school. The school has learned a great deal about the language and what influence it might have on language development, and the whole school community has worked to develop pride in the language throughout the school.

It is a fascinating example how the threads of special education, language education, and parent engagement came together for a particular group of students, as well as of creative problem solving by a team that was the result of strong parent outreach.

Learn more about this case study from an article written for Colorín Colorado by the Wolfe Street staff and related video interviews.

The need for interpreters who speak indigenous languages

Read more about the challenges of managing court proceedings for immigrants who speak indigenous languages in these news stories:

• “No one is available”: when immigration judges ask for indigenous languages interpreters (Univision)
• Indigenous language interpreters help asylum-seekers at the border (Christian Science Monitor)
• On border, indigenous interpreters in demand (Santa Fe New Mexican)
• Language Barriers Pose Challenges For Mayan Migrant Children (NPR)