Published On: May 14th, 2016|

The Hechinger Report – Kaylan Connally and Kim Dancy

“Nearly one in four students speaks a language other than English at home — but only about one in eight teachers. Bilingual paraprofessionals help narrow the linguistic gulf between students and teachers by assisting with direct translation. They could help close this gap even further by becoming lead teachers themselves. One in five paraprofessionals speaks a non-English language at home — double the share for teachers. Perhaps because of the demands of their jobs, among bilingual Americans, paraprofessionals and teachers are more likely to report speaking English well or very well.”(more)