October 2010

1. Current Activities to Support Dual Language Learners and Early Education and Care and Out of School Time Staff October 2010

2. EEC Dual Language Education Policy and Guidelines Who are Dual language learners? • Dual language learners (DLL) represent a large and growing population in our nation’s early education and care programs. • Throughout the Commonwealth, DLLs are increasing significantly. Table 1.1 Population of children and youth in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts whose primary language is not English. . Source: (A. Barton, MADESE. Personal communication June 29, 2010 bout data produced from the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education databases on 6/21/10 about FY 09). Dual Language Learner. Commonly used when referring to a child from birth to Kindergarten who is primarily developing language and literacy in a language other than English.

3. EEC Dual Language Education Policy and Guidelines Who are Dual language learners? • Over 350 languages are represented among the nation’s English language learners. The majority, close to 70%, is Latino, 14% are non-Hispanic white, 12.6% are Asian-Pacific Islander, 3.5% are Black, and 1.2% classified as “other, ” and many are born in the United States. • In 2007, Massachusetts reported that there were over 115 languages represented among public and public charter school ELLs. • Table 1.2 Languages spoken among Massachusetts public and public charter school ELLs Source: Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for limited English proficient students. National Clearinghouse for English language Acquisition and Language Instruction Education Programs (2006) *= DLL Education and Policy Guidelines Report (Quality Counts, January 8, 2009, p. 15).

4. Current Activities to Support DLL and Program Staff Preschool Child Care Education (PSCCE) Quality Add-on Initiative • This initiative provides funds, for qualifying EEC Income Eligible providers, to provide preschool children who are not currently enrolled in early education and care programs and/or are educationally at-risk with experiences that will help prepare them for kindergarten.  • The EEC contracted/voucher providers qualified and selected to participate in the PSCCE Quality Add-on Initiative will receive a $17.22 add-on rate per child enrolled through this program. • This program has a focus on  providing specific and targeted support for dual language or limited English proficient learners and educator qualifications include that support for dual language learners (DLL) must be evident (e.g. having a staff person available who speaks the native language of DLL).  Higher Education Support for Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Grant Partnership • EEC awarded a contract to Wheelock College, to work directly with the Readiness Center Network, EEC and Community Day Care Center of Lawrence, as the lead of the Limited English Proficiency (LEP) grant partnership to coordinate resources and activities across all three entities to support increased access to higher education for early educators with limited English proficiency and improved outcomes for the children, birth to age 8, they work with.

5. Current Activities to Support DLL and Program Staff Limited English Proficiency for Family Child Care Educators • EEC awarded Community Day Care Center of Lawrence with funding to address the needs of Spanish speaking educators who are caring for infants and toddlers in family child care homes. Community Day, along with its partners, is expecting to serve 500 Spanish speaking providers in the northeast region of the state.  Inclusion of Pre-LAS in Provisional QRIS • EEC’s Provisional QRIS system includes the category, “ Curriculum and Learning: Serving Children with Diverse Language and Cultures” and at Level 4 of the Center Based Standards, programs are required to use NAEYC Quality Benchmarks for Cultural Competence Project to adapt the learning environment in order to better support the children and families in their program, use a consultant with expertise in diverse languages to provide ongoing support to classroom staff, and to determine the primary language of children whose first language may not be English. One way to measure that they have met this standard is the implementation of the Pre-Las (a test designed to measure young children's expressive and receptive abilities in three linguistic components of oral language) or other valid instrument to determine child's primary language.

6. Current Activities to Support DLL and Program Staff TODAY’S DISCUSSION: Development of Policies and Guidelines to Support Early Education and Care Programs Serving Dual Language Learners • (EEC) in partnership with the Head Start State Collaboration Office (HSSCO) contracted with Hampshire Educational Collaborative to develop policies and guidelines that support best practices in early education and care programs serving dual language learners (DLL), from birth to 8 and their families, and for implementation by providers and programs throughout the mixed delivery system within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. • The vision for this project relates to the three year strategic directions outlined in the February 2009 “Department of Early Education and Care Strategic Plan: “Putting Children and Families First.” In this document , three year strategic directions outlined are delineated to “create and implement a system to improve and support quality statewide, increase and promote family support, access, and affordability, and create a workforce system that maintains worker diversity and provides resources, support, expectations & core competencies that lead to the outcomes we want for children.” • EEC will engage and meet with stakeholders to identify policy and guidelines' strengths, challenges, and to inform future policy planning and implementation (September 2010- January 2011).