INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the English Language Learners Bulletin

Program Performance Standards: Supporting Home Language and English Acquisition

A Head Start for All Children

Glossary of Terms

THE COMMUNITY AND FAMILIES

Community Collaboration: The Key to Serving All Families

Bienvenida a Irelys Ramírez

A Head Start Parent’s Perspective on Language Learning

The Parent-Mentoring Initiative is Underway

Supporting English Language Learners Through Family Literacy Services

How Can Teachers and Parents Help Young Children Become (and Stay) Bilingual?

Building Strong Language Foundations in Early Head Start

Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Programs: Juntos hacemos la diferencia

EDUCATIONAL LEADERS

Creating a Vision for Supporting English Language Learners

Welcome to the Sharing and Learning Place

A View from Puerto Rico

A New Resource for Head Start Leaders is Here!

TEACHERS AND HOME VISITORS SPEAK

How Teachers Support English Language Leaners in the Classroom

Beginning the New School Year with Learners from Many Cultures

A Visit to the Rainforest

Head Start: An Avenue to Revitalize a Language

Talking with a Teacher

Offering Families a Language Choice During Home Visits

An Asian Perspective on Language Issues

ASSESSMENT

Assessment of English Language Learners: Challenges and Strategies

The National Reporting System and English Language Learners

The Impact of Language Differences on Preschoolers' Challenging Behavior

RESOURCES

PULL OUT: Strategies to Support Positive Child Outcomes for English Language Learners

Documento desprendible: Estrategias que fomentan resultados positivos en los niños que están aprendiendo inglés

Resources

Webliography

Welcome to the English Language Learners Bulletin

Vietnamese, Hmong, Chinese, Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Russian, Tagalog, and American Sign Language. These are but a few of the languages spoken by today’s Head Start children and families. Our extended Head Start family has evolved from a program that, in its early years, served a population of English language learners who were primarily Spanish speaking, to the current cultural representation that includes over 140 languages!

As Associate Commissioner of the Head Start Bureau, I’m delighted to introduce this Head Start Bulletin, which offers a wealth of essential information about English language learners. It includes articles about research-based instructional strategies that support first and second language acquisition. There also are descriptions of Head Start programs that successfully serve diverse populations. Parents, program managers, Head Start Bureau staff, and family literacy partners share first-hand accounts of their experiences in serving the dynamic diversity of English language learners in Head Start.

This Bulletin is the latest in a series of efforts the Head Start Bureau has made over the years to support English language learners. The Head Start Program Performance Standards, first published in 1972, require that classroom environments be structured to help each child build ethnic pride and that home languages are supported. In 2002, the English Language Learners Focus Group was convened in Washington, D.C. to discuss and make recommendations about effective approaches with diverse populations in Head Start. Additionally, the new Head Start Leaders Guide to Positive Child Outcomes provides research-based strategies that promote the progress of English language learners in all areas of learning and development.

The National Head Start Hispanic Institute, held in Albuquerque, New Mexico from January 31- February 4, 2005, represents another commitment of the Head Start Bureau to provide knowledge and tools that programs need to provide effective, culturally appropriate services to English language learners. Since I have been Associate Commissioner, a number of efforts have been made to provide improved services to our growing number of Hispanic staff and families. At our conferences, Spanish interpreters are available (as they are for American Sign Language), publications are printed in Spanish, including the invaluable Building Blocks for Father Involvement, and the recent Parent Mentor Training has been offered to Spanish speakers.

As you begin to read this Bulletin, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and honor your dedication to English language learners and their families. The Head Start Bureau embraces the cultural and language diversity of our extended family and values this diversity as a tremendous resource for our programs as well as for our nation.

Windy M. Hill was named Associate Commissioner of the Head Start Bureau on January 7, 2002.

Program Performance Standards: Supporting Home Language and English Acquisition

The goal is to design services for ELLs that meet the standards AND respond to your program’s unique situation.
by Michele Plutro

This Bulletin reminds us that every year, Head Start programs are steadily increasing in the number of enrolled families and children whose home language is other than English, as well as in the number of languages spoken. Fortunately, Head Start has a long, rich history of serving culturally and linguistically diverse populations, as well as strong programmatic requirements in the Head Start Program Performance Standards to ensure a high quality program for all children and families.

In fact, there are over 20 standards in the Program Performance Standards that specifically refer to the home language, the learning of English, or the cultural background of families and children. The standards require programs to address the needs of English language learners (ELLs) and their families. These requirements cut across multiple service areas: Child Health and Developmental Services; Education and Early Childhood Development; Child Nutrition; Family Partnerships; Management Systems and Procedures; Human Resources Management; and Facilities, Materials, and Equipment.

More specifically, the Program Performance Standards require that programs:

• provide an environment of acceptance that supports and respects gender, culture, language, ethnicity, and family composition;
• serve foods that reflect cultural and ethnic preferences;
• communicate with families in their preferred or primary language or through an interpreter, to the extent feasible;
• hire staff, whenever possible, who speak the home languages of infants and toddlers, and when a majority of children speak the same language, hire at least one classroom staff member or home visitor who speaks their language; and
• promote family participation in literacy-related activities in both English and the home languages.

Other standards play important supportive roles in creating successful and responsive program services for all children, including ELLs and their families.

The Program Performance Standards tell us what to do, but not how to implement. They help us understand what the requirements for each service area are, but they do not limit how we are to meet these requirements. For example, each Head Start program still determines how to address the requirements for community partnerships, the transition of children to elementary school, the family partnership agreements, and ongoing assessment.

What are the advantages of being bilingual? A review of research (Augusta & Hakuta 1997) indicates that bilingual children often have higher levels of cognitive achievement than monolingual children.

Excerpt from Phillip C. Gonzales, Becoming Bilingual: First and Second Language Acquisition (http://www.headstartinfo.org/English_lang_learners_tkit.htm)

The same is true for the required services to families and children learning English. Each program must continue to determine the most effective ways to communicate with the children and families they serve, to support home languages, and to help children learn English.

However, the Guidance accompanying each standard offers examples and illustrations of how to implement the standard. Other suggestions about putting the standards into action appear in this issue of the Bulletin, in other Head Start publications including the Head Start Leaders’ Guide to Positive Child Outcomes, and in Web-based resources, such as STEP-Net.

When some Head Start programs discuss services for English language learners, they say they “don’t know what to do and don’t know where to start.” First, they need to become very familiar with the Program Performance Standards and the accompanying Guidance. Then, they can take a close look at their English language learners and their families, their staff, and their community resources. The goal is to design services for ELLs that meet the standards and also respond to the program’s unique situation.

In fact, many Head Start programs around the nation have successfully determined how to meet the requirements of the Program Performance Standards. They report that children whose primary language is other than English are making progress in all areas of learning and development. Many families recognize that the Head Start program has effectively supported their home language and helped them and their children learn English. Recent demographic data from the National Reporting System and the Child and Family Experiences Survey (FACES) provide evidence of Head Start’s reach in serving diverse populations.

This is not to suggest that Head Start has done it all or done enough for ELLs and their families. We are still identifying best practices at the classroom and administrative levels; we are still considering how to provide training and resources to teachers, home visitors, and other staff; we are still cultivating community partners who will help us meet the needs of families. Our charge is to do what we are required to do, to provide the best services possible, to look for ways to improve what we are doing, and to implement changes to ensure positive outcomes for Head Start children and their families. Let us take even greater advantage of the local design and implementation flexibility that characterizes effective Head Start programs.

Each time we reflect on the evolution of Head Start, as well as the services designed and delivered, we should be struck by our demonstrated capacity to collectively deal with change and to embrace diversity. This current area of demand, indicated by the increasing numbers of ELLs and the variety of languages in our programs, should showcase our collective strengths. As we move forward at the local and the national levels to serve our richly diverse Head Start population, let us agree to be early childhood leaders, innovators, and open learners.

Michele Plutro is the Educational Affairs Specialist in the Office of the Associate Commissioner at the Head Start Bureau. T: 202-205-8912; E: mplutro@acf.hhs.gov

A Head Start for All Children

This Bulletin is dedicated to all those who support English
language learners in Head Start and Early Head Start
programs.
by Jessica Knight

Where I grew up in northern New Mexico, nearly everyone spoke English and Spanish, and some of my friends also spoke Tewa, the language of the local Native American Pueblo. My home language was English, and I learned Spanish in a bilingual preschool. Our group of 4-5 year olds went on many outings to the town square where we watched weavers at work, chatted with the elders, and sometimes, used the horno (adobe oven) to make bread for our snack. I went to a very culturally diverse public elementary school. My high school was on the Pojoaque Indian Pueblo. My world consisted of friends who switched between English and Spanish, depending on who was a part of the conversation.

I became certified as a teacher of English as a Second Language and in Bilingual Education. I taught in Guatemala in an early childhood dual language setting, in New Mexico in a kindergarten/first grade bilingual combination classroom, and in Japan in a second grade Spanish immersion classroom. As I worked in these different educational settings, I was impressed with how easily the children accepted different languages, styles, and customs. They were well on their way to becoming global citizens.

When I joined the Head Start Bureau, I fell in love with the Head Start Program Performance Standards and the numerous ways they require that programs provide an “environment of acceptance” for children and families from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds (1304.21 (a)(1)(iii). The Head Start Child Outcomes Framework continues to promote the language and literacy development of all preschoolers and requires that English language learners show progress in their acquisition of the new language.

This Head Start Bulletin is dedicated to all who support English language learners in Head Start and Early Head Start programs. Diversity is one of the strengths of Head Start as well as one of its challenges. Whether your program works with families and children who speak the same language in the classroom—Spanish, Mandarin, Hebrew, English, or another language—or whether your program has many languages represented in a setting, you will be able to read about different perspectives on English language learners in this Bulletin.

The articles are organized into the following sections: The Community and Families; Educational Leaders; Teachers and Home Visitors Speak; Assessment; and Resources. There are discussions of program policy related to English language learners, instructional strategies, curriculum planning, challenging behaviors related to language development, and research reviews of language acquisition. A glossary of terms is included. Developmental continuity and individual differences are addressed in the articles. There are personal accounts describing how Head Start staff have been creative and sensitive in their work with culturally and linguistically diverse children and families.

The authors include academics, researchers, administrators, mentor-coaches, and teachers. They represent geographical diversity too—they come from Head Start and Early Head Start programs in urban Puerto Rico and rural Alaska; from migrant programs in upstate New York and the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma; from the suburbs of Virginia, the Hawaiian Islands, and the coastal city of Portland, Maine. Appearing throughout the articles are research “nuggets” which are extracted from the longer, research-based discussions available at www.headstartinfo.org/English_lang_learners_tkit.htm. The research “nuggets” are noted by a lightbulb icon.

With a firm foundation in their home language and in English, Head Start children will be able to achieve positive outcomes and to succeed in school and in life. I hope that all of us who work in Head Start will do our best to ensure that the children and families in our programs are successful in a culturally and linguistically diverse world.

online…For more information on Head Start, visit our site at www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/hsb

Glossary of Terms

Information comes from AskNCELA’s glossary of terms related to the education of linguistically and culturally diverse students at www.ncela.gwu.edu/expert/glossary.html

BILINGUAL: Refers to the use of two languages. However, defining bilingualism is problematic since individuals with varying bilingual characteristics may be classified as bilingual. There may be distinctions between ability and use of a language; variation in proficiency across the four language dimensions (listening, speaking, reading and writing); differences in proficiency between the two languages; variation in proficiency due to the use of each language for different functions and purposes; and variation in language proficiency over time (Baker & Jones 1998). People may become bilingual either by acquiring two languages at the same time in childhood or by learning a second language sometime after acquiring their first language.

BICULTURAL: Identifying with the cultures of two different language groups. To be bicultural is not necessarily the same as being bilingual, and vice-versa (Baker 2000). Dominant Language: The language with which the speaker has greater proficiency and/or uses more often (Baker 2001). See Primary Language.

DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM/DUAL IMMERSION:
Educational programs designed to serve both language minority and language majority students concurrently. Two language groups are put together and instruction is delivered through both languages. For example, native English-speakers might learn Spanish as a foreign language while continuing to develop their English literacy skills, and Spanish-speaking ELLs learn English while developing literacy in Spanish. Also known as two-way immersion or two-way bilingual education.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS (ELLs): Children whose first language is not English and who are in the process of learning English.

ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL): An educational approach in which English language learners are instructed in the use of the English language.

HOME LANGUAGE: The language a person acquires first in life or identifies with as a member of an ethnic group (Baker 2000). It is sometimes referred to as the first, native or primary language.

IMMERSION: An approach to teaching language using the target language as the only means of instruction.

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: The process of acquiring a first or second language. Some linguists refer to acquisition as the informal development of a person’s second language and learning as the process of formal study of a second language. Other linguists do not distinguish between formal learning and informal acquisition. The process of acquiring a second language is different from acquiring the first (Baker 2000).

LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE: The protection and promotion of the first or native language in an individual or within a speech community, particularly among language minorities (through bilingual education, for example). The term is often used with reference to policies that protect and promote minority languages (Baker 2000).

MONOLINGUAL: Refers to using or knowing only one language. (American Heritage Dictionary 2000).

MULTICULTURAL: The broad term used to refer to several cultures. It also relates to a social or educational approach that encourages interest in many cultures. (American Heritage Dictionary 2000).

MULTILINGUAL: Refers to the use of three or more languages.

PRIMARY LANGUAGE: The language in which bilingual/multicultural speakers are most fluent or which they prefer to use. This is not necessarily the language first learned in life (Baker 2000). It is also referred to as dominant language.

SECOND LANGUAGE: This term is used in several ways and can refer to 1) the second language learned chronologically, 2) a language other than the native language, 3) the weaker language, or 4) the less frequently used language. Second language may also be used to refer to third and further learned languages (Harris & Hodges 1995). Second Language Acquisition: The learning of a second language, often English.

SEQUENTIAL ACQUISITION: The process of acquiring a second language after the basis for the first language has been established (Tabors 1997).

SIMULTANEOUS ACQUISITION: The process of acquiring two languages from a very early age (Tabors 1997).

References can be obtained from the NCELA Web site.

Community Collaboration: The Key to Serving All Families

How a Head Start program developed effective services for its refugee and immigrant families.
by Kathleen Sullivan

Fifty–two languages are spoken in the city of Portland, Maine. That’s kind of surprising, given that the last U.S. Census reported that Maine was the least diverse state! But Portland has been designated by the State Department as a Refugee Resettlement city. The refugee families who have resettled have discovered that Portland is a safe and welcoming town. Friends and family members have followed as secondary migrants from other resettlement areas across the country. During the last decade, the influx of refugee, secondary migrant, and immigrant families has changed the face of our small city.

Of course, these demographic changes are reflected in the population we serve in our Head Start, Early Head Start, and child care programs. Our programs are operated by the People’s Regional Opportunity Program (PROP), a community action agency. We serve Maine’s most populous county, Cumberland County. The number of languages spoken by families in our programs has increased steadily and now averages about 20 languages. In any classroom, there might be as many as ten different languages spoken by the children. Since one language may be shared by various cultures, the diversity of cultures is even greater.

All this change sweeping across our city has resulted in a huge learning curve for our community and our agency. First and foremost, we have identified dialogue with the families and the communities as the primary vehicle for effective and responsive program planning and change. Head Start and other service programs have developed effective strategies for reaching these new populations.

The Cross-Cultural Family Network

In 1997, we began to take a closer look at the cultures of the refugee and immigrant families enrolled in our programs. Their perspectives on child rearing practices and their perceptions of social service institutions differed from ours, which hindered our communication. The result was a negative impact on the ability of these new families to rear their children uneventfully. For example, service providers who did not understand traditional medical practices were calling the Child Abuse and Neglect Council to ask if these practices were deemed abusive by the State (the answer was “no”). At the same time, refugee families did not know how to find out about best parenting practices in the U.S.

To ensure clearer understanding across cultures, PROP’s Head Start program and the Cumberland County Child Abuse and Neglect Council co-founded the Cross-Cultural Family Network. The Network is comprised of community providers, educators, interpreters, and representatives from the refugee and immigrant groups. Our mission is to obtain and provide information, offer workshops and conferences, provide opportunities for collaborative problem-solving, and offer a perspective on crosscultural issues to the larger Portland community.

The Network’s first goal was to design and disseminate culturally sensitive materials on U.S. child rearing practices and laws. Working with cultural liaisons, interpreters, and child development professionals, we developed and translated pamphlets for the five most populous cultural groups in the area.

Over the past six years, we have continued to offer workshops on a community and statewide level on topics such as evolving demographics of our community and holiday practices. In addition, we offer monthly forums to service providers and others where they can identify challenges and determine best practices.

Stages of Sequential Acquisition of a Second Language

Tabors and Snow (1994) have identified four stages of sequential acquisition of a new language. The stages represent a general pattern of second language learning for children, after the age of 3, in English-speaking settings.

Stage 1: Home Language Use. Monolingual children in a new language environment continue to speak their home language.

Stage 2: Nonverbal Period. This stage begins when children start to realize that their primary language is not being understood. They will become quiet, watching and listening intently, and often use nonverbal means to communicate.

Stage 3: Telegraphic and Formulaic Speech. During this time, children intentionally use individual vocabulary words in the new language or put them together in a short sequence or short sentence. Some mixing of the English and the home language may occur.

Stage 4: Productive Language. The child begins to speak English relatively well. Sentences may be rather awkward and words over- or under-generalized at times.

Excerpt from Phillip C. Gonzales, Becoming Bilingual: First and Second Language Acquisition (http://www.headstartinfo.org/English_lang_learners_tkit.htm)

Educational Services for Children

As the demographics of our classrooms have changed, so has the need to assess our teaching strategies. One of the greatest challenges is that educational expectations vary across cultures. Approaches to individualization, guidance and discipline, and disabilities differ. Our education staff has made great efforts to learn about the desires and values of each family for their young children.

A training priority has been supporting staff working with English Language Learners (ELLs). Our approach has evolved as we have begun to understand the complexity of second or third language development in young children. The first workshops our staff attended were conducted by the Multilingual, Multicultural Office of the Portland Public Schools with Title VII funding (now Title III of No Child Left Behind Act).

In 2001, nine education staff from our program attended a conference on ELL teaching strategies in Rhode Island. The training focused on classroom practice and incorporated recommendations from One Child, Two Languages by Patton Tabors (1997). Subsequently, we purchased this book for every classroom serving ELLs and recommended it to the school system. We developed inservice training based on the workshops we had attended and used the book as a resource.

Next, we conducted a formal assessment of our practices and then planned a comprehensive ELL training series. We were awarded an Early Learning Opportunities grant from the Child Care Bureau (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services) to carry out this plan. The grant included provisions for multicultural activities which became a perfect vehicle for moving our work forward.

First, we hired consultants from the community who were credentialed in ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and familiar with the populations we serve. Over the course of a year, they observed our classrooms and reviewed our assessment tools, curriculum, and policies. They held focus groups with staff and management to assess needs and concerns. Based on their findings, they made recommendations concerning our work with ELLs and refugee families, and subsequently developed a comprehensive training series.

The training began with a report on our cultural responsiveness as an agency. We then discussed best practice models that incorporate current research findings about multilingual, multicultural service delivery. To assure program-wide recognition and understanding of the changing dynamics of our work, all managers, lead teachers, and family service workers were required to attend the series.

In addition to participating in the training, PROP Head Start has:

• adapted an observational tool (from Tabors 1997) for teachers to track English language acquisition and
• formed a “Multicultural Book Group” that meets once a month.

To maintain our momentum, the consultants met with our entire management team again in the fall 2003. We reviewed their recommendations and talked about further implementation. This continuing dialogue has been instrumental in shifting the focus of our staff and classrooms around this work.

Various community resources have helped support language acquisition and the home cultures in our classrooms. We have hired bilingual community members to work in the classrooms. They remain until the children understand the routine and feel comfortable in the new setting. Because each child adjusts differently, interpreters may remain with children for one week or three months.

We also have partnered with the foreign language department of a local university. Students who are bilingual in English and Spanish volunteer in our programs for two days a week for a semester and earn course credit. Bilingual community members make recordings of children’s books in both English and the home language. Then high school volunteers put them onto CDs. Parents help us label the classrooms with words from their home languages. In addition to promoting the home languages, these activities allow us to learn more about the children’s cultures.

A Unique Literacy Project

The most inspiring and informative multicultural project was the “New Mainer Book Project,” a collaboration between PROP and the Maine Humanities Council. We identified the Sudanese culture in Portland as being under-represented in children’s literature. Community elders helped the project recruit Sudanese women to tell stories that were important to them—stories that they would like their children to hear.

During the fall of 2003, we met with the Sudanese women. We found that the most effective way to involve refugee families in outreach projects was to meet them at times when they would normally congregate. For the Sudanese communities, this meant meeting on Sundays after church.

Because there are many tribes and dialects in the Sudan, we met tribe by tribe. We ate together and listened as the stories were told. We heard fables, folktales, creation myths, and anecdotal accounts of love, marriage, birthing, and loss. In all, approximately 50 women participated in the project.

The Maine Humanities Council engaged a noted children’s author (who spoke some Arabic) to collect the stories into a book that reflects the Sudanese experience. Although the book is still in the early stages, the information we gathered about the Sudanese way of life has been invaluable to our staff—information that was often missed when reading an article or conversing quickly with a parent.

Staff Development and Hiring

To reach out to the new communities we serve and to involve them meaningfully in our work, we started to attend Parent Advisory Council (PAC) meetings held by the Portland public schools. PACs are culturally specific groups that focus on issues affecting parents of school-age children. They are held on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, so weekend work has become an important part of the outreach effort. We learned that many Portland families do not understand what PROP offers nor do they realize the comprehensive nature of Head Start.

To address these needs in the multicultural community and to further develop the cultural competence of staff, we formed an agency-wide Cultural Capacity Committee for outreach, training, and hiring. While participation was voluntary, we asked that each department of the agency send a representative.

The initial activities of the Cultural Capacity Committee led us directly into the communities. We attended a Multicultural Outreach Breakfast, neighborhood block parties, and school PAC meetings. We developed a multicultural resource library and offered culture-by-culture workshops regarding education, home visits, and barriers to accessing service. One of the most important efforts was the identification and establishment of “Cultural Brokers” (bilingual/bicultural liaisons) who helped introduce our programs to the community and train staff regarding culturally specific concerns.

Through the work of the Cultural Capacity Committee, we have changed how we conduct our work. We have developed culturally responsive policies about interpreting, holidays, toileting, and meal-modification.

While services to families have improved, recruiting and employing refugee and immigrant parents remain areas of growth for us. With Early Learning Opportunities funding, the agency has brought together Somali and Sudanese women at our local resource and referral agency (Child Care Connections) to discuss issues of childrearing. Many women were interested in starting their own home daycare centers or working in local preschool and child care centers.

In response, we collaborated with Portland Adult Education, Child Care Connections, the Child Abuse and Neglect Council, and several other child care programs in the city to offer pre-vocational ESOL classes to 15 refugee women. The classes were held on-site at a neighboring child care center, and child care was provided.

Because the job interview process in the United States is very different, PROP offered “practice” interviews. We modeled and coached the women to talk about themselves and their achievements so they would be competitive applicants in the job market. In turn, our staff and Policy Council representatives learned how to successfully engage the applicants in the interviewing process. As a result, three participants have been hired as permanent staff in the agency while three others are on the substitute list.

Final Thoughts

We at PROP know that this work is very time consuming and that weekend work is necessary. We also know that we have more to learn, yet, we have made much progress. We have established credibility with both the provider and client communities. Families want to enroll their children in our programs. Parents want to be employed in the agency. Other groups seek us out as collaborators. Cultural brokers demonstrate their appreciation of our commitment by offering free training, interpreting, or research services. The benefit to the agency, and to all of us who have been involved in this multicultural endeavor, is without measure.

REFERENCES

Tabors, P. 1997. One child, two languages. A guide for preschool educators of children learning English as a second language. Baltimore, MD: Paul. H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Kathleen Sullivan is a Children’s Services Team Leader at PROP Child and Family Services, Portland, ME. T: 207-874-1140; E: ksullivan@propeople.org

Bienvenida a Irelys Ramírez

Irelys Ramírez is the Bilingual Program Specialist at the Head Start Bureau. She first learned about Head Start when her young daughter was enrolled in a program. For Irelys, one of the most valuable and distinctive components of the program was parent involvement.

Irelys comes from Region II, where she has worked with several ACF programs for more than 20 years. In 1997, she joined Head Start as a Program Specialist; providing guidance, technical assistance and policy interpretation to local grantees in Puerto Rico. According to Irelys, the best part of her job was visiting Head Start centers, where she was able to observe teachers and children in action. She adds, "The teachers and directors have such passion for their work that they continually inspired me to assist them in improving their programs." She was also a Team Leader for on-site PRISM reviews.

Looking ahead to her new role, Irelys is committed to supporting the Head Start Bureau in the development of policies and strategies for English language learners and their families served in Head Start and Early Head Start.

A Head Start Parent’s Perspective on Language Learning

By Sahar Ali

My children started out in a home-based Head Start program. The home visitor helped us get used to life in a new country. We were speaking both Arabic and English at home. When my children entered the center-based program, I participated in early literacy training in order to work in the classroom. There, I learned more about the importance of speaking my home language with my children.

So, we decided to only speak Arabic at home because the children would be exposed to English in Head Start, in elementary school, and in the community. I also send them to the mosque once a week to learn Arabic. I have bought some videotapes in Arabic; we see some TV programs in Arabic. I have a few picture books of the Arabic alphabet and the numbers.

When we go back to Egypt for a visit, my oldest child speaks only Arabic there. The younger ones speak both Arabic and some English. I want them to be with other children who speak Arabic because they will “catch” the language from them.

I explain to my children that learning and speaking two languages will be an advantage. Their high school and college years will be enhanced by this knowledge. Also, when they become part of the working world, their experiences with two languages will make them more successful.

I hope that Head Start will continue to support the home languages of its families. If the Child Development Associate training was offered in different languages (now it is in English/Spanish), more teachers and assistants could be hired who are able to prepare the children’s curriculum in their home languages. Head Start programs might sponsor more multi-language book fairs for families and children. I wish that teachers could purchase more materials, such as books and games in different languages. Then parents would have material in their home languages to read with their children, and their language would be kept alive in the Head Start program.

I am grateful that Head Start helped me realize how important it is for my family to speak our home language. I want to encourage other families to do the same.

Sahar Ali’s children attended the Higher Horizons HS/EHS program in Falls Church, VA. T: 703-931-4474; E: sahar_ali22041@yahoo.com

How Can Teachers and Parents Help Young Children Become (and Stay) Bilingual?

Teachers can take a first step by gathering information about the languages and cultures of the families.
by Patton O. Tabors and Lisa M. López

“... yo creo que una persona siendo bilingüe tiene muchas mas posibilidades de llegar mucho mas lejos que una persona que sepa solo un idioma.”

“ ...I think that a person being bilingual has many more opportunities to get much further [in life] than a person who only knows one language.”—Clara’s mother, Head Start, May 28, 2002.

When children in the United States enter early childhood classrooms from homes where English is not the primary language, they become involved in the process of becoming bilingual (learning to speak more than one language). As expressed by Clara’s mother, there is growing recognition that being bilingual can provide opportunities that may not be available to monolinguals, people who can speak only one language. Further, bilingualism can be beneficial for children’s early language and literacy development, for family communication and functioning, and for children’s feelings of self-worth.

In order for the process of becoming bilingual to be successful, parents and teachers need to work together to build understanding about what it means for a child to become bilingual and how becoming bilingual can be accomplished under varied circumstances. How should teachers and parents collaborate in helping young children become bilingual? We think that these activities are important:

• collect information about the children and their families
• develop a plan for children’s continued use of the home language
• develop a plan for children’s acquisition of English

By emphasizing the support of the home language at home and encouraging positive and stimulating learning experiences in the early care settings and in the community, caregivers are working to prevent the overall language delays that can affect future school-related academic achievement (Thomas & Collier 2002).

Excerpt from Sylvia Y. Sánchez . Is It Wrong to Speak to My Babies in Their Home Language? (http://www.headstartinfo.org/English_lang_learners_tkit.htm)

Collecting Information About the Children and Their Families

“Me vine con mi mamá, mi papá ya estaba aquí, me vine con mi hermano menor, pero por mejorar. [En este país hay] más oportunidades de progresar que en el país de nosotros. [Pero todavía tengo] un hermano, el mayor, y mi abuelita, así que es por la que mas bien viajo por allá.”

“I came with my mom, my father was already here, and I came with my younger brother, but to have a better life. [In this country] there are more opportunities to succeed than in my country. [However, I still have] a brother, the oldest, and my grandmother, and that is my main reason for going back to visit.”—Rosa and Ramon’s mother, Head Start, June 12, 2002.

The first step is for teachers to find out all they can about the language(s) and culture(s) of the families. Of course, this may not be easy when teachers and parents do not communicate in a common language. For this reason, it may be useful for teachers to use a questionnaire that can be translated into the parents’ home language or that can be filled out by parents in English with the help of community members. Designed to gather cultural and linguistic information about the child and the family, a questionnaire might ask:

• What name do you use for your child? How did you decide to give your child this name? Does this name have a particular meaning or translation?
• What language(s) do you use to talk to your child? Who else does your child spend time with and what language do they use?

Other questions could gather information about the child’s preferences and routines and the parents’ expectations for the child. (See the sample questionnaire in Tabors’ book One Child,Two Languages (1997), pp. 96-98). A questionnaire could be incorporated into the initial home visit when the family and child enroll in Head Start.

Once teachers have collected this information, they can begin thinking about how they want to discuss the issue of bilingualism with parents. In interviews with Head Start parents and other parents of children who speak Spanish at home, two themes emerge. Parents want their children to continue to use Spanish. And parents want their children to learn English. In fact, it is only if children continue to learn their home language and begin to learn English that they will be on the pathway to bilingualism. How can this goal be accomplished?

Developing a Plan for Children’s Continued Use of the Home Language

“Aparte pues que esa es la lengua de uno su maestra nos dice siempre, la maestra de Tomás, que siempre en casa puro español. Como en su escuela todo el día es puro inglés entonces nos dice que en casa no le hablemos por favor inglés para que aprenda la lengua natal de uno y no el puro exactamente inglés.”

“ Besides being our language, his teacher always tells us, Tomás’ teacher, that at home always use only Spanish. At school he spends all day using English so she tells us to please not speak to him in English so that he can learn his native tongue and not only English.”—Tomas’ mother, public pre-K, August 24, 2002.

Encourage parents to maintain the home language. Working with parents around the issue of home language use can be challenging, as parents may hear from many sources that it is important for them to start speaking English with their children as soon as possible. The important messages to get across to parents are:

• Children will need to continue to speak their home language if they are to become bilingual.
• Communication within the family provides children with necessary information about the world.
• Families should communicate in the language they feel most comfortable using.
• Research shows that children with a strong foundation in their home language do better in school (Tabors 1997). Teachers who are confident about these messages and are willing to collaborate with parents to help maintain the home language can help parents make the decision, as Tomás’ mother has, to keep using their home language with their children.

Bring the home language(s) into the classroom. Depending on the linguistic composition of the classroom (both the children and the staff), different approaches are used to incorporate the language(s). If the teachers and the children share the same home language, then the curriculum can capitalize on this fact. With the collaboration of parents, teachers can set appropriate goals for home language use.

However, if teachers and children do not share the same language( s), then it is necessary to make the curriculum multi-linguistic. Suggestions for teachers include:

• encourage children to speak their home languages with classmates who share that language.
• introduce the different alphabets or writing systems of the home languages.
• ask parents to teach an activity, present a song, tell a story, or read a book using their home language.
• find story books in the children’s home languages and/or have parents develop story books in their home languages to add to the classroom library.
• introduce new vocabulary words in English and find out what that word would be in at least one other language.
• bring story-tellers into the class who can tell a story in another language.

Developing a Plan for Children’s Acquisition of English

“Sí, sí sí sí eso sí, [que ella aprenda inglés] me preocupa...aquí el inglés es predominante y en toda parte necesita hablar inglés.”

“ Yes, yes, yes, that is so, I worry [about her learning English]...here [in the United States] English is the predominant [language] and you need to know how to speak English everywhere you go.”—Maricarmen’s mother, Head Start, June 17, 2002.

When and how should English be introduced to young children from homes where it is not the primary language? Of course, it depends. In a classroom where all of the children and the teachers share the same home language, English can be introduced as a “foreign language.” One approach designates a particular time of the day as English period. At this time, another teacher who is a native speaker of English is in charge of the classroom activities. Goals for these activities will be set by the teachers and the parents together.

A second option for using a home language and English at the same time would involve developing a two-way or dual language classroom or classrooms. In this model, approximately half of the children have a greater proficiency in the home language and half have a greater proficiency in English. In these classrooms, instruction is planned to occur in one or the other of the languages at a given time so that all of the children are developing bilingual abilities.

In a multilingual classroom where children come from a variety of home language backgrounds, teachers usually use English as the classroom language. In this situation, a variety of well-documented techniques are useful in helping children make progress in acquiring English. Some techniques focus on how teachers communicate in English, and other techniques focus on how teachers organize their classrooms.

Communication Techniques to Help Children Who Are Learning English

When teachers use English with children who are just learning English, they try to ensure that they are understood. For this reason, teachers rely on techniques like buttressing (using non-verbal cues, such as gestures), repetition (using the same phrases over and over again), and talking about the here and now (referring to objects and activities in plain view of the children). Teachers often provide running commentary (talking about what they are doing while they are doing it) during activities and are careful to expand and extend any words or phrases that a child uses in English. Finally, teachers also use a technique called “upping the ante” in which they encourage children to respond in English when they are ready (Tabors 1997).

Classroom Organization to Help Children Who Are Learning English

Classrooms with consistent routines are extremely helpful for young children who are learning English. They come to know what to expect and begin to navigate the classroom successfully. By using small groups for activity work and by making sure that the English learners are included in those activities, it is possible to tailor the use of English to the ability level of individual children. It is also possible to establish a buddy system, where children in the classroom who are already proficient in English pair up with English learners. Finally, it is important to have places in the classroom where English learning children can sit quietly or use manipulatives or look at pictures or play alone. These places can be thought of as safe havens in an otherwise demanding classroom situation.

Conclusion

Although we often think that young children can learn a second language with little effort, research demonstrates that this is not the case. In fact, the process of learning a second language and the process of maintaining a home language at the same time are cognitive and social challenges for young children. However, with the help of their parents and their teachers, it is possible for young children to become bilingual.

ENROLLMENT BY PRIMARY LANGUAGE OF THE FAMILY AT HOME

As reported in the Head Start Program Information Report for the 2003 – 2004 Program Year:

Languages	No. of Children	No. of Percentage
English	772,320	72.40%
Spanish	243,541	22.83%
East Asian Languages	11,830	1.11%
Native Central/ South American and Mexican Languages	8,671	0.81%
Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages	7,160	0.67%
Pacific Island Languages	5,173	0.48%
European and Slavic Languages	5,026	0.47%
Caribbean Languages	4,182	0.39%
African Languages	4,063	0.38%
Native North American/ Alaska Native Languages	2,063	0.19%
Other Languages	2,678	0.25%

All quotes in this article come from interviews administered by Lisa M. Lopez, National Science Foundatoin (NSF) Minority Postdoctoral Fellow (010920), in collaboration with the Early Childhood Study of Language and Literacy Development of Spanish-speaking Children, a sub-project of Acquisition of Literacy in English, a program project of the Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, DC, funded by the NICHHD and the Institute of Education Sciences (5-P01- HD39530), Patton O. Tabors, Principal Investigator.

REFERENCES

Tabors, P. 1997. One child, two languages. A guide for preschool educators of children learning English as a second language. Baltimore, MD: Paul. H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Tabors, P. 2002. Language and literacy for all children. Head Start Bulletin 74: 10-14. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Head Start Bureau.

Patton O. Tabors is a Principal Research Associate, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA. T: 617-495-3096; E: patton_tabors@harvard.edu

Lisa M. López is an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL. T: 813-974-1260; E: Lopez@coedu.usf.edu

Building Strong Language Foundations in Early Head Start

By Judith R. Cruzado-Guerrero

What practices can Early Head Start (EHS) programs implement to support the home languages and cultures of the families and to support the infants and toddlers who are English language learners? The Early Head Start National Resource Center @ ZERO TO THREE (2001) makes the following recommendations. They parallel the Head Start Program Performance Standards which EHS programs are required to implement.

The recommended practices for EHS programs are to:

• Involve parents and families in sharing their language and culture through a range of activities at home and in the program.
• Collaborate with community partners as well as state and local programs that work closely with culturally and linguistically diverse families. Ask for volunteers who share the same culture and language of the children to spend some time in the classroom.
• Communicate with the families in a variety of ways using different language approaches and resources. Provide both written and verbal communication, and whenever possible, translate into the home languages. Keep them informed about the best practices for supporting language development.
• Encourage parents to share music, songs, and stories for children that are from other cultures and in different languages.
• Use visual images (such as books, posters, and photos), furnishings, toys, and foods that reflect the cultural diversity of the families.
• Communicate with children in a variety of ways using their home language. Hire and train qualified bilingual caregivers BUT if the caregiver does not speak the child’s home language, search for resources (songs, toys) that help the infant or toddler feel at home.
• Involve all parents in curriculum development. Ensure that the curriculum is individualized to support the language goal that parents have identified for their children. For example, is the goal to learn the home language first, to learn English first, or to learn both simultaneously?
• Conduct dual-language assessments when necessary to obtain accurate information about the child’s progress. Include ongoing, systematic observations of the children’s behavior and language.
• Respect, value, and promote the home languages and cultures for the ultimate development and learning of the children (NAEYC 1995).

REFERENCES

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). 1995. Responding to linguistic and cultural diversity: Recommendations for effective early childhood education. Washington, D.C.: Author. Available at www.naeyc.org/resources/position_statements/psdiv98.htm.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Administration for Children and Families, Head Start Bureau. Prepared by Early Head Start National Resource Center @ ZERO TO THREE. 2001. Linguistic diversity and early literacy: Serving culturally diverse families in Early Head Start. Technical Paper No. 5. Washington, D.C.: Author. Available at www.ehsnrc.org.

Judith Cruzado-Guerrero is an Assistant Professor, School of Education, Bowie State University, MD. T: 301-860-3307; E: jguerrero@bowiestate.edu

Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Programs: Juntos hacemos la diferencia

by Sharon Yandian

Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) programs, nationally administered from the Region 12 Migrant and Seasonal Program Branch, are designed to provide comprehensive services to eligible mobile migrant and seasonal farmworker families and their children, birth to compulsory school age.

Geographically spread out in over 37 states, there are currently over 68 MSHS agencies in the United States. These programs serve approximately 3,000 seasonal children and 31,000 migrant children, of which 40% are under the age of three. Of the total population enrolled in MSHS programs, 97% are Hispanic, and Spanish is the dominant language for 9 out of 10 children.

Migrant Head Start was established in 1969 to serve migrant farm worker infants/toddlers, preschoolers and their families. The program was initiated because both parents worked full-time for part of the year in the agricultural fields and children were often at high risk for being exposed to weather conditions as well as environmental hazards such as pesticides.

Seasonal farmworker services were added in 1998 when it was recognized that migrant families who no longer moved in search of agricultural work also deserved to be eligible to be served in migrant programs. They have similar characteristics but no longer move from one place to another.

As with all Head Start programs, migrant and seasonal parents are an integral part of the management and administrative decision-making structure. Parents actively participate in all aspects of program operations in grantee and delegate agencies. They are volunteers at centers, staff, and members of parent committees and Policy Councils.

MSHS programs are extremely complex. Different programs in different states may serve the same family as it changes location. Programs operate on different schedules. Program length (number of months) and hours of operation are diverse, with some programs operating over 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. The shortest reported length of a program is 5 weeks and the longest program length is 11 months. Programs use the location of the grantee/delegate and the type of crops being harvested, cultivated or processed to determine when the program will be open.

Because of changes in the agricultural industry, migrant streams are in flux and many families have found it necessary to change what is typically known as their “Home Base” state to another state entirely. For example, some families find themselves traveling westward toward the central United States instead of from south to north as was typically the case. This pattern is expected to continue since the agricultural industry itself is in a state of constant change.

Promoting the Home Language and English

Migrant and Seasonal Programs go to great lengths to support and foster the home language of families, primarily Spanish, and at the same time strive to provide a classroom environment that supports the acquisition of English from an early age. Migrant and Seasonal program staff believe that children benefit from exposure to two languages. The potential advantages of being bilingual in today’s world are enormous, and Migrant and Seasonal staff foster bilingualism wherever possible. Though hiring qualified temporary staff is often very challenging, MSHS programs are committed to having Spanish and English role models in the classroom.

MSHS program staff facilitate second language acquisition by respecting young children as individuals and by planning learning experiences that address their individual strengths, needs and interests. Classroom staff equip their classrooms with materials that invite verbal exchanges and work to engage each child in many types of communication each day. In addition, classroom staff use their understanding of each child’s background to initiate and sustain communication. MSHS teachers ease the pain of relocation by talking about the experience in positive ways:

• What we (you) saw on the way...
• How the new location is exciting….
• What we (you) left...

Above all, classroom staff facilitate second language acquisition by creating safe environments in which young children can try out and experiment with the new language—and in which they can continue to develop their first language. By continuing to support the development of the child’s first language while gradually and carefully introducing a second language, classroom staff offer preschool children appropriate supports for a lifelong process. Starting in the spring of 2004, the Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs participated in the NRS. Four- and five-year-olds who were enrolled for four months or more and were eligible for kindergarten were assessed. (see Schultz, page 52).

Creating Administrative Practices

MSHS programs encourage and support second-language acquisition and know that learning a second language cannot be the sole responsibility of program staff. Two actions that have worked for MSHS programs and that are particularly beneficial for staff and parents are to: (1) develop a program wide language acquisition policy statement; and (2) promote and support ongoing professional development for staff in knowledge of first- and second language acquisition (see Gonzales, http://www.headstartinfo.org/English_lang_learners_tkit.htm). Both send a clear message that children’s language development is important and a priority for the program.

The policy statement makes clear exactly how the program will support the home language and culture within the context of demonstrataing progress towards listening, speaking and understanding English. It should also make clear that progress for each child differs. The policy statement helps establish what the organization believes and generates discussion among staff and parents as well as helping them educate each other. Professional development activities ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to facilitate children’s first- and second-language development.

While working with Migrant and Seasonal children provides unique challenges to Head Start staff, it also presents a unique opportunity for fostering bilingual education with preschool children.

The proportion of Head Start children who hear Spanish at home is increasing at a rapid pace. Head Start's Hispanic Implementation Initiative calculated county populations by age and Hispanic origin for 2010 and 2020 to indicate how local client bases might change in coming years.

To view the changing demographics of your county, go to Brad Edmondson's article, Immigration is a Powerful Force - How Does It Affect Head Start? (http://www.headstartinfo.org/English_lang_learners_tkit.htm)

There are two types of Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs.

Home Based programs:

• Serve families in the areas families call home
• Are located in the southern part of the United States (e.g., Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, New Mexico, southernmost California, and Texas)
• Provide services to mobile farmworker families as they return to the place they call home primarily from September through May.

Upstream programs:

• Provide services to migrant families as they move (generally northward) in search of agricultural work
• Provide direct services in a shorter time frame
• Provide service that always encompasses the summer months
• Are located in, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Washington, and other states.

Sharon Yandian is the Director of the Region XII Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Center at the Academy for Educational Development. T: 202-884-8729; E: syandian@aed.org

Creating a Vision for Supporting English Language Learners

By acknowledging prior misunderstandings about language learning, program leadership can develop an informed language policy.
by Eileen M. Torres

“When I was little and really wanted something, I prayed to God in two languages, just in case God didn’t know one of them. Knowing two languages opens many doors for children, ensuring that nothing is lost in the translation.” Rafael Guerra, Executive Director of East Coast Migrant Head Start Project

Head Start programs that serve children and families whose primary language is other than English face a unique challenge. How do they ensure children’s progress in listening, understanding, and speaking English as specified in the Child Outcomes Framework while at the same time being developmentally and linguistically appropriate as required in the Head Start Program Performance Standards (1304.21)? Thoughtful and committed program leadership is key.

Before age 3, children exposed to two languages will appear to learn both as one. They may often mix the two languages as they speak. At about 3 years of age, children begin to separate the two languages. They often associate each language with its primary speakers, such as Spanish or Chinese with their parents and English with Head Start teachers.

Excerpt from Phillip C. Gonzales, Becoming Bilingual: First and Second Language Acquisition (http://www.headstartinfo.org/English_lang_learners_tkit.htm)

Developing the Vision

Language and culture are intricately linked. They are fundamental to the development of identity and are essential connections for families. When a family’s language and culture are not valued in the educational setting, children may experience emotional distress or feel distanced from their parents and other relatives. Without a solid social-emotional foundation, children’s cognitive development may be jeopardized. Therefore, establishing a language policy that affirms cultural and linguistic identity is central to Head Start’s commitment to promoting positive child outcomes for all children.

What are the steps Head Start program leaders can take to ensure that local policies and practices support children and families whose language is other than English?

First, program leaders need to understand the Head Start Program Performance Standards. They need to understand what the Program Performance Standards do and do not say. They do require that programs recognize, accept, and affirm the language and cultures of families and children. They do require that, if possible, one staff member speak the same language as the majority of children (see Program Performance Standards: Supporting Home Language and English Acquisition).

Second, program leaders need to be well-informed about second language acquisition. Research demonstrates the positive effects of supporting the home language and of bilingual learning environments (see articles at http://www.headstartinfo.org/ English_lang_learners_tkit.htm). Administrators also need to reflect on their own experiences as language learners and as members of a cultural group.

Third, program leaders need to examine their agencies’ systems and services in order to formulate a sound language policy. Other staff can be included in this process. Consider these questions:

• How does the program support cultural and linguistic diversity?
• How does the program use the children’s first language in the classroom?
• How do the policies and practices impact children an