Education Week - May 22, 2013 - (Page 9)

EDUCATION WEEK n MAY 22, 2013 n www.edweek.org 9 Analysis Calls for Dual-Language Pre-K for Young ELLs By Lesli A. Maxwell Young English-language learners still developing oral and literacy skills in their home languages benefit most from early-childhood programs that regularly expose them to both languages. That’s the conclusion of a new federally funded analysis of the large, and growing, population of dual-language learners, ranging from birth to 5, who are already enrolled in or headed for earlycare and early-childhood-education programs. By 2020, preschool-age children in the United States who are exposed to or use a language other than English at home will outnumber their monolingual English-speaking peers, according to some estimates. The analysis, released last week, also emphasizes that duallanguage learners differ from their monolingual peers in how they develop language skills, but it cautions that those differences should not be assumed by caregivers and teachers to be academic risk factors. Young dual-language learners, who are using two separate language systems, will take longer to reach proficiency in both languages than their peers learning only one, the report says. But ultimately, it says, they will reach English fluency faster than they would otherwise if their first language is also supported in the classroom. “Their development is different,” said Dina C. Castro, one of the report’s lead authors. “It’s not better, it’s not worse, just different.” Too often, Ms. Castro said, duallanguage learners’ school readiness gaps in kindergarten are assumed to be language-related, rather than stemming from other factors, such as poverty. Numerous studies have also found that young children learning two languages demonstrate key school-readiness factors: strong social-emotional development and “executive function” skills, such as listening and following directions, the review concludes. ‘Unequivocal’ Findings Conducted by Ms. Castro and other researchers affiliated with the Center for Early Care and Education Research—Dual-Language Learners, the analysis is a summary of more than 200 studies, including research done at the center itself. The studies shed light on how dual-language environments and bilingualism affect language and cognitive development in young children and how early-childhood practices can hinder or help dual-language learners. The center, based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, started its research work in 2009 and is financed through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the agency that oversees the Head Start and Early Head Start programs for poor children. “The recommendations are crystal clear and unequivocal that supporting the home language, as well as English, is the best thing for young dual-language learners,” said Karen N. Nemeth, an earlychildhood and dual-language specialist and a private consultant in Newtown, Pa., who was not involved in the analysis. “It tells us that there are no other good options for these children, and anyone who chooses to run a program for birth to 5 that doesn’t offer home-language support is doing them a disservice.” Many existing dual-language approaches are found in Head Start and Early Head Start, which established standards that require providers to address the needs of dual-language learners and “principles” that direct Head Start programs to develop children’s first languages, as well as English. systems, so that the early duallanguage skills aren’t lost once children move to kindergarten and beyond. Eugene E. García, a professor emeritus of education at Arizona State University in Tempe and a lead author of the analysis, said the research shows clearly that language-development problems for young English-learners crop up when support for their home language is not provided. “It’s counterintuitive. But building the literacy and language skills in the first language helps students build their proficiency skills in English,” said Mr. García, who headed the office of bilingual education in the U.S. Department of Education under President Bill Clinton. That conclusion is still debated in some circles outside of aca- demia, and teaching children in any language other than English remains controversial. The focus of federal education policy for K-12 English-learners for years has been on English-language acquisition, not on developing first languages alongside English to become fully bilingual and biliterate. Mr. García thinks there is potential to shift discussions in federal education policy to the merits of dual-language instruction for ells in K-12. “We haven’t made much headway in reducing the achievement gaps for English-learners” under current policy, he said. “ Their development is different. It’s not better, it’s not worse, just different.” DINA C. CASTRO Center for Early Care and Education Research— Dual-Language Learners Scan this tag with your smartphone for a link to “Dual-Language Learners: Research Informing Policy.” www.edweek.org/links Home-Language Support Some state-provided early-learning programs—the one in Illinois, for example—also require development of home languages in addition to English. Overall, however, few earlychildhood programs feature “intentional” home-language instruction and support, the researchers say. But they argue that the “most important aspect” of effective early-childhood education for dual-language learners is using the home language of young children, in addition to English. When English-language development is the sole emphasis, they write, a child’s first-language skills often decline, hampering progress toward English-language proficiency later. Linda M. Espinosa, another coauthor and a retired professor of early-childhood education at the University of Missouri-Columbia who has written extensively on young dual-language learners, said programs in early-childhood settings “vary enormously.” Many classrooms, for example, don’t have fully bilingual teachers, she said, but still offer frequent opportunities for children to hear, speak, and interact in their first language. Bringing parents and community volunteers who speak the home languages into classrooms to converse with children and read to them is one way of providing support, Ms. Espinosa said. Providing books and music and presenting other classroom materials in the home language is another way. The report recommends making dual language in early-care and early-education programs more widely available. To do that, the authors write, will require federal and state policymakers to support more training programs for earlychildhood educators to bolster the literacy and language development of young dual-language learners. The authors also call for tighter coordination between early-childhood programs and K-12 school Over $370,000 in scholarships. Application deadline: July 15, 2013 Complete details at www.WaldenU.edu/rileyscholarships Teachers make a diﬀerence in countless lives. Our scholarships can make a diﬀerence in yours. Educators like you make a diﬀerence every day. In celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week, Walden University’s Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership, wants to help you make an even bigger diﬀerence by oﬀering more than $370,000 in scholarship awards to educators who wish to continue their education. Scholarships are available to new Walden students enrolling in education bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs.† The Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership, a National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE)–accredited college, is dedicated to enhancing educator eﬀectiveness and improving student achievement. To apply, call an Enrollment Advisor at 1-866-492-5336 or visit www.WaldenU.edu/rileyscholarships for more information. † Only one tuition-reduction beneﬁt may be applied to tuition Walden University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association, www.ncahlc.org. The Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership at Walden University is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). This accreditation covers initial teacher preparation programs and advanced educator preparation programs. However, the accreditation does not include individual education courses offered to preK–12 educators for professional development, relicensure, or other purposes. http://www.edweek.org http://www.edweek.org/links http://www.WaldenU.edu/rileyscholarships http://www.WaldenU.edu/rileyscholarships http://www.WaldenU.edu/rileyscholarships http://www.ncahlc.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Education Week - May 22, 2013

Education Week - May 22, 2013
District Bets Big on Standards
FOCUS ON: EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS: States Stepping Up Mandates for School Safety Drills
INDUSTRY & INNOVATION: Schools Facing the Expiration of Windows XP
Contents
News in Brief
Report Roundup
Debates Roil Over Control of Schools in Baton Rouge
Study: Teenagers’ Brains Are Wired for Peer Approval
Analysis Calls for Dual-Language Pre-K for Young ELLs
PROFILE: Brian Pick
PROFILE: Dowan Mcnair-Lee
PROFILE: Mikel Robinson
States Tighten Disclosure of Teacher Evaluations
Blogs of the Week
NRC Framework Seen as Valued Resource for Educators
A Spec. Ed. Twist on Common-Core Testing
K-12 Colors Campaigns in Virginia, New Jersey
Policy Brief
CYNTHIA G. BROWN: The ‘How’ of Equitable School Funding
JIM CHILDRESS: Designing Learning Spaces for A New Age of Discovery
JEANNE ZAINO: Teaching the Metric System: A Cautionary Tale for the Common Core
Letters
Topschooljobs Recruitment Marketplace
LISA HANSEL: The Common Core Needs a Common Curriculum

Education Week - May 22, 2013