Promoting the Educational Success of Children and Youth Learning English Promising Futures (2017) / Chapter Skim
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5 Promising and Effective Early Care and Education Practices and Home Visiting Programs for Dual Language Learners
5 Promising and Effective Early Care and Education Practices and Home Visiting Programs for Dual Language Learners
Pages 165-214
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From page 165... ...
1 When referring to young children ages birth to 5 in their homes, communities, or ECE programs, this report uses the term "dual language learners" or "DLLs." When referring to children ages 5 and older in the pre-K to 12 education system, the term "English learners" or "ELs" is used. When referring to the broader group of children and adolescents ages birth to 21, the term "DLLs/ELs" is used.
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DEVELOPMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF DUAL LANGUAGE LEARNERS The years from birth through age 5 are critical for building the foundational knowledge and language skills required for future success in school and life. It is clear that early experiences shape development in a dynamic process that is interactive and cumulative (Institute of Medicine and 2 See Kagan and Reid (2008)
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. If the benefits of ECE programs in improving school readiness, school achievement, and lifelong learning are to be achieved and sustained, the specific developmental characteristics of DLLs need to be understood and integrated into the learning environments and educational practices of these programs.
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It is crucial that ECE programs recognize the impact of relationships on development across all domains and create the conditions for close, positive, responsive, and individualized caregiver-child relationships (National Research Council, 2000)
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For all children across all settings, the quantity and quality of adult language that is directed to a child, as well as the diversity of that language, are related to cognitive and language outcomes (Dodici et al., 2003; Hart and Risley, 1995; Huttenlocher et al., 2002; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network, 2005) (for a contrasting view, see Dudley-Marling and Lucas [2009]
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From page 170... ...
Considerable evidence reveals that while school-family partnerships are important for improved outcomes for all children, families of DLLs often have lower levels of school engagement relative to families of their monolingual counterparts and face unique barriers to making these connections with ECE settings. Although there have been no empirical studies on the impacts of ECE programs on the development of DLL infants and toddlers in particular, it is reasonable to use findings from the developmental literature to guide the design of services for very young DLLs and their families with special attention to their dual language status (see Chapter 4 for a full discussion of language and brain development in DLLs)
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Our goal is to help parents understand that by starting in infancy, they can play a role in changing their chil dren's life trajectories." Ages 3 to 5: The Prekindergarten Years The prekindergarten years are a sensitive period for language development. If young children lack sufficient opportunities to acquire language, persistent, lifelong language deficits may result (Kuhl et al., 2005)
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. The differences in vocabulary learning between DLLs and their monolingual counterparts usually do not indicate language delays or potential learning problems but are a typical feature of early dual language learning (see Chapter 4)
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. Other Learning and Developmental Domains Additional learning and developmental domains that are important to academic success for preschool DLLs include math, executive function skills, social-emotional development, and loss of L1.
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Others have found evidence that the use of DLLs' L1 in ECE programs has a positive effect on their peer and teacher relationships and acts for them as a protective factor for some outcomes, including social-emotional competencies, although these find
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. Implications for Effective Practices for Preschool DLLs Research on the developmental characteristics of preschool children in general and the impact of dual language learning on cognitive, language, social, and cultural development during the preschool years has the following implications for preschool programs serving DLLs: • The cognitive, social-emotional, language, and literacy develop ment of DLLs may vary depending on their early language experi ences and cultural backgrounds.
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Home Visiting Programs The federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program targets5 a population with a high proportion of families who are non-English speakers with DLLs.
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during pregnancy and the early years can improve the lives of children and families. This research has documented the benefits of the most common evidence-based home visiting models on a range of long-term outcomes, such as preventing child abuse and neglect, supporting positive parenting, improving maternal and child health, and promoting child development and school readiness (Sama-Miller et al., 2016)
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. Based on these statistics, the percentages of the populations of Hispanics, non-English speakers, and DLLs being served by home visiting programs should be higher.
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. Four of these models -- Early Head Start-Home Based Program, Healthy Families America, Nurse-Family Partnership, and Parents as Teachers -- are those most commonly adopted at the state level, although they differ in their program goals, their target populations, program intensity and duration, required qualifications of home visitors, and the flexibility localities have in designing their programs (Michalopoulos et al., 2015)
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Seven of these 19 models had favorable effects on in the same domain (e.g., child health, maternal health, child development and school readiness, positive parenting practices) in two or more samples, while 8 had favorable effects on child and language development and school readiness.9 Studies of the 4 most common models assessed child language development using such measures as the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Communicative Development Inventories, and Preschool Language Scales in English.
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Enrolling and retaining families who speak a language other than English may be more challenging because of the accumulation of additional risk factors, such as underutilization of health services and Head Start and the undocumented status of parents. These factors may contribute to the underrepresentation of the families of DLLs in home visiting programs (see Box 5-1)
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and can help mothers navigate a new country/culture. Approach to L1 and dual language development The general public, even speakers of languages other than English, holds significant misconceptions about dual language development.
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Doing so provides a solid cognitive-linguistic base for emerging literacy and school-based reasoning and facilitates learning English and other languages later on. Home visiting services that encourage parents to take a positive view of dual language development bolster exposure to and use of L1, which protects against the loss of L1 -- an unfortunate but frequent occurrence.
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. Some evidence indicates that when DLLs do attend formal ECE programs (described in Table 5-1)
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. Early Head Start Early Head Start extends the education and child care services of Head Start to children ages 0-3.
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When the analysis adjusted for family demographic variables, however, no reliable differences were found between DLL and English-only families in the use of ECE programs. This finding suggests that the use of nonparental ECE services is driven by such factors as socioeconomic status rather than language status.
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or in a child care home. The data collected for the study do not reveal to what extent or how these ECE providers used the DLLs' home language with infants and toddlers in the ECE setting, only that they had the ability to do so.
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, which resulted in long-term positive schooling and life outcomes, as well as evaluations of large publicly funded preschool programs such as Head Start, which typically yield more modest effects (Puma et al., 2012)
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. Features of High-Quality ECE Programs for DLLs Given the specific challenges and opportunities DLLs face in school and the growing number of such students in the United States, it is important to know how high-quality ECE programs impact these children in particular,
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. A review of the literature from the past decade conducted by the Center for Early Care and Education Research-Dual Language Learners (CECER-DLL)
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. Some studies have shown that preschool DLLs benefit more from attending center-based ECE programs such as Head Start relative to the general Head Start population (Bloom and Weiland, 2015; Cooper and Lanza, 2014; Lee et al., 2014)
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. Further, while it appears that DLLs make significant English language gains when they attend high-quality preschool programs, generic high quality without attention to the unique language needs of DLLs is probably not sufficient to significantly reduce the achievement gap at kindergarten entry and ensure long-term educational success.
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Further, many practical questions remain around the best methods for promoting English language development while continuing to support multiple L1s in English-dominant ECE settings. As discussed above, systematic exposure to English during the preschool years will lead to rapid gains in certain aspects of English language skills by kindergarten entry.
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From page 194... ...
All types of ECE programs throughout the country, such as Head Start, state prekindergarten, community-based child care, and home-based child care, are today reporting not only more DLLs but also representation of a greater number of different languages among the children and families they serve. At the same time, few ECE teachers are fluent in more than one language (Adair, 2015)
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This program, which operated in child development centers and programs, engaged parents and children in joint literacy activities: writing and illustrating dual language stories about themselves -- identity texts -- that were based on family history, events in the children's lives, and topics in which the children were interested. More than 1,000 children were randomly selected from 32 early childhood centers for participation in the intervention.
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Using specific core words in the child's home language to activate knowledge in that language and then explicitly connecting that knowledge to English can facilitate dual language learning (Castro et al., 2010; Gillanders and Castro, 2011)
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• ake time for frequent individual and small-group language learning M experiences. • rovide books and materials that give an authentic representation of the P cultures and L1s of DLLs and their families.
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. CONCLUSIONS Conclusion 5-1: Similar to all young children, dual language learn ers (DLLs)
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are enrolled has been shown to be lower than that of preschool programs and more formal, center-based ECE programs. However, shared linguistic and cultural backgrounds between DLL families and staff in ECE programs are more likely for children ages birth to 3 and in informal ECE settings than in center-based ECE programs, allowing for more L1 support for these DLLs. Conclusion 5-4: It is important for early care and education and home visiting providers to know specific information about individual dual language learners' backgrounds, including their early language learning opportunities, family cultural values, and prior knowledge, so they can individualize instruction and services.
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Conclusion 5-8: Dual language learners (DLLs) families are currently underserved by the federal home visiting program.
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. Identity texts and literacy development among preschool English language learners: Enhancing learning opportunities for children at risk for learning disabilities.
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Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina, FPG Child Development Institute, Center for Early Care and Education Research-Dual Language Learners. Chang, A., and Sandhofer, C.M.
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In Governor's State Advisory Council on Early Learning and Care Sacramento (Ed.) , California's Best Practices for Young Dual Language Learners Research Overview Papers (pp.
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. Child Care Experiences among Dual Language Learners in the U.S.: Analyses of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey-Birth Cohort.
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. Family engagement in early childhood pro grams: Serving families of young dual language learners.
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. The effect of ma ternal language on bilingual children's vocabulary and emergent literacy development during Head Start and Kindergarten.
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. A comparison of difficulty levels of vocabulary in first grade basal readers for preschool dual language learners and monolingual English learners.
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. Dual Language Learners in Head Start: The Promises and Pitfalls of New Reforms.
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. Screening Dual Language Learners in Early Head Start and Head Start: A Guide for Program Leaders.
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. Supporting the language and early literacy skills of English language learners: Effective practices and future directions.
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California's Best Practices for Young Dual Language Learners: Research Overview Papers. Sacramento: Child Development Division, California De partment of Education.
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. Preschool classroom experiences of dual language learners: Summary of findings from publicly funded programs in 11 states.
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. The Early Childhood Workforce for Dual Language Learners: What Do We Know and Where Do We Need to Go?
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