Supporting Multilingual Students
Classrooms are more linguistically diverse than ever, and educators face the challenge of ensuring every student can fully participate in learning. Professional interpreting and translation services are essential tools that help schools bridge language gaps, support academic success, and strengthen family engagement.
Understanding the Challenges of Language Barriers
- Miscommunication can impact student learning, assessment accuracy, and engagement.
- Families may struggle to navigate school systems, affecting participation in meetings, events, and decisions about their child’s education.
- Teachers may spend valuable time attempting to translate materials themselves, which can lead to errors or inconsistencies.
How Interpreting Services Help Educators
- Parent-Teacher Conferences: Ensure meaningful communication with families of all languages.
- Student Support Services: Facilitate counseling, special education, and academic planning.
- Event Communication: Support school events, workshops, and community meetings to maximize participation.
Best Practices for Integrating Interpreters in Schools
- Plan ahead and request interpreters early for meetings or events.
- Provide context and background to interpreters to improve accuracy.
- Foster a collaborative environment by speaking directly to students and families, not the interpreter.
Professional interpreting services empower educators to provide an equitable learning experience for every student. By breaking language barriers, schools can improve academic outcomes, strengthen family relationships, and create more inclusive communities.Learn how Kaplan Interpreting Services can help your school effectively communicate with multilingual students and families. Explore our services here.
CEO & Founder
Born in Dallas, Texas, Alexandra grew up surrounded by Spanish, English, Arabic, and Italian. After moving to Venezuela, Spanish became her primary language. She holds a Master's in Healthcare Administration from Washington University in St. Louis and is a California court certified and medical interpreter.
She founded Kaplan Interpreting Services after seeing an industry that treated interpreters as interchangeable and clients as ticket numbers. She built a protocol-driven operation where every interpreter is hand-selected and credentialed for the specific setting, every client has a dedicated point of contact, and risk management is built into every assignment.
Her career reached a historic milestone when she interpreted the conversation between President-elect Biden and Pope Francis. That assignment, along with engagements for Nike and the Summit of the Americas, set the standard for every client engagement that followed.
"The same protocols that protected that historic conversation now protect every assignment we handle."