Parents head back to school

WILDER, Idaho — The Wilder School District is getting parents back into the classroom to help narrow the learning gap between poor Hispanic students and their white counterparts.

About 95 percent of Wilder’s students come from Latino families.

To help combat the learning gap, the Family Learning Center came up with a simple strategy: provide a place, in this case a portable classroom next to Wilder’s sole elementary school, where parents can go to class along with their kids for the academic benefit of both.

Putting parents in the classroom is one of a number of experiments in Idaho as the state looks for a successful way to help Hispanic students who lag behind in classes and on standardized tests — a requirement of federal No Child Left Behind legislation.

“It’s hard to even comprehend that I have this opportunity,” said Amalia Padilla, a parent in the district who studies computers and English at the center. She hasn’t been to school since she was a child in Mexico, but has keyboard for the first time and has laughed about getting the hang of the “ratoncito,” or computer mouse.

A 2002 study by the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory found that regardless of economic background, students whose parents are involved in their schools learn better and are more likely to stay in school and go on to college.

The Learning Center started modestly in November with computer and English-language classes for parents and reading classes for kids. By next month, there will be GED classes for adults, literacy classes for families and Spanish instruction.