What s at Stake: The achievement gap for Latino children English proficient Latino children are about three months

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3. 3 The Prekindergarten gap is equivalent to 80% of the gap observed in reading skills among Latino children in fourth grade.  * By 4th grade, 56% scored below basic on the reading NAEP 2003  * By 8th grade, 44% score below basic on reading NAEP 2003 By 2015, 75% of Latinos ages 16-25 will not have a high school diploma

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5. 5 Looking at Culture & Language within QRIS systems? Why now? An opportunity for a �fresh start� to construct a high quality early childhood program for that resolves the cultural and linguistic issues that impact on the participation of children who are English language learners, and from multi-ethnic communities.

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9. 9 A Perfect Storm� Expand Diversity in Program Providers � East Los Angeles Story Outreach � Language practices, centralized systems and venues Recruitment � English only policies, cultural competence of staff to facilitate essential requirements, fees, first aid CPR, zoning, financial & business plans Development � impact of traditional orientation and �hands off� approaches Retention� culturally relevant technical assistance beyond the application stage, including compliance visits and resolution of citations; small business practices, marketing and program resources, linkages to R&R�s,

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11. 11 A Perfect Storm� Must reflect the research base in brain development regarding language development, cognitive development and identity formation. Children can learn two languages at the same time, one language is enhanced by the other. A child�s home language is a crucial foundation for cognitive development A learning environment that affirms a child�s culture and language is essential healthy identify development.

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14. 14 A Perfect Storm� The RAND Report Changing views �

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19. 19 Sembrando Semillas Six Research Based Guiding Principles

20. 20 1. A child�s home language is a crucial foundation for cognitive development * Several decades of research indicate that a child�s first language is the best key to literacy. * Knowledge, concepts, and skills established in the home language support and contribute to the development of the child�s second language. (Durgunoglu, Nagy and Hancin-Bhatt, 1993; Escamilla, 2000; Snow, Burns & Griffin, 1999; Tqabors, 1997; Tabors and Snow, 2001: Vgotsky, 1985).

21. 21 2. A learning environment that facilitates social-emotional growth and affirms a child�s culture and language is essential for full participation and healthy identify development. *respect and integrate the key role of a child�s culture and language to her social-emotional and identity development. *support young children in bridging across and integrating home and school contexts. Bowman, Burns, & Donovan, 2000; bowman & Stott, 1994; Day & Parlakian, 2003; Kauffman, 2002; Luria, 1976; Rqaver, 2002; Phillips, 1995).

22. 22 3. One language is enhanced by another * The early years are a unique window of opportunity for development of native-like fluency in two or more languages * Young children have the capacity to learn multiple languages simultaneously . (Hakuta & Garcia, 1989; NAEYC, 1995: Slavin & Cheung, 2004; Tabors, 1997; Tabors & Snow, 2001; Thomas & Collier, 2002).

23. 23 4. Linguistic and cultural congruity build strong home-school partnerships and support parents as a child�s first teacher.  drawing upon the knowledge, expertise and cultural capital of families as assets, the teacher is better able to understand the child, the context in which the child functions and the family�s values and culture; the parents come to know the culture of the school. home and classroom activities complement and reinforce each other. builds parents confidence and capacity to effectively support their children�s social-emotional, physical and language/literacy development at home.

24. 24 5. Assessments that are culturally and lingistically appropriate are essential to ensure the child has access to developmentall appropriate and high quality early education. (Genesee, Lindholm-Leary, Saunders & Christian, 2004; McLaughlin, Blanchard & Osani, 1995; NAEYC & NAECS/SDE, 2005; Raver & Zigler, 2004; Shephard, Kagan & Wurtz, 1998).

25. 25 6. High quality, research-based professional development is needed for teachers to meet the needs of preschool age English Learners and their families What Teachers should know: Selected recommendations for bilingual teachers and QRIS rating specialists* 1. Knowledge of the characteristics, components, benefits, and limitations of research-based program models of bilingual education (e.g., dual-language, one-way immersion, two-way immersion, transitional bilingual, maintenance, heritage language). *Excerpts from the CSET Bilingual Methodology Bilingual Culture Examinations, November 2007.

26. 26 What Teachers Should Know: Selected recommendations for Knowledge, Skills and Abilities for bilingual teachers and QRIS rating specialists. 2. Understanding of theoretical foundations, practices, limitations, and effects of the deficit perspective of bilingual education (e.g., viewing the primary language as an obstacle, limiting use of the primary language, promoting assimilation into the target culture). 3. Understanding of the theoretical foundations, practices, limitations, and effects of enrichment perspective of bilingual education (e.g., viewing the primary language as a right and an asset, promoting the development of bilingualism and biculturalism, promoting acculturation into the target culture).

27. 27 What Teachers Should Know: Selected recommendations for Knowledge, Skills and Abilities for bilingual teachers and QRIS rating specialists. 4. Understanding of the roles of code-switching and language mixing in the development of bilingualism and early biliteracy. 5. Knowledge of developmental processes of bilingualism and biliteracy to select appropriate language use and usage (e.g., translation, language allocation model) when interacting with students at different developmental stages of bilingualism and biliteracy. 6. Understanding of transferability of language and literacy skills between the primary and target languages, including ways in which language transfer can be affected by the level of compatibility between the primary language and English.

28. 28 What Teachers Should Know: Selected recommendations for Knowledge, Skills and Abilities for bilingual teachers and QRIS rating specialists. 7. Understanding of concepts of intercultural communication, including cultural differences in patterns of nonverbal communication (e.g., distance between speakers, eye contact), patterns of oral discourse (e.g., overlapping, turn-taking, volume of voice, use/role of silence forms of address, respect, greetings). 8. Understanding of cultural influences (e.g., different values regarding cooperation and competition, different expectations and preferences in teacher-child and child-child interaction, different attitudes toward conformity and individuality).

29. 29  What Teachers Should Know: Selected recommendations for Knowledge, Skills and Abilities for bilingual teachers and QRIS rating specialists. 9. Knowledge of intercultural communication and interaction that is linguistically and culturally inclusive and responsive to provide literacy and content instruction (e.g., role-playing intercultural encounters, discussion of current events related to a variety of cultures, respecting child�s primary language/dialect, using child�s primary language and home culture to promote language and early literacy and content area learning). 10. Knowledge of effective strategies to communicate assessment results to families and to provide guidance on ways in which families can support their children�s learning at home and at the early education center.

30. 30 What Teachers Should Know: Selected recommendations for Knowledge, Skills and Abilities for bilingual teachers and QRIS rating specialists. 11. Knowledge of strategies to identify opportunities for families to contribute their funds of knowledge and expertise within the program and across the school community, including participation in a variety of program forums and organizations. 12. Knowledge of language structures (e.g., word roots, prefixes, suffixes), forms (e.g., registers), and functions (e.g., informing, describing, persuading) to develop and delivery effective language instruction in the primary and target languages.

31. 31 What Teachers Should Know: Selected recommendations for Knowledge, Skills and Abilities for bilingual teachers and QRIS rating specialists. 13. Understanding of ways in which child�s life experiences (e.g., immigrant or refugee experiences, out-of-school time experiences, role in family and with siblings and extended family) can be used to foster learning and early literacy in the primary and target languages.

32. 32 What Teachers Should Know: Selected recommendations for Knowledge, Skills and Abilities for bilingual teachers and QRIS rating specialists. 14. Understanding of the beliefs and values of different groups, including indigenous groups that are members of the child/family population they serve are members of the community. 15. Recognize how cultural and social traditions affect teaching and learning practices and expectations of the diverse families (e.g., oral tradition, rote learning, observation).

33. 33 What Teachers Should Know: Selected recommendations for Knowledge, Skills and Abilities for bilingual teachers and QRIS rating specialists. 17. Knowledge of strategies for interpreting the results of primary- and target-language assessments to plan, organize, modify, and individualize educational plan for an individual child as well as a group of children. 18. Knowledge of strategies for reviewing and evaluating materials to identify potential areas of offense or bias (e.g., race, class, gender, religion, country of origin) and to ensure appropriate representation of linguistic and cultural diversity within and across language and cultural groups.