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Reaching Multilingual Families: A Guide for Education Leaders
Role: Instructional Designer & Developer
Tools Used: Articulate Rise 360, Canva
Target Audience: School Principals, Assistant Principals, and Parent Engagement Coordinators
Duration: 20 Minutes
The Solution
I designed a responsive e-learning module in Articulate Rise 360 with an emphasis on an immersive, scenario-based approach to learning. The course is presented in contextually relevant situations for education leaders. The course uses a scenario-based learning approach where education leaders encounter authentic situations; for instance, a multilingual parent needing to discuss their child's IEP accommodations, a Spanish-speaking family having questions about a disciplinary incident, or a newly arrived refugee family needing guidance navigating the enrollment process. At each decision point, the learner makes a choice and is given immediate feedback with an explanation of how his or her decision affects student success and family trust. I avoided lengthy text blocks and instead used visual storytelling by creating simple graphics with Canva that illustrate communication pathways and resource maps. The module also included a job aid that learners can download for future use to move beyond just a one-time training experience and really make a difference in family engagement.
My Process
Analysis: I conducted a needs assessment by reviewing research on family engagement barriers and interviewing educators who work directly with multilingual populations. I identified that the performance gap wasn't about lack of caring, it was about lack of practical tools and confidence. Leaders knew they should engage families but didn't know how to do it effectively without professional interpreters for every interaction.
Design: I created a storyboard outlining learning objectives aligned to Bloom's Taxonomy, ensuring learners would not just understand best practices but would apply, analyze, and evaluate communication strategies in realistic contexts. The six core learning objectives focused on moving from knowledge (explaining why approaches fail) to application (selecting appropriate tools) to evaluation (making strategic decisions under pressure).
Development: I built the course in Articulate Rise 360 specifically because of its mobile-responsive design, knowing that many school leaders would access this training on their phones between meetings or during planning periods. I integrated branching scenarios where learners' choices led to different outcomes, knowledge checks disguised as reflection prompts, and a sorting activity where leaders matched communication tools to specific family engagement situations.
Evaluation
I included an end-of-course knowledge quiz to assess whether participants understood the key concepts around multilingual family engagement. The quiz tests their retention of critical information like communication strategies, available resources, and best practices for connecting with families who have language barriers. This summative assessment ensures learners can demonstrate foundational knowledge before completing the training and provides data on which concepts may need reinforcement in future iterations of the course.