Supporting School Readiness
among Children Who Are
Dual Language Learners
Robert Stechuk, Ph D
OHS National Center on Cultural &
Linguistic Responsiveness (NCCLR)
Virginia Head Start Association
May 7, 2013
School Readiness for DLLs
• Head Start National demographics:
• (2010-2011) Other Lang
5%
Spanish
24%
English
71%
The Presenter
•
•
•
•
Bob Stechuk
PhD in child development & early literacy
Assistant Director, OHS NCCLR
Former faculty member & research
associate, George Mason University
Graduate School of Education
• Former T/TA provider, MSHS
• Former Head Start Director
• Parent of 2 children who are DLLs
The Presentation
• This day-long training will provide Head
Start program leaders with
1. a comprehensive understanding of
children birth through age five who are
dual language learners;
2. Concrete understandings of strategies
and practices that promote their school
readiness; and
3. “Next steps” planning
Knowing -> Doing
Understanding
Children’s
School
Readiness
Daily
Implementation
The Preview
• As a starting point, we want to consider
“where you are at” with school readiness
for the children who are DLLs in your
program.
• Handout 1: School Readiness for Children
Who Are DLLs: Where are We at NOW?
Preview De-Briefing
• What did you find? Where is your
program “at”?
• What are your program’s strengths?
• What information is your program most
in need of? What program operations
are most in need of improvement?
Session Topics
• Key research findings: the complexity of
dual language development & the
importance of a child’s Home Language
• Screening and assessing children who are
DLLs
• Writing and revising school readiness
goals for children who are DLLs
Session Topics
• Teaching to support school readiness:
1. When teachers speak English
2. When teachers speak the Home
Language
3. Family Engagement
• Working with child data for children who
are DLLs
The complexity of dual language
development & the importance
of a child’s Home Language
Key Research Findings
Complexity
• Monolingual development = one
developmental “pathway”
• Dual language development =
more than one developmental
“pathway”
Dual Language Learners
OHS Definition of Dual Language Learners:
• Children –
– Acquire two or more languages simultaneously (i.e.,
from birth)
OR
– Learn a second language while continuing to develop
their first language
• See the ECLKC – DLL Home Page for more information
http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/culturallinguistic/Dual%20Language%20Learners
Unique Aspects of Dual Language
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Age of acquisition
Amount, frequency & type of exposure
Source(s) and settings for exposure
Language status
Opportunities for use
Access to ideas & information
Increased demands upon memory
Different cultural settings
Cutting the Complexity
• The key question is:
• Is a child’s Home Language important to
their school readiness?
• First, we need to answer “yes” or “no”
and then clearly explain why….
Cutting the Complexity
• Where Do YOU Fit in?
• The leader’s task: aligning content
knowledge of how children develop with
key decisions that affect daily practices in
order to provide children with a strong
foundation for school and life.
QUESTION:
• Are children’s developmental domains
separate or connected? For example, is
language development connected to
identity, social/emotional, and/or
cognitive development?
• The answer to this question answers the
question: Why is the Home language
important?
The Head
Start Child
Development
and Early
Learning
Framework
Answer:
• YES! Children’s developmental domains
are connected. For example, language is
development connected to identity,
social/emotional, and/or cognitive
development….per the OHS CDELF.
• Therefore, the continued development
of a child’s Home Language is important
and necessary for their school readiness!
Importance of Home
Language
• Has been part of OHS policies since 1991.
OHS Multicultural Principle 6:
• “Effective program for children who speak
languages other than English require
continued development of the first
language while the acquisition of English
is facilitated.”
Importance of Home
Language
• Children’s understanding of themselves, their
families and others are developed within their
Home Language.
• Children internalize the language they hear
when parents and family members talk.
• Children think and reflect on information about
themselves, their families, and their
communities using their Home Language.
Importance of Home
Language
• In addition, a wide range of cognitive (thinking)
skills are developing within the Home
Language, such as:
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•
•
•
•
Classification
Categorization
Logical/cause-and-effect reasoning
Narrative abilities (length and complexity)
Concepts related to spatial relations/math
Importance of Home
Language
• Understanding the importance of a child’s
Home Language means making
connections across the relevant
information: First, children develop a
wide range of knowledge, skills and
attitudes within their Home Language.
Second, children need all of these skills
and abilities for school success.
Importance of Home
Language
• Therefore, the best interests of the child
are served by the uninterrupted
development of the Home Language
during the birth – age five period.
• Children benefit when they continue to
develop the knowledge, skills and
attitudes they already have.
Importance of Home
Language
• One key research finding of young DLLs,
presented from many individual studies,
is that children’s knowledge and skills
transfer across languages.
• In other words, skills developed in a
child’s Home Language support reading in
English/school success.
Importance of Home
Language
• Phonological awareness in Spanish
predicted English reading scores
(Gottardo, et al., 2002)
• Oral language proficiency in Spanish
predicted English reading scores (Miller,
et al., 2006)
• See the OHS Multicultural Principles,
pages 47-52, for a more complete
discussion.
Importance of Home
Language
• Continued development of a child’s L1:
1. permits them to continue to develop
their cognitive skills as well as
family/cultural connections; AND
2. promotes their school readiness,
including their acquisition of spoken
English as well as reading in English.
Taking It Home
• Take a few moments to reflect upon the
information presented in this section
• How could you share information with
staff from your program who did not
attend?
Screening and Assessing
Children who are DLLs
Understanding Where
Children are “at”
‘Assessment’: OHS Definition
• The Head Start Program Performance
Standards (1304 & 1308) define and
describe ‘assessment’ as a three-step
process:
– Step 1: Screening
– Step 2: Ongoing (developmental)
assessment
– Step 3: Developmental evaluation
Step 1 - Screening
• “Screening” is: To identify children that
need to be referred for a development
evaluation (i.e., to determine if the child
has a disability [i.e. Step 3, Formal
Evaluation).
• 1308.6 (3) (b) (3) clearly states: When
appropriate standardized developmental
screening instruments exist, they must be
used.
Screening DLLs
• For Spanish-speaking children: Standardized
screening instruments are available.
Use Assessing
Spanish-English
Bilingual
Preschool Children
to identify &
select appropriate
options.
Screening DLLs
• Assessing Spanish-English Bilingual
Preschoolers
– Reviews 37 instruments in Spanish & English
– Compares relative strengths &
– weaknesses, administration tasks,
– cost
– Publisher: Paul H. Brookes
– ISBN: 13-978-1-59857-219-3
Screening DLLs
• For Spanish-speaking
children:
Consider using
parent-based
screening
instruments (e.g.,
Ages and Stages
Questionnaire) in
conjunction with
another instrument.
Screening DLLs in Languages
Other than Spanish
1.Valid & reliable instruments are
virtually impossible to obtain.
2.Use parent-based screening
instruments (e.g., Ages and Stages
Questionnaire) in conjunction with
teacher’s (and, if possible) home visit
observations.
Activity 1
• Question: What
language do we screen
in???
• Activity: In your group,
identify the
procedures your
program uses to
screen DLLs.
Pre-Screening
• Use the Gathering Background Information
Handout to identify information about how to
screen an individual child.
Activity 1
• Home language environments of “Latino” infants are
highly variable:
– Only Spanish spoken – 19%
– Primarily Spanish spoken with some English – 35%
– Primarily English spoken with some Spanish – 22%
– Only English spoken – 21% (see Barrueco et al., 2012)
• Communicate with the family to understand a child’s
language background; screen in all languages the
child is growing up with.
Activity Wrap-Up
• Gather
information from
the family about
the child’s
language
background and
experiences
• Screen children
in the languages
they are
developing
Step 2 – Ongoing Assessment
• Ongoing (developmental) assessment =
– Regular information collection throughout
child’s enrollment
– Identify a child’s strengths and needs as well
as family goals, resources
– Support individualizing
– Support family engagement
– Plan instruction to maximize the child’s
learning
Assessing within languages
Assessing across languages
The Head Start Child Development
and Early Learning Framework
• 11 Domains, including English
Language Development
• English Language Development
applies to children who are Dual Language Learners
– Receptive and Expressive English Language Skills
– Engagement in English Literacy Activities
• The Framework provides the basis for supporting
children’s home language – a child’s knowledge must
be assessed in either their home language or in English
Assessing across languages
Concepts
expressed in
the Home
Language
Total
Conceptual
Knowledge
Concepts
expressed in
English
Ongoing Assessment for DLLs
• Teacher observations are vital:
– Look for and document examples
of skills and knowledge
– Record information about
attention span, persistence and
interests
– Document interactions with other
children and adults
– Share and compare information
with families over time
– Consider family data!
Activity 2
• Use the Gathering Background Information Handout
(“puzzle pieces”) with a partner to identify
information about an individual child.
 One person play the role of
a parent; one person take
the role of Head Start staff.
 What did you learn about
the child? How could you
use the information for
teaching?
Using Ongoing Assessment
Data
– “Collecting” – identify a child’s strengths and
needs from 3 sources:
• Families
• Observations
• Instruments
– “Connecting” –
• Use understandings of a child’s strengths to plan
specific learning activities.
• Use understandings of needs to guide supports,
selection of materials, and language modeling.
Measuring English Progress
• For children who enter your program with little
or no prior experience in English
– Observe and record information about a child’s
receptive capabilities in English.
– Use curriculum-based objectives to guide
observations: e.g., ask the child to show you
(point to) a red car or three blocks.
– Consider using instruments that assess receptive
language or receptive vocabulary in English.
“Strategic” Assessment
• Several strategies for supporting teaching
staff to be effective assessors:
1. Explore the match between “naturally
occurring” assessment items & the daily
curriculum
2. Gather data during dramatic play
3. Make use of “work samples”
4. Gather data after book readings
Taking It Home - 2
• Take a few moments to reflect upon the
information presented in this section
• How could you share information with
staff from your program who did not
attend?
Writing and revising school
readiness goals for children
who are DLLs
Using S-R Goals as an Organizing Tool
S-R Goals
• Required for all children; essential to OHS
S-R focus
• Use S-R goals as “organizing tools” for
data collection & analysis
• Consider how to write/revise goals for
children who are DLLs
The Head
Start Child
Development
and Early
Learning
Framework
Goals & Data
DRS 1307.2 Definitions: Aggregate childlevel assessment data means:
the data collected by an agency on the
status and progress of the children it
serves that have been combined to
provide summary information about
groups of children …such as dual
language learners…
S-R Goals
• Write/revise S-R goals for DLLs to
promote effective:
• Assessment
• Teaching
• Data collection & analysis
• Base specific goals on what you know
about your teachers and your children.
Examples
• Children who are dual language learners
(DLLs) will demonstrate increased
competency in their home language while
developing proficiency in English.
• Spanish-speaking children will increase
their Spanish alphabet knowledge by
50%
Examples
• Children will show an interest in varied
topics and activities, an eagerness to
learn, creativity, and independence in
their interactions with activities and
materials.
• Children will learn and use words and
concepts that parallel the information
available in activities and materials.
Taking It Home - 3
• Take a few moments to reflect upon the
information presented in this section
• How could you share information with
staff from your program who did not
attend?
Teaching to Support
School Readiness
•When Teachers Speak English
•When Teachers Speak Children’s
Home Language
Activity
• At your table, discuss the
following:
• What are the possible
relationships between ‘teaching’
and “child outcomes”?
• What does it mean to
“individualize” teaching?
Activity De-brief
• Teaching does not always result in
learning
• Effective modeling of English is based on
key principles of DAP: child interests,
choices, emotional support and good
language models
When Teachers Speak
English
How Can We Provide “Good Language
Models” for Children who are DLLs?
When Teachers Speak English
• In many Head Start classrooms, teachers
speak English and the children may speak
a variety of home languages. When
teachers do not share the same language
as the children in the classroom, they can
get “thrown off” –
• But teachers still have the ability to
communicate – and be effective models
of English.
When Teachers Speak English
• Key starting points:
1. Children are born with a natural desire
to learn and powerful capacities to
acquire language.
2. Receptive languages precedes
expressive language (i.e., listening
comprehension before speaking
• See Handout 5
When Teachers Speak English
• Teachers and other program staff can
work with families to support the home
language throughout the child’s
schooling.
• This is the core of family engagement for
families who speak languages other than
English.
S-R: Pieces Together
Effective Classroom Practices
Modeling English
Individualizing
Family Engagement
Home Language
Learning
Child Outcomes
Home Language
English
S-R: Pieces Together
• How Can We Provide
“Good Language
Models” for Children
who are DLLs?
• Art area
• Book area
• Housekeeping/
Dramatic
• Manipulatives
• Meal times
• Outdoors
• Routines
• Science, Math,
Writing
Modeling English =
1. Get the child involved in an activity that they
enjoy; offer the child choices of activities as
needed…
2. As the activity continues, observe the child’s
actions…support continued activity, AND
3. Provide language models that connect to the
child’s ongoing activity (for example, the
“self talk” and “parallel talk” strategies
within the CLASS instrument).
Supporting School Readiness
When Teachers Speak the Home
Language(s) of the Children
When Teachers Speak the
Home Language
• High-quality adult child interactions,
including extended conversations that
build vocabulary and elaborate upon
ideas and information
• Daily book-reading, combined with
multiple oral language strategies, such as
talking about the book before and after
the story, explaining new words during
reading, etc.
When Teachers Speak the
Home Language
• Activities that promote children’s
enriched vocabulary, levels of executive
function and specific approaches to
learning, letter knowledge, print
concepts, phonological awareness in the
home language
• In sum, address the elements of the OHS
CD ELF and the CLASS in children’s Home
Language.
Family Engagement
Partners in Progress
Family Engagement
• High-quality adult child interactions,
including extended conversations that
build vocabulary and elaborate upon
ideas and information….
• “predict” children’s success in reading
and in school
• Children benefit most when home and
preschool environments are “in sync.”
Family Engagement
• Teachers and other program staff can
work with families to support the home
language and to implement daily learning
and language experiences.
• The key is to communicate that these
daily practices are directly connected to
long-term school success
• Key strategies can be implemented in
classrooms and homes.
Taking It Home - 4
• Take a few moments to reflect upon the
information presented in this section
• How could you share information with
staff from your program who did not
attend?
Working with Child Data for
Children who are DLLs
Measuring Progress;
Maximizing Potentials
Activity
• At your tables, discuss the following:
• Why do we collect, analyze, and use child
data in EHS/HS?
• How do we collect, analyze, and use data
on the children who are DLLs in our
program?
Key Terms
• Aggregated data =
• Data analysis =
• Interpretation =
• Progress =
School Readiness for DLLs
DRS 1307.2 Definitions
Aggregate child-level assessment data
means:
the data collected by an agency on the
status and progress of the children it
serves that have been combined to
provide summary information about
groups of children …such as dual
language learners…
Measuring Progress - Options
• 1307: “…one or more valid and reliable
assessments of a child's status and
progress, including but not limited to:
– Direct assessment (standardized instrument)
– Structured observations
– Checklists
– Staff or parent report measures
– Portfolio records or work samples
Taking It Back Home
Planning “Next Steps” & Follow up
References
• Barrueco, S., Lopez, M., Ong, C., & Lozano, P. (2012).
Assessing Spanish-English bilingual preschoolers: A
guide to best approaches and measures. Baltimore,
MD: Brookes.
• Office of Head Start. Multicultural Principles for Head
Start Programs Serving Children Ages Birth to Five
http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/culturallinguistic/Dual%20Language%20Learners/ecd/culture_a
nd_diversity/manage_pub_00602a1_092305.html
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Closing
• Thank you for participating! Feel free to
contact us:
– Office of Head Start National Center on Cultural and
Linguistic Responsiveness
– Toll free (855) 494-0331
– ncclrinfo@edc.org
– Visit our website:
http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/ttasystem/cultural-linguistic