Improving Communication Between the Shoreline School District and Ethiopian Families with Children in Special Education

Abstract

The research aimed to establish and prove the importance of effective communication between school staff and migrant parents of children with special needs. The focus of the study was on Shoreline District School. The schools are amongst the ones which have adopted the inclusion of children with special needs in their curriculum. The target population was migrant Ethiopian parents who have their children with special needs attending these schools. Focusing on this population gave the study a sense of objectivity regarding the research and the consecutive results. In addition, the focus on this particular population underpinned the research to identify the gaps in language learning and teaching. By the end of the project, the focus was to establish a strategy for effective communication between migrant parents with children with learning disorders and their children's respective teachers (Hassan and Gardner, 2002). The findings from the study showed that there is a communication challenge between the school staff and the parents of migrant children, which hinders effective service delivery. Essentially, Shoreline schools are obligated to provide a language learning program for their students and develop a way to facilitate the parents. Language teaching for the parents is essential as the successful mainstreaming of migrant children with special needs depends on the cooperation between all caregivers.