Tools and Strategies for Building Systems

That Support Young Children Who Are Culturally and Linguistically

Diverse

A Presentation at the 2013 QRIS National Meeting

Camille CatlettFrank Porter Graham

Child Development Institute (NC)

Ola FridayNY Early Childhood

Professional Development Institute

Who’s here?

What perspective(s) do you bring to our conversation?• PD provider (training, technical assistance,

higher education)

• Administrator

• Other?

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There are significant disparities in the education, economic well-being, and health of children in the U.S. based on their race-ethnicity and whether or not their

parents are immigrants 1

When it comes to education, all groups of U.S. children were found to be at risk, regardless of their race-ethnicity and whether their parents were born in the U.S.

Rates of reading and math proficiency were critically low across the board; the lowest rates were for Hispanic and black children.

Findings

Before entering kindergarten, the average cognitive scores of preschool-age children in the highest socio-economic group are 60% above the average scores of children in the lowest

socioeconomic group.2

Disparities in child outcomes between poor, at-risk, and more advantaged children are evident in cognitive, social, behavioral, and health outcomes as early as 9 months and grow larger by 24 months of age.3

Nearly seven out of every 1,000

pre-kindergarteners are

expelled each year—an

estimated 5,117 preschoolers in

all. The rate is 3.2 times higher

than the national expulsion rate

for children in grades K-12.4

Boys are expelled 4.5 times more than girls; and African-Americans are

twice as likely to be expelled as Latino and Caucasian kids and

more than five times as likely as

Asian-American kids.4

Dual language learners are heavily overrepresented among low-achieving students (within the bottom 5% – 25% of the achievement distribution) and severely underrepresented among high achievers (within the top 5% - 25% of the achievement distribution).5

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Children form academic trajectories early in their school careers that tend to be stable and difficult

to change over the course of their schooling 6

Children’s negative perceptions of competence and attitudes become stronger and harder to reverse as children progress through school 7

Research suggests that both preservice

and inservice EC teacher preparation

have failed to prepare educators who

can effectively teach children for whom

English is a new language or second

dialect, children of color, children of

diverse abilities, and children from

economically marginalized communities 8

Examine Professional Development

)

A recent study revealed that few states include measures of cultural or linguistic competency of child care programs in their QRIS and these measures sometimes only apply to programs at the highest quality rating. 9

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Louise Stoney’s analysis of trends & challenges related to QRIS priorities addressed in the 35 state applications for RTT-ELC (2012) noted the “need for greater cultural competence and workforce diversity” as well as PD and supports in multiple languages.

Only one state was cited for focused attention to children with disabilities.10

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Perspectives from Round 1 RTT-ELC applications

All Each & Every

BUILD Diversity Learning Table

March – August 2012

Sample Diversity Learning

Table Session

Questions for Examining

the Intentionality

of Your Approaches

Do your policies reflect

your intentionality?

What messages do your words

convey?

• Family as a broader term

• Person first language (child with a disability instead of disabled child)

New NAEYC Standards for Professional Preparation Programs 11

Significant Changes in the 2009 StandardsThe language all children is revised to read each child or every child to strengthen the integration of inclusion and diversity as threads across all standards. In some cases, the phrase “each child” has been added to a key element of a standard.

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Have you established

policies related to cultural and

linguistic diversity?

We believe that . . .

Learning about and respecting differences among people are promoted when children have many opportunities to play and interact with classmates of different racial and cultural backgrounds and varying abilities.

Resources for Building Policies That Support Each Young Child

Cultural/LinguisticResponsiveness

Programs are responsible for creating a welcoming environment that respects diversity, support children’s ties to their families and communities, and promote both second language and preservation of children’s home languages and cultural identities. Linguistic and cultural diversity is an asset, not a deficit, for young children. 12

Resources from

Ask yourself...

Do your efforts have an explicit and intentional emphasis

on young children who are culturally diverse (includes racial,

ethnic, socio-economic, and other aspects of diversity)?

Do your efforts have an explicit and intentional emphasis

on young children who are dual language learners?

Do your efforts have an explicit and intentional emphasis

on young children with disabilities and inclusion?

Do you have agreed upon definitions of key terms to use in

your work (e.g., cultural competence, inclusion)?

Do you have guiding principles to underscore your shared

commitment to families in all aspects of your work?

Have they been developed collaboratively with families?

Do your family engagement standards and efforts reflect your intentionality?

• Higher preschool performance and promotion to next

grade 13,14

• More positive engagement with peers, adults, and learning15

• Buffers negative impact of poverty on academic and behavioral outcomes16

Engage Families to Help Children Succeed

Effective Models of

Family Engagemen

t

Emphasize a reciprocal relationship (not one-

sided)

Take a partnership approach to children’s

learning, in which both programs and

families collaborate

Emphasize respect for families and a value

for their expertise

Promote two-way communication and co-

planning

Recent research has found changes in teachers’ negative beliefs about Latino and other immigrant families after having direct contact and experiences with these families in their communities. 17

How are your family engagement efforts growing the capacity of teacher to welcome and support each family?

Resources for Supporting Engagement of Each and Every Family

Learning Table Session on Family Engagement

Resources for Supporting Engagement for Each and Every Family

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Resources for Supporting Engagement for Each and Every Family

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