How to Push the Needle on Dual Language Learner Education in State Pre-K Programs

Dual language learners (DLLs) make up over 30 percent of the young child (0-8) population, yet remain highly overlooked in early childhood policy. DLLs thrive in environments that support their home languages, incorporate their cultures and where their bilingualism is viewed as an asset. But incorporating these approaches requires states to develop and implement DLL-centered policies such as screening and identification, collecting data, implementing appropriate assessments, training teachers, and providing linguistically and culturally responsive family engagement.

According to the State of Preschool 2020, a resource published annually by the National Institute for Early Education and Research (NIEER), 16 state pre-K programs do not have any required supports for DLLs. The remaining state pre-K programs have a mix of policies including collecting information on DLLs’ home languages, using the home language to support instruction, offering assessments in the home language, and more. Advocacy organizations across the country are working to strengthen these policies and enhance the services offered to DLLs in state pre-K programs, yet often lack information about how other states are approaching these issues. To that end, we recently conducted a four-state scan for an advocacy organization in a Midwestern state who was interested in seeing how their DLL policies and programs compared to other states.

Specifically, we were tasked with examining how target states define the term DLL, identify and screen DLLs, and prepare teachers to meet the needs of DLLs. We selected California, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Texas based on the size of their DLL populations and history of enacting DLL-focused policies. Though no two states were the same, taken together, the four states offer a variety of approaches for policy makers and advocates to consider when exploring how to better embed and serve DLLs and their families through state pre-K programs.

Defining, Identifying, and Screening DLLs

The term dual language learner is defined and used in a variety of ways within the early education field, but tends to be inclusive of children between the ages of birth to 8 (or birth to 5) who are learning English in addition to their home language. Among the states we reviewed, only California has adopted a standalone definition for DLLs. Tucked away in the state’s education code is a definition that specifies that DLLs are “children whose first language is a language other than English or children who are developing two or more languages, one of which may be English.”

Oklahoma, Minnesota and Texas extend their definitions of English learners to be inclusive of children in pre-K settings, meaning that there is no differentiation for early learners. This approach is logical given the variety of terms that are used to describe this population and may enable a more seamless approach to serving young DLLs, particularly at the transition point between pre-K and kindergarten. Interestingly, Oklahoma has a category of “non- EL bilingual" which allows them to direct resources to students who are proficient in English, but who may live in households where a language other than English is the dominant language spoken.

Three of the states we reviewed currently have a process for screening/identifying DLLs—a key practice for ensuring programs are designed to address their needs. Oklahoma, Minnesota, and Texas use the same identification and screening approach with pre-K students as they do with K–12 students. All three states administer a home language survey which is followed up by a developmentally appropriate language screener (e.g. preLAS or Pre-IPT screener for children ages 3-5). Texas has an additional step that requires review/approval of the school district’s language proficiency assessment committee (LPAC) that is charged with reviewing the student’s test scores and recommending their placement in an English as a Second Language (ESL) or bilingual education program, among other activities. In addition, Texas publishes annual data reports on EL students, that are inclusive of pre-K students and include a variety of metrics such as number of students enrolled, number of students who are dually identified, number of students enrolled in bilingual programs and ESL programs, and more.

California’s Assembly Bill 1363, passed in 2021, established DLL identification requirements for all state preschool contractors participating in the California State Preschool Program (CSPP). Under this law, providers will be required to identify which languages the child is exposed to in their home and community environment, which languages the child understands, and which languages the child is able to speak using a home language survey. The bill also requires the child’s teacher or other designated staff to conduct a family language and interest interview. Lastly, the new law will help standardize DLL identification and screening in the state. Prior to the passing of the bill, some Head Start and CSPP programs used home language surveys or direct language assessments to identify DLLs but it was not required. As a result, screening was highly inconsistent across programs and settings.

These efforts are essential to creating an inclusive early education system that takes DLL children into account. By identifying DLLs, state pre-K programs can make determinations about how to best serve these students, provide teachers with necessary training and professional development, enhance transitions, and offer appropriate family support services. At the same time, by incorporating pre-K into the K–12 system, DLLs can access bilingual instruction programs that support the development of their home language and English from an even earlier age.

Teacher Preparation to Work with DLLs

All four states included in our analysis reported that pre-K staff have training/qualifications to work with DLLs, according to the State of Preschool Yearbook 2020. However, finding additional details about teacher training and qualifications was challenging, particularly in Oklahoma and Minnesota, leaving us with questions about the depth and breadth of requirements within those states.

Texas has a bilingual mandate, which specifies that English learners in grades preK–5 enrolled in qualifying districts must be offered bilingual instruction and requires teachers in these programs to have a bilingual certification. If the school cannot find enough bilingual-certified teachers, they may apply for a waiver from the state. Teachers are also eligible for salary supplements as authorized by state law. In addition, teachers and paraeducators working in bilingual programs may also be compensated for participation in professional development designed to increase their skills or lead to bilingual education certification. These rules and incentives also apply to teachers who work in English as Second Language programs. Taken together, these rules and approaches may help create incentives for educators to work in these programs and to engage in ongoing training.

California has varying requirements for teachers based on the type of program that they work in. Teachers working in Transitional Kindergarten programs are expected to have a multiple subject credential in order to practice, which includes content for working with English learners. In other settings, “early educators in California currently are required to have either a child development permit or a teaching credential issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, but there are no statewide requirements to specifically prepare educators to work with DLLs” according to First 5 California. This may be why 63 percent of early learning and care programs reported not having enough teachers trained to work with DLLs or to engage with their families between 2019 and 2020.

The state has done some work to remedy this situation, for example, in 2018 the California legislature provided $5 million for training early educators who work with DLLs. The professional development programs were led by several organizations throughout the state and offered different approaches to the work. A recent study by the American Institutes for Research and First 5 California found that teachers who receive more DLL-focused professional development use more linguistically and culturally responsive family engagement strategies such as involving parents in the classroom and providing them with resources to promote language development and bilingualism. Additionally, these teachers also tend to use evidence-based strategies that incorporate students’ home languages and English. While this one-time investment has not been renewed, it is notable given the lack of similar investments in other states.

Conclusion

As a field, we lack information nationally about the extent to which DLLs are being served in state pre-K programs, the languages that they speak, the types of instructional supports they receive, and how teachers are trained to meet their needs. While the states examined represent just a few approaches, many of the strategies being employed by these states can serve as examples of how to close DLL “data gaps” and create systems that are more attuned to the needs of this growing population. DLLs deserve to have equitable educational experiences throughout their early learning to K-12 journey.

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