Developing Successful Family Partnerships across Ethnically and Linguistically Diverse EC Learning Communities

1. Developing Successful Family Partnerships across Ethnically and Linguistically Diverse EC Learning Communities Linda C. Halgunseth, Ph.D. Office of Applied Research

2. Family Partnerships • Components a) Two-way dialogue b) Team-oriented approach c) Relationship between Educator/Caregiver and Family

3. Not Parent Education • Parent Education is not a true partnership • Implies the professional has all the answers • Disregards the knowledge-base and strengths of the family

4. Family Partnerships Help Children Succeed! • Higher preschool performance and promotion to next grade 1, 2 • More positive engagements with peers, adults, and learning3 • Buffers negative impact of poverty on academic and behavioral outcomes4 • Benefits persist over time4

5. Demographic Shifts and EC Educators • 44.9% of children ages 0-4 are of color5 • More than 16% of children in preschool programs speak languages other than English at home (50% in some parts of the country)6, 7 • Many EC teachers do not feel they were properly prepared to work with culturally and linguistically diverse families8

6. Culture and Family • Cultural Values9, 10 • Values Motivate Family Behavior9, 10, 11 • Diversity exists within each Cultural and Ethnic Group (“No somos iguales;” Stress vs. Cultural Values; financial strain, Hierarchy)10, 12

7. Language and Families • Infant-toddlers • innate capacity to learn and distinguish multiple languages from birth13, 14 • early dual exposure does not delay development in either language14 • Cognitive & Social Benefits • greater brain tissue density (language, memory, and attention)16 • more neural activity17 • stronger social skills, teacher-child relationships, and less likely to be bullied by peers18 • Long Term Benefits19, 20, 21

8. Why Change Practices and Policies? • Demographic shifts will continue • 2050 predictions; ethnic-minorities will become the majority group22 • Identity formation starts in early childhood4 • Benefits of Family School Partnerships4 • Dual Language program predicts positive child outcomes15 • Old way is not working15, 22

9. Policy Recommendations • Incorporate cultural competence in EC standards • New Project; QRIS; NAEYC & A.L Mailman • Davida McDonald, Senior Public Policy Advisor, NAEYC 23 • Require all EC staff to understand first and second language development • Continue to monitor the growth and achievement of young ELL children • Require cross-cultural or inter-cultural competent staff • Recruit and retain additional EC staff at all levels who are representative of the cultural and linguistic background of the children in your program

10. Practice Recommendations • STRENGTH-BASED APPROACH*** • including cultures = enriches program; different does not mean dysfunctional • Self-Reflection (own background, history, stereotypes, values, customs, behaviors) • Open Communication • Include Family in Curriculum Development • surveys, questionnaires (What are your family’s goal for your child; work together to achieve)

11. Practice Recommendations2 • Invite Community Role Models and Volunteers • Build on Language Capacities of Child • Phonetics • Teaching Young Children (News From the Field, Handout)24 • Nursery Rhymes, Songs, Extended Vocabulary, Early Literacy Skills22 • Nonverbal Communication

12. Thank you! “If the culture of the teacher is to become part of the consciousness of the child, then the culture of the child must be first in the consciousness of the teacher.” Bernstein, 1972, p. 142

13. Footnotes1 • Izzo. C. V., Weissberg, R. P., Kasprow, W. J., & Fendrich, M. (1999). A longitudinal assessment of teacher perceptions of parent involvement in children’s education and school performance, American Journal of Community Psychology, 27(6), 817-839. • Mantizicopoulos, P. (2003). Flunking kindergarten after Head Start: An inquiry into the contribution of contextual and individual variables. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(2), 268-278. • McWayne, C., Hampton, V., Fantuzzo., J. Cohen, H. L., & Sekino, Y. (2004). A multivariate examination of parent involvement and the social and academic competencies of urban kindergarten children. Psychology in the Schools, 41(3), 363-377. • Harvard Family Research Project. (2006, Spring). Family involvement makes a difference: evidence that family involvement promotes school success for every child of every age. Harvard Family Research Project: Harvard Graduate School of Education. • Bruner, C. (2008, June). Developing early learning standards that are developmentally appropriate from a multicultural lens: A case study. 17th National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development. • Clifford, R. M., Barbarin, O., Chang, F., Early, D. M., Bryant, D., Howes, C., Burchinal, M., & Pianta, R. (2005). What is prekindergarten? Characteristics of public pre-kindergarten programs. Applied Developmental Science, 9(3), 126-143. • Olsen, L. Ensuring academic success for English learners. UC Linguistic Minority Research Institute, Newsletter v15, (4), Summer 2006. • Ray, A. (2008, June). The critical challenge in teacher preparation: Developing early childhood practitioners who can effectively educate ‘diverse children. Research Symposium: 17th National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development. • Lynch, E. W., & Hanson, M. J. (1992). Developing cross-cultural competence. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brooks • Halgunseth, L. C., Ispa, J., & Rudy, D. (2006). Parental control in Latino families: An integrated review of the literature. Child Development, 77(5), 1282-1297. • Halgunseth, L., Cushinberry, C., & Bordere, T. (2003). Race, Ethnicity, and Parenting Styles. Points & Counterpoints: Controversial relationship and family issues in the 21st century. Los Angeles: Roxbury Publishing Company • Rokeach, M. (1979). Understanding Human Values. New York: Free Press.

14. Footnotes2 13 Kuhl, P. K. Early language acquisition: Cracking the speech code. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 5(11), (2004), 931-843. 14 Genesee, R., Paradis, J., & Crago, M. B. (2004). Dual Language Development and Disorders: A Handbook on Bilingualism and Second Language Learning. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing. 15 Espinosa, L. M. (2008). Challenging Common Myths about Young English Language Learners. FCD Policy Brief, Advancing PK-3, No. 8, January. New York: Foundation for Child Development. 16 Mechelli, A., Crinion, J. T., Noppeney, U., O’Doherty, J., Ashburner, J., Frackowiak, R., & Price, C. J. (2004). Structural Plasticity in the Bilingual Brain, Nature, Vol. 431 (2004), 757. • Kovelman, I., Bakers, S., Petitto, L.A., Bilingual and Monolingual Brains Compared: An fMRI Study of a ‘Neurological Signature’ of Bilingualism. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Atlanta, GA. October, 2006. • Chang, F., Crawford, G., Early, D., Bryant, D., Howes, C., Burchinal, M., & Pianta, R. (2005). Spanish-speaking children’s social and language development in pre-kindergarten classrooms. Early Education and Development, 18(2): 243-269. 19 Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I., & Ryan, J. (2006). Executive Control in a Modified Antisaccade Task: Effects of Aging and Bilingualism. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 323(6), 1341-1354. 20 Bialystok, E. (2001). Bilingualism in Development: Language, Literacy, and Cognition. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. • Campos, S. J. (1995). The Carpenteria preschool program: A long-term effects study. In E. E. Garcia & B. McLaughlin (Eds.), Meeting the challenge of linguistic and cultural diversity in early childhood education (pp. 34-48). New York: Teachers College Press 22 Espinosa, L. M. (2007). English-language learners as they enter school. In R. C. Pianta, M.J. Cox, & K. L. Snow (Eds.). School readiness & the transition to kindergarten in the era of accountability. Baltimore: Paul. H. Brookes. 23 The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has received a planning grant from the A.L. Mailman Foundation to determine the feasibility of developing criteria, as well as a tool, to measure the level of cultural competence in quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS).Contact Davida McDonald, Senior Public Policy Advisor (NAEYC), for more information: DMcDonald@naeyc.org 24For more information about Teaching Young Children, contact Derry Koralek, Editor, DKoralek@naeyc.org

15. Linda C. Halgunseth, Ph.D. Research Coordinator Office of Applied Research (OAR) National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) 1313 L Street, NW Suite 400 Washington, DC 20005 (202) 350-8859 LHalgunseth@naeyc.org www.naeyc.org