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Archive for the ‘English language learners’ Category

NIEER’s New “State of Preschool” Yearbook

Posted in Achievement gap, Early educators, English language learners, National, Pre-kindergarten, tagged , , on May 16, 2016| Leave a Comment »

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“There’s progress, but…”

That’s the theme of the new “The State of Preschool” 2015 Yearbook, published by NIEER (the National Institute for Early Education Research).

On NIEER’s Preschool Matters blog, in a post called “Slow and (Un)Steady Does Not Win the Race: What Other States Should Learn from New York,” W. Steven Barnett, NIEER’s director, shares his frustration with the troublingly slow pace of policy action. (We’ve added the bold face and underlining for emphasis.)

“The economist John Maynard Keynes famously wrote: ‘The long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead.’ Typically, this phrase is cited to support government intervention over waiting for the eventually self-correcting private sector. As this year’s State of Preschool marks 14 years of tracking state government support for preschool education, I find myself citing Keynes in exasperation with the slow pace of government intervention. At the current rate, it will be another 50 years before states can reach all low-income children at age four, and it will take 150 years to reach 75 percent of all four-year-olds.” (more…)

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Providing Early Educators with High-Quality Coaches and Mentors

Posted in Early educators, English language learners, Literacy, National, Pre-kindergarten, Professional development & preparation, tagged , on April 7, 2016| 2 Comments »

Photo: Alessandra Hartkopf for Strategies for Children

Photo: Alessandra Hartkopf for Strategies for Children

One way to help young children achieve more success, some research suggests, is to provide their teachers with coaches and mentors.

“Mentors and coaches serve as guides and role models who talk openly and directly with teachers about their work, help them improve their skills in interacting with children and families, and provide information and feedback,” Marcy Whitebook writes in an article called “Mentoring and Coaching: Distinctions in Practice,” which was published in the quarterly newsletter of the Preschool Development Grants Technical Assistance (PDG TA) Program.

Whitebook, whom we’ve blogged about several times before, is the director/senior researcher at the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment in the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at the University of California, Berkeley.

Her article distinguishes between “coaching” and “mentoring,” explaining that while they “are often used interchangeably, there can be significant distinctions between these two roles. Mentors tend to focus on the development of an individual teacher… coaches may work either with individuals or with classroom teams as a group…” (more…)

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New Research on the Long-Term Impact of Home Visiting Programs

Posted in Achievement gap, Assessments, Developmentally appropriate practice, English language learners, Family engagement, Infants and toddlers, K-12, Language development, National, Play, Pre-kindergarten, tagged , on March 22, 2016| 2 Comments »

Photo: Kate Samp for Strategies for Children

Photo: Kate Samp for Strategies for Children

A recent study shows that home visiting programs can dramatically improve children’s school readiness.

The study report — “Long-Term Academic Outcomes of Participation in the Parent-Child Home Program in King County, WA,” — explains:

“The Parent-Child Home Program (PCHP) is an intensive two-year home-visiting program aimed at increasing school readiness among young children from families who face multiple obstacles to educational and economic success, such as poverty, low literacy, limited education, and language barriers.”

Families enroll “when children are about two years old and receive two 30-minute visits per week for 23 weeks in each year of the program, for a total of 92 visits.”

The home visitor “shares a language and cultural background with the family” and “uses a non-directive approach and a high-quality toy or book, which is left as a gift for the family, to model behaviors for parents that enhance children’s development.” (more…)

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In Quotes: Meeting the Needs of Young Dual Language Learners

Posted in Early educators, English language learners, Pre-kindergarten, Professional development & preparation, tagged , on February 26, 2016| Leave a Comment »

“We talk a lot about how the the number and percentage of young, multilingual students are growing rapidly in American schools — particularly in the early years. These dual language learners (DLLs) make up nearly one-third of Head Start participants nationwide, and in many communities that ratio is even higher.

“Linguistically diverse children of immigrants are diversifying U.S. student enrollment faster than linguistically diverse adults are diversifying the U.S. teaching force. In other words, immigration skews young. The growth in the number and percentage of multilingual students is moving faster than growth patterns for multilingual teachers. Better instructional programs for DLLs will require developing more — and better — career pathways for linguistically diverse early educators.”

“Starting Early, Starting Right with Dual Language Learners,” by Conor Williams, New America’s EdCentral Blog, February 17, 2016

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Better Birth-to-Third-Grade Polices Could Boost Children’s Reading Skills

Posted in Achievement gap, Assessments, Curriculum, Dept. of Early Education and Care, Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education, Early educators, Early Learning Challenge, English language learners, Federal, Full-day kindergarten, Funding, Higher Education, Infants and toddlers, Literacy, National, Pre-K to 3, Pre-kindergarten, Professional development & preparation, Reading proficiency, Research, Standards and curriculum on December 3, 2015| 1 Comment »

Photo: Micaela Bedell for Strategies for Children

Photo: Micaela Bedell for Strategies for Children

States face a persistent problem: Classrooms full of children who struggle to read.

“Only about one-third of all children attending school in the United States can read proficiently by fourth grade,” the New America foundation explains on its website. “The numbers are even more dismaying for our most vulnerable students. How can state policymakers lessen the achievement gap and improve literacy outcomes for all children?”

To find answers, New America has taken a look at all 50 states’ birth-to-third-grade policies.

The resulting report is a ranking of states called, “From Crawling to Walking: Ranking States on Birth- 3rd Grade Policies that Support Strong Readers.”

“Accompanying the research are interactive maps of state progress displayed via New America’s data visualization and policy analysis tool, Atlas.” This is an easy, graphic way to access findings for individual states. (more…)

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A Multi-Year Plan to Enhance Early Learning in Cambridge

Posted in Cost and affordability, Demographics, Developmentally appropriate practice, Early educators, English language learners, Family engagement, Funding, Health, Pre-K to 3, Pre-kindergarten, QRIS on November 24, 2015| 1 Comment »

Photo: Alessandra Hartkopf for Strategies for Children

Photo: Alessandra Hartkopf for Strategies for Children

The city of Cambridge, Mass., has released its “Early Childhood Task Force Report 2015.” It’s a comprehensive look at how the city can build an early childhood system that improves the lives of its youngest children.

“We should be breaking open bottles of champagne. This is fulfilling hopes and dreams of so many people in Cambridge,” school committee member Fred Fantini said, according to a Wicked Local Cambridge article, which adds:

“The task force [has] developed a three-year-plan to improve early childhood education that would require an intended budget of $190,000 in 2016, $1.3 million in 2017, and $2.3 million in 2018. In the first year of the plan, the money would go towards affordability of early childhood services, program quality, and governance. In 2017 and 2018, family engagement and health care will be included in the budget costs as well.”

In a memo, City Manager Richard C. Rossi explains that the task force did its work with this powerful vision in mind:

“All children in Cambridge receive high quality early education and care from birth through third grade. As a result, all children enter school ready to thrive academically, socially, emotionally and continue to do so through third grade and beyond.” (more…)

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Bilingual Education Makes a Research-Based Comeback

Posted in Demographics, English language learners, K-12, National, Pre-kindergarten on November 18, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Alessandra Hartkopf for Strategies for Children

Photo: Alessandra Hartkopf for Strategies for Children

Bilingual education has had a bumpy history, but now educators increasingly see the power of this approach. Educating children in both their native language and the language of their new homes helps them thrive.

Seventeen years ago, the opposition against bilingual programs — now more commonly known as dual language programs — was fierce.

“In 1998, Ron Unz, a Silicon Valley millionaire and former gubernatorial candidate, set out to abolish bilingual education in California. Fueled by an anti-immigrant climate, Unz spearheaded a statewide campaign for Proposition 227, a highly controversial state initiative that required schools to teach language-minority students almost entirely in English,” an article in the Atlantic says of the recent policy history. (more…)

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In Quotes: Letter from the National Governors Association

Posted in Business and economy, Early educators, English language learners, Federal, Funding, National, Pre-kindergarten, Professional development & preparation, Quotes on November 13, 2015| Leave a Comment »

“On behalf of the nation’s governors, we urge Congress to enhance state early childhood education programs by continuing Preschool Development Grants as part of FY 2016 appropriations.

“Governors understand that early childhood education is a key component of building a literate, knowledgeable and skilled 21st century workforce. Preschool Development Grants, including expansion grants, enable governors to build on their efforts to promote school readiness by accelerating state-focused innovation to improve access and quality in early childhood education. States use the program to better serve our youngest students, including English language learners and early learners with disabilities; improve the professional development of preschool teachers and administrators; and expand access to early education programs to thousands of students.”

A letter from the National Governors Association to Congress, November 10, 2015

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Engaging the Families of Dual Language Learners

Posted in Demographics, Developmentally appropriate practice, English language learners, Family engagement, Health, Language development, National, Pre-kindergarten, Research on September 8, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Caroline Silber for Strategies for Children

Photo: Caroline Silber for Strategies for Children

Families are vital to children’s success, especially children who are dual language learners (DLLs), according to a recent brief from Columbia University’s National Center for Children in Poverty. The brief looks at how early education and care programs can better engage the parents of linguistically diverse families.

In “Supporting Parent Engagement in Linguistically Diverse Families to Promote Young Children’s Learning: Implications for Early Care and Education Policy,” the authors point to a large body of research showing “that varied forms of parent engagement have a positive influence on children’s learning and development.”

“Currently, of the approximately 23 million children in the United States under the age of six years, 8% live in households where no one over the age of 14 is proficient in English,” the brief says. “Young children of immigrants comprise 25 percent of all children under nine years, and 47 percent of foreign born parents of children in this age range report limited English proficiency.”

The brief adds: “Fostering parent engagement in linguistically diverse families during the early childhood period can promote school readiness among children who face higher educational risks, including family poverty and linguistic isolation, while also leveraging key family strengths.” (more…)

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Use Evidence to Enhance Your Advocacy this Fall – Part II

Posted in Boston, Cognitive development, Curriculum, Demographics, Developmentally appropriate practice, Early educators, English language learners, Funding, Head Start, Language development, Literacy, MA Legislature, Pre-kindergarten, Professional development & preparation, QRIS, Research on August 6, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Alyssa Haywoode for Strategies for Children

Photo: Alyssa Haywoode for Strategies for Children

Fall is coming and it’s going to be a busy season for early education and care advocates. There’ll be hearings on important legislation and the crucial work of drafting the budget for fiscal year 2017.

To make the advocacy case, try this useful tool: the 2013 policy brief “Investing in Our Future: The Evidence Base on Preschool Education.”

As we blogged earlier this week, the brief is a “review of the current science and evidence base on early childhood education.” Yesterday, we looked at the impact on children’s academic skills and on their socio-emotional development.

In today’s blog, we’ll look at what the brief says about early education’s quality, its long-term outcomes, and its effect on diverse subgroups.

 

Quality Matters

“Children show larger gains in higher-quality preschool programs,” the brief says, summing up the research. “Higher-quality preschool programs have larger impacts on children’s development while children are enrolled in the program and are more likely to create gains that are sustained after the child leaves preschool.”

“The most important aspects of quality in preschool education are stimulating and supportive interactions between teachers and children and effective use of curricula.” (more…)

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