Parental Perceptions of Bilingual Education: A Study of Parental Views on Schools and Teachers

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Parent-Family Engagement in Bi-/Multilingual Education (Table 1)

Abstract

This study investigates parents’ perceptions of schools and teachers of bilingual programs in a multicultural independent school district and examines how parents' perceptions vary as a function of their length of stay in the U.S., educational levels, and household income. The data comprised 959 responses from parents whose children participate in bilingual programs, collected in a learning environment survey. Through the Rasch and ANOVAs analyses, the study found many parents believe that schools respect all students and provide safe environments for their children but do not provide academically challenging environments. Also, parents’ perceptions varied significantly in various ways as a function of their backgrounds. This study discusses implications for policymakers and educators and directions for future studies.

Authors

• Hector H. Rivera, Texas A&M University

• Heesun Chang, Texas A&M University

• Zohreh R. Eslami, Texas A&M University

• mohsen Bemani, Texas A&M University

• Mohammad Taheri, Texas A&M University

• Yiming Zhu, Texas A&M University

• David Daniel Jimenez, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi