Author

Carmel Murphy

Term

Fall 2022

Capstone

Dissertation

Degree Name

EdD

Primary Advisor/Dissertation Chair

Trish Harvey and Amy Stolpestad

Secondary Advisor/Reader One

Todd Digby

Peer-Reviewer/Reader Two

Pangjua Xiong

Abstract

English Learner families in rural areas have unique experiences in accessing bilingual materials in home languages for literacy learning. This research focused on gathering the perceptions of parents of elementary school ELs regarding the barriers that impede collaboration between public elementary schools and county public libraries for improving the literacy of ELs in rural communities. This qualitative research followed a grounded theory process and community-based research from data collection via interviews with parents of ELs, rural public elementary school educators, and rural county public librarians. Seven participants from Central Minnesota included two bilingual parents of ELs, three educators, and two librarians. Findings suggested several themes from all three stakeholder groups: the importance of relationships, shared responsibility to provide culturally appropriate literacy resources, and a willingness to work together to overcome barriers and improve literacy learning for EL families in rural communities. The research results provide useful information from interviewees to direct future collaboration between rural public elementary schools and rural county public libraries on behalf of literacy learning for EL families.

Research Methodology

Grounded Theory, Interview

Keywords

ESL/ ELLs, Literacy, Multicultural Education

dc_type

text

dc_publisher

DigitalCommons@Hamline

dc_format

application/pdf

dc_source

School of Education Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

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