Harnessing the Potential of Multiple Languages & Family Partnerships in Early Childhood Intervention & Special Education

Webinar

[Slide 1 - Hello, we will begin the webinar shortly. Thanks for your patience.]: Taletha: Okay, greetings

everyone. This is Taletha Derrington and I think we’ll get started.

[Slide 2 – Harnessing the Potential of Multiple Languages & Family Partnerships in Early Childhood

Intervention & Special Education]: You should all be on mute. If you’re not however, we would appreciate

you muting yourself to make sure that there is no feedback for everybody to distract us. So again, greetings and

thank you for joining us today for our webinar titled “Harnessing the Potential of Multiple Languages and

Family Partnerships in Early Childhood Intervention and Special Education.” As I just said I am Taletha

Derrington with the National Center for Systemic Improvement and I will be moderating the webinar today

along with my colleague Lauren Artzi also from NCSI.

This webinar is being supported by a partnership between the Parent Technical Assistance Centers and

NCSI. And we appreciate PTAC’s leadership and engaging two of our presenters in this work. As is noted on

this slide, this webinar will be recorded. And the recording and slides will be posted on the NCSI website in the

coming weeks and as I’ve already said you can download the slide or a PDF in the handouts section of your

control panel.

Those who attend the webinar; or the full webinar will get a certificate of completion at the end so look

out for that.

[Slide 3 – Webinar Format & Questions]: And just a few more house keeping things. You can submit your

questions into the questions pod. So if you look at your control panel there is a question pod. For technical

questions or issues, the Webinar team will try to assist you as soon as possible. And for content related

question, we’ll have time at the end of each; at the end of each of the presenters segments for some questions

and then some time at the end of the full presentation for some questions and discussion. But as you think of

them, put them in the question pod and we will make sure that the presenters get them.

[Slide 4 – Systemic Improvement]: Okay, so to frame today’s webinar; perhaps obviously given it’s in our

name, the NCSI is about systemic improvement. So to that end, today’s webinar is the second in a series on

language learning following NCSIs Part B webinar in October of 2016. And that webinar was “What Research

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Says About Identification and Assessment of English Language Learners with Disabilities.” You can access the

slides and recording by following the link at the bottom of this slide.

It covered assessment and referral for Special Ed. and presented statistics indicating a slight

overrepresentation of English learners in Special Ed. And that underscored the need to focus on Part C early

intervention and Part B 619preschool Special Education to support school readiness and reduce the need for

Special Education later among this population of English learners. So, today’s webinar will similarly focus on

research and practice as it applies to young children from birth to age five in early intervention and preschool

special education. That’s a very important and timely topic, as we know given the demographics of young

children and families in the U.S. Our intent is to provide information and resources to support program

administrators, direct service providers, families and other early childhood intervention and special education

stakeholders in harnessing the potential of multiple languages and family partnerships to achieve optimal

outcomes for these children and their families. Next slide please.

[Slide 5 – Presenters]: Our presenters today are Doré La Forett, who is an advanced research scientist at the

Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at UNC Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on promotion,

prevention, and treatment to support young children’s school readiness and mental health, with an emphasis on

ethnic and language minorities.

Lorraine Cooke is our next presenter. She is the executive director of the Egenolf Early Childhood

Development Center in Elizabeth, New Jersey. And that is a fully accredited, inclusive preschool for children

age’s three to five.

Our final presenter, Mercedes Rosa and she is the project director of the Family to Family Health

Information Center at the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network. Next slide please.

[Slide 6 – Topics of Today’s Webinar]: So today our first topic is about what research says about dual

language learners or DLLs in early childhood. Doré will discuss research that makes a developmental case for

the benefits of learning more than one language at an early age. And then our next topic is voices from the field

on what works. Doctor Cooke is going to provide an early childhood program success story. And she will

describe the program components that are intentionally designed to support families that speak another language

and their children of all abilities.

Although the program serves preschool ages, most of the principles and components are applicable to

intake and participation in EI services for children younger than age three. And then Mercedes will round out

the presentation with a discussion of the benefits of partnering with families of DLLs. And she will share

components and principles behind her work with immigrant parents and that supports immigrant parents and

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their access to and engagement in EI and Special Education services, as well as other health and social services,

for children from birth through the preschool years. The next slide.

[Slide 7 – Presentation Overview]: Thank you. So our objectives today are for you to leave being able to

summarize current research on the capacity and development trajectories of young DLLs. To list the

developmental demands that benefit from learning more than one language when children are young. To

identify components of an early childhood center-based program that support DLLs and their families. And to

explain how family organizations can support families with limited English proficiency, their children and early

childhood programs. Next slide please.

[Slide 8 – DLLs and the SSIP]: So these; these webinar objectives are meant to inform Part C and Part B 619

services, program, and policy development and specifically support states in implementing their state systemic

improvement plan to achieve their state-identified measurable results. So as I think all of you know, the

majority of the Part C SIMRs are related to social-emotional skills and knowledge and skills. And many Part B

SIMRs focus on the outcomes up to and including the third grade, with are two states specifically focusing on

preschool outcomes.

So this basically shows that there is an important role for EI and preschool special education in helping

Part B to achieve their SIMRs, and of course we want Part C to achieve theirs as well. Although there is a

range in the percentage of English learners in each state, all states do serve DLLs and all state SIMRs will be

affected by the success of DLLs.

[Slide 9 – NASEM Report – A Key Resource]: So before I turn it over to Doré, I wanted to highlight this key

resource. It is a comprehensive report by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine or NASEM.

And it’s on children and youth learning English. So we encourage you to read the full report, but especially the

conclusions and recommendations for policy and practice and research at the end.

So for example, it notes that there is not a lot of research or inquiry into DLLs served in EI. And that

too many DLLs are not referred to or engaged in the specialized supports of EI or 619. So, it draws attention to

the need for systemic improvement and more focus on family context across systems. Many of Doré’s slides

are based on information in conclusions 4-1 and 4-2, and the practices that Lorraine and Mercedes will share

later exemplify many of the report’s practice recommendations.

[Slide 10 – Research: Normative Dual Language Development]: And with that, I will turn it over to Doré.

Doré LaForett: Thanks so much for that introduction.

[Slide 11 – Dual Language Development - Capacity]: Well, to begin with, if there is one take home point I

can emphasize from this section of the webinar is that there is no evidence that exposure to two languages is a

developmental risk. Exposure to two languages doesn’t confuse kids or put their development at risk in one of

both languages. Research shows that when there is adequate exposure to both languages that kids have the

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capacity to develop skills in vocabulary; morphology – which has to do with the structure of words and parts of

words like stems and root words, prefixes and suffixes; syntax and also pragmatics, which have to do with the

aspects of meaning and language use that are dependent on the speaker, the addressee and other contextual

features.

So, I understand that there are a lot of SLPs who have registered for this webinar. So I think that all of

that stuff is just right up your alley in terms of the things that we’re talking about with regards to capacity. Next

slide please.

[Slide 12 – Dual Language Development - Trajectories]: When we talk about developmental trajectories of

DLLs, one key distinction has to do with the timing of their exposure to both languages. For kids exposed to

both languages before age three, this group has been referred to as simultaneous bilinguals. Whereas kids

exposed to the second language after age three have been called sequential bilinguals. When this exposure to

both languages happens before age three, kids show many of the same language trajectories and skills as

monolingual children and they reach language milestones at the same time. Such as when they say their first

words, combine two to three words to form sentences, and also speak in full sentences.

However, when exposure happens past age three, milestones in the second language tend to come

months or years later than what we would, than what we would see in a monolingual child.

So, what’s different for DLLs in terms of language trajectories? Well, they might take longer to learn

differences in languages. They might also use alternate learning strategies, and their proficiency in a given

language may reflect varied input and quality. That is, how much kids hear a given language and how high

quality it is makes a difference for acquiring proficiency. These differences in language trajectories are

normative for DLLs and do not indicate a language disorder, impairment, or disability. Next slide please.

[Slide 13 – Dual Language Development – Language Discrimination]: Research has also shown that

beginning in infancy, DLLs show strong language discrimination abilities, which refers to the ability to separate

the two languages and connect the structural and functional properties of each one. This relates to things like

sounds and sound sequences, words, grammar and language constructions, and the rhythmic properties of

language like word order and prosody.

However, DLLs may also take; oh I should say also instead of however, DLLs may take longer to

acquire certain phonological properties. And why might that be? Well for starters the task is more complex or

it’s possible that they may be exposed to less input in each language. Or another possibility is they may be

exposed to non-native input in one or both languages. So a couple of examples I could highlight here to show

this might be when a parent who doesn’t have strong English skills is using English at home. Or another

example is with a teacher with limited skills in the child’s home language is using it in the classroom. All well-

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intentioned but however, in these examples these non-native speakers may actually end up being poor models

for that language. So think about things like pronunciation, grammatical construction and things like that.

Finally, DLLs may use alternate learning strategies to discriminate between the two languages. For

instance, they may be more forgiving of mispronounced words when the speaker is a non-native speaker. Or

they may look at the speaker’s mouth shape to tell one language from the next. Next slide please.

[Slide 14 – Dual Language Development – Vocabulary & Grammar]: In the area of vocabulary, when

assessed in one language, DLLs appear to have smaller vocabularies compared with monolinguals. However,

when we do assessments in both languages, DLLs total vocabulary or their conceptual vocabulary exceeds those

of monolinguals. So that is that kids might know the word or concept in their home language, in the second

language, or both.

In terms of grammar, DLLs are the same as monolinguals on general developmental patters, rates of

acquisition and growth, and milestones on things like main length utterance, two word combinations, and short

and complex sentences. However, what’s actually pretty interesting from this line of research is that research

done in the field of neuroscience has shown that neurologically, DLLs actually have separate grammatical

systems from very early in their development. Next slide please.

[Slide 15 – Dual Language Development - Codeswitching]: One final point I want to make regarding

language development trajectories has to do with codeswitching. So if you are not familiar with codeswitching,

this occurs when the speaker alternates between two or more languages in the context of a single conversation.

It’s a normal part of dual language development and bilingual talk and does not indicate that kids are confused.

And on top of that, it’s often done strategically. The speaker might say something in the other language

to substitute an unknown word, to adjust to the listener’s language, or as a point of emphasis. Next slide please.

[Slide 16 – Dual Language Development – Cognitive Capacity]: These next two slides talk about other

domains of development besides language. Because of course, it’s important to remember that DLLs are more

than just their language skills, and we care about their development in all areas. And as you’ll see, sometimes

learning two languages makes a difference for skills in other developmental areas. So, I would like to say a few

words about research on DLLs related to cognitive capacity.

Some research has specifically focused on executive function skills, which has to do with those

cognitive abilities that allow an individual to plan, control attention, and think flexibly. There has been some

research pointing to some advantages in executive function for DLLs in areas such as focusing attention,

reasoning about other’s mental states, metalinguistic awareness, or those abilities where a person is monitoring

or controlling the use of their language. And then also spatial and working memory.

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Why is this? Well one key argument is that the DLLs have more practice with cognitive flexibility in

that they have to switch between two languages. And that this requires using inhibition and task switching

skills. It is worth noting however that such advantages seem more likely to occur when both languages are

strong. Next slide please.

[Slide 17 – Dual Language Development — Math Skills]: In the area of Math, research has shown that

descriptions of Math concepts can differ by language, which can affect kids understanding of Math concepts. In

addition, there is some evidence that knowing a Math concept in one language increases one’s potential to know

or learn the same concept in another language. Next slide please.

[Slide 18 – Dual Language Development — Social and Emotional Skills]: For social and emotional

development, this is an under researched area compared with other domains of development. Of the research

that has been done, DLLs skills are comparable to or better than monolinguals. And some studies have shown

that DLLs have advantages such as greater self-control and interpersonal skills, fewer behavior, problems, and

better approaches to learning. These skills could actually potentially be leveraged for improving kid’s academic

achievement. Next slide please.

[Slide 19 – Dual Language Development – Benefits]: On top of what I’ve already described, some additional

benefits of bilingualism include more communication capacity. So it really opens up the number and different

types of people they are able to communication with. It improves cognitive skills and also maintains family and

cultural ties. In terms of learning, research has shown that children’s strong home language skills predict school

success.

This is a particularly important point for those of us working in an early care and education setting. And

then finally, bilingual individuals may experience economic benefits. For example, jobs requiring bilingual

skills. Next slide please.

[Slide 20 – Dual Language Development – Language Loss]: With all of this in mind, I want to close out this

section by briefly talking about language loss. We do see that when exposed to English in preschool, children

start to show a preference for it over their home language. This phenomenon is actually pretty concerning

because there are some risks that accompany home language loss. For example, children may lose the ability to

communicate with their family members. Another risk is that they may become estranged from their cultural

and linguistic heritage.

These points remind us that focusing on DLLs learning English at the expense of their home language

can have negative consequences for them. And it also gives us additional reasons to underscore the importance

of supporting young children’s development of skills in their home language. I think we’re ready for the next

section.

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[Slide 21 – Questions]:

[Slide 22 – Voices from the Field: Supporting Young Children’s Dual Language Development]: Taletha:

So before we go to the next presenter, I just wanted to pause to see if anybody wanted to unmute themselves

and ask a question? Actually, I’m not sure if that’s possible but you can put it in the chat if you have a question

specifically for Doré at this point.

Lauren Artzi: Hi Taletha, this is Lauren Artzi. I just want to say I’ve been monitoring the chat and the

questions, both logistical about the webinar and also content. And we did get a couple of questions about things

like what SSIP stands for and SIMR stands for? So we put it in a couple of links into the chat that kind of

explain more hopefully the SIMR, which is the state identified measurable result as a part of the state systemic

improvement plan. So definitely check those out.

And there should be power points posted to the handouts. And also we will be; we are recording the

Webinar and we will be achieving it in the; it will be archived in the NCSI Resources Library site.

Taletha: Thank you Lauren. Okay, we’re next up and ready for Lorraine Cooke.

Lorraine Cooke: Okay, thank you Taletha. Next slide please.

[Slide 23 – The Egenolf Early Childhood Center –History, Demographics, Commitment to Quality]:

Thank you. Just a little bit about the Egenolf Early Childhood Center. We were founded in the city of

Elizabeth in the 1890s and so we’ve been around for quite a while. And we mainly serve low to moderate

income families. The Egenolf family donated the house to the association and which later on the organization

ended up renaming the child care program. So that’s where we got the name Egenolf from.

So after the start, the population continued to grow and gain popularity. And eventually the organization

acquired a contract to provide subsidies to families to further enable their access. In 1999, we contracted with

the local school district to deliver free state-funded preschool to all three year olds and four year olds under the

landmark Abbott Decision, which was an educational equity class action lawsuit.

The free, state funded preschool runs from September through June just like the regular school year.

Our before and after school program and the summer child care programs are available for a fee with subsidies

also available for that. Currently our demographics are 87% Latino, 8% African American, 4% white, and 1%

Asian. And the languages spoken are Spanish, Creole, Arabic, and Portuguese.

And our commitment to quality comes; it’s directly related to our commitment to accreditation. And the

accreditation process assesses quality in early childhood programs based on best practices. So there are about

four hundred assessed items that reflect best practices and high quality. And Egenolf is also named a top-

performing preschool by the district as determined by the ECERS score. Next slide please.

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[Slide 24 – Egenolf Staffing to Support DLLs]: We intentionally hire teachers to support our dual language

learners. So in a school year program all of our teachers hold bachelor degrees with preschool through third

grade certification. And that’s in accordance with the court mandate for preschool. All of the teachers are

bilingual and they represent the various languages that we have represented among our children, the Spanish,

Creole, and Portuguese.

All of the teaching assistants hold a CBA and are also bilingual. And all of the classrooms have at

least one bilingual adult and that is by design. We actually move teachers around so that if a teacher leaves we

have at least one bilingual teacher in each classroom. We have one family worker for every 75 families. And

typically, the family worker is the first professional to meet with families.

So they too are bilingual and being the first people to meet with the families, they assess the

predominant language of the family in the initial conversation. And they also have resources for translation

services either provided through the district or other relationships that we have established. And I put the

security down because the security guard is also bilingual. He’s the first face of the center and he welcomes

families and children on a daily basis in a language that they are comfortable with.

And also the before and after care staff and the summer care staff are also bilingual. So, our hiring

practices are intentional to ensure that our families feel welcome, comfortable, and are confident that their

language preferences will be honored. Next slide.

[Slide 25 – Intake Procedures]: During the intake process; that’s the first meeting that we have with the

families, prior to the start in September. The family workers ask the families what their home language is, and

they talk about the goals that families have for their children regarding language. The family workers describe

our programs including the activities, special events, and the curriculum, and in our case the curriculum that we

use is High Scope.

And they explain that the curriculum is play based, that’s driven by the children’s interests with the

classroom staff enhancing each child’s learning experience. So after explaining the program the staff; the

family worker takes the family to visit the classroom. So, they get a better understanding of how important

language is to the acquisition of skills and learning, and are once again encouraged to express what their

language priorities are.

So the families also have an opportunity to discuss with the family worker any concerns they might have

about their children’s development. And not surprising lots of the families don’t readily tell us about their

children’s early intervention services or if they have IEPs. So having these conversations helps families to feel

more comfortable about sharing, asking the questions and understanding that we’re partners with them in this

process. And we will help them to continue to receive the services and interventions.

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Sometimes families didn’t have any experience with early intervention but have concerns about their

child’s development and have not receive services. So, we help them to write letters to the district to request an

evaluation. And also, to give them the support that we’ll be by their side through the entire process. Next slide.

[Slide 26 – Classroom Assignment]: So in creating the classroom rosters, the language priorities identified by

the parents actually help us to assign children to the staff that most match their language goals. In addition to

diversity of language we are intentional in our efforts to have broad diversity in the classroom. But that also

includes gender and culture as well as language. By the way, we are located in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Classroom staff are informed of the home languages of the children in their classrooms once they get

their rosters. And then they can create a classroom environment that is inclusive to all kids. And what’s

important in our curriculum is labeling every item in the classroom. So, they will label the items according to

what the languages is in their class. They make sure that there are books in the classroom to represent the

languages and also, the rooms are filled with pictures that also depict various cultures and roles. Next slide.

[Slide 27 – Curriculum Delivery]: So once the classroom staff have information about the children, they

deliver the curriculum in the language identified by the family. So usually the day starts with a circle time or

morning meeting, and the teacher puts forth whatever instruction or lesson that she wants to put out to the

children in both languages or in as many languages as she can. And throughout the day many opportunities for

staff to read books in different languages. The children are read to both in small groups and individually.

The curriculum calls for one small group activity daily so the children are divided into groups based

upon their language. And each group is led by a staff member fluent in that language. And then usually

following that small group time the children go into worktime where they make a selection, of course with staff

support, of where and who they will play with. Next slide.

[Slide 28 – Parent/Family Conferences]: Obviously it’s important to hold conferences with families. And

they’re held at least twice during the school year and delivered in the language preference of the family. If we

do not have a staff member competent in a particular language that matches that of the family, we have access

to interpreters. And of course we get authorization from the families before using the interpreters with them

obviously for confidentiality purposes.

In addition to that, we hold five group family meetings each year. And that is where all of the families

come together. The presenters are typically bilingual, but we always have interpreters to have small groups in

the room in case there are any questions or problems with understanding. All the childcare center staff

including the classroom staff, the family workers, accompany the families to special education meetings with

the schools that are held to adjust evaluation or intervention.

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And we have found that by accompanying the families and since we have the confidence of them

following all of the relationship building that we did, that families are more confident to attend the meetings.

And the good news is that their fear is eliminated. And most importantly for us, they build advocacy skills that

we’ve seen carried through to their child’s educational experiences. Next slide.

[Slide 29 – Collaborations]: So in doing all of this, we were very fortunate to have established relationships

with some primary state organizations. The Statewide Parent Advocacy Network has worked with us and

continues to work with us to help parents with challenges with evaluations or interventions and they give us

guidance. When we hit walls, they do presentations for us in writing in two languages. It has been a great

support for families.

The Advocates for Children of New Jersey supports our efforts for building parent advocacy skills. And

both the Children’s Specialized Hospital and the Elizabeth School District conduct evaluations and provide

intervention services. Next slide.

[Slide 30 – Outcomes]: So, the outcomes are pretty obvious I guess but bear mentioning. When the families

preferred language is respected and preserved in childcare they build confidence in communicating. And I

think the barriers to building a home and educational partnership are broken down, they’re eliminated. And

often, parents have a desire to learn English. And it’s especially interesting to see children teaching their

parents English as well. Next slide.

[Slide 31 – Celebrations]: Finally in early childhood education and child care, we never miss an opportunity to

have celebrations. So, we hold multicultural days in the classroom where families have an opportunity to

exhibit their cultures. And we also have an open door policy where parents or families can come in anytime to

participate in classroom activities. They can read books, they can do performances, they can demonstrate a

special craft, or share some art or music with the children.

And I think that over time we have learned that we are very fortunate to have experienced success with

the practices supporting dual language learners. And it’s not just our blowing our own horn but, it’s

testimonials from families who routinely come back to the Center years after their children have left us to share

their children’s education experiences. So we’re very proud of the work that we have done. And that’s it.

[Slide 32 – Questions?]: Lauren Artzi: Great, so this is Lauren Artzi, and I’ve been kind of monitoring with

the other panelists the questions in the chat. They’re kind of all rolling in. So I’ll start first, we have a couple; a

mix of questions. Some questions for the second portion of the webinar with Lorraine and Mercedes and a

couple for Doré; the first half of the webinar. So I’ll start with the second half since we just talked about that.

And I’m wondering if Lorraine or Mercedes if you can talk about for the morning meeting and the group

meeting, is it done in one language and then the other? Or is it in separate groups?

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Lorraine Cooke: Typically it is done in both languages.

Lauren Artzi: In both languages?

Lorraine Cooke: Yes

Lauren Artzi: Okay, great. And there have been some questions about kind of the staffing of a

program like this. Can you speak to how many languages are on your; your staff is fluent in? What do you do

to recruit the staff members? And then related to that, another question just came in on how to navigate

learning environments where students speak multiple; you know where there are more than one language

background? Like ten languages or five languages?

Lorraine Cooke: Well starting with recruiting, when we; well first of all I’m very fortunate because we

have a very stable staff. But, if a position does become available the description of the position is very clear

that the staff be bilingual. Right now we have Spanish, Portuguese, Creole, and I think that’s it. And that

represents most of our children. We do have an Egyptian population so we are challenged with providing

Arabic services but we have resources with people that are we call in to provide those services. And of course

as I’ve said, we ask the parents if it’s alright to provide an interpreter during the process. So they; we don’t

want to crossover confidentiality.

Lorraine Cooke: What was the other question?

Lauren Artzi: I think; there were some questions around like children level factors. So for instance

there’s one around can you talk more about the age range of the children? And then in situations where there’s

more than one language background, how do you kind of navigate that learning environment?

Lorraine Cooke: We serve children age’s three to five. During the school year it’s three to four and

then over the summer we serve up to the age of six. And with the children; we do the majority of it. But most

of the classes are English and Spanish at this point.

We do have one teacher that teaches Creole. So we try to put the children that speak Creole in her class.

She speaks English, Spanish and Creole. And as I said the challenges are with the Arabic kids. Which,

normally what we do is present most of the curriculum to them in English and then we speak to the parents

about them. And the parents are pretty much okay with that. But when we have any kinds of challenges that’s

when we call the resources in to help us.

Lauren Artzi: Great, let’s see. And then can you just clarify where; I think Taletha had answered that

for everybody. But you are; your program is based out of New Jersey is that correct?

Lorraine Cooke: Yes

Lauren Artzi: Great and then there’s a couple of questions in here that I think kind of speak to the first

section with Doré. So Doré; one there’s been a couple of questions that have come up on the board around sort

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of recommendations for parents who may be concerned about placing children in dual language settings where

there’s speech and language challenges? Can you about that to what the research says about that?

Doré LaForett: The difficulties; I think the thing I would tend to focus on in answering this question is,

what is the nature of the dual language program? So, there’s great variability in what our dual language

programs look like you know across the country. You know, some young kids are going to be in programs that

have kind of very formal arrangements around proportions of different languages spoken you know in terms of

the home language versus English.

Other programs are not as formalized, and so it’s a much more fluid process. So in that, I think another

thing for parents to be thinking about are what are the therapies that the kids are currently getting? And in what

language are they getting it? So one of the things that is talked about in this area is you know really focusing on

the importance of strengthening the home language even for kids who have diagnosed or suspected disabilities.

And I think that needs to be taken into consideration when thinking about what is that proportion or exposure

that they are going to be getting to each language in the dual language program. And how is that going to relate

to their therapy goals?

Lauren Artzi: Great and then there’s another set of questions that are coming in and I think it could go

to any of the panelists around sort of speaking more to evidence-based practices for language and literacy

development and home language development. So Doré, maybe I’ll turn it over to you first. Can you talk a bit

more about what the research says related to kind of those evidence-based practices? Also, are there

implications for states and practitioners in supporting families to kind strike a balance between evidence-based

practices in supporting the home language?

Doré LaForett: Gosh, we really could do a whole webinar on this topic. I think just too quickly answer

because I know that we have other things to get to as well. Some of the things really center around what is the;

I’ll kind of break this up into two categories. So one is going to be strategic use of the home language. And I

think this is particularly relevant for programs that do not have those formalized tracks.

Those formalized dual language tracks like you know like 80/20 or 90/10 or 50/50 kinds of dual

language models. To thinking about for what purpose is the language being used and in what context. Some of

those approaches really talk about language bridging and being strategic in the use of vocabulary development.

Teaching vocabulary in both languages and using a lot of contextual knowledge to help bring about children’s

understanding of those vocabulary words. Pointing out similarities and differences between the two languages

across; you know just kind of alphabetic principles. The way that words sound and are spelled.

Really leveraging the use of cognates. So you know one thing at least in terms of Spanish and English is

that there is about a 40% overlap between Spanish and English with regards to cognates. And that’s a really

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wonderful resource to be able to leverage and to teach in vocabulary. There are some other things related to

metalinguistic awareness in terms of focusing on sound principles. Pointing out similarities and differences

between the two languages.

But the other broad category that I would talk about would be what other supports do we know are in

general part of good, strong best practice in early childhood language and literacy teaching that are especially

important for dual language learners. So I’m talking about things like the use of visual and contextual queues.

So thinking about all of the different things that we’re teaching in early childhood and really augmenting that

quite heavily with the use of visual cues. Whether its que cards, props, you know finger plays, use of puppets

or other things to help you know make that a more experiential hands on kind of experience as opposed to just

kids learning things through auditory presentation. So, I’ll stop there.

Lauren Artzi: Great, so with that we’ll turn it over to Mercedes.

Mercedes Rosa: Thank you, next slide.

[Slide 33 – Voices from the Field: Role of Family Organizations]: Next slide from there.

[Slide 34 – SPAN Foremost Commitment]: So SPAN is a thirty year, family led organization that serves as a

one-stop shop for information, support and access across systems for families in New Jersey and also national

programs. Our mission and our focus is that all families will have the resources and support that they need to

ensure that their children become fully participating and contributing members of our community and society.

Our mission is to empower and support families and involve professionals to partner and to enhance the healthy

development and education of children and youth. And our foremost commitment as it states on this slide is to

those with the greatest need due to disability; poverty; discrimination based on race, sex, language, or

immigrant status. Next slide.

[Slide 35 – SPAN Focus]: So across our programs, which range from zero to twenty-one across systems health,

education, mental health. We really want to strengthen system improvements and address the changing

demographics and disparities that families face and measure our impact and outcomes. And so in New Jersey,

it’s that nearly a third of New Jersey residents now speak a language other than English in their home. And that

reflects about 2.6 million residents or 30.7% above the age of five that now speak a language other than

English.

So, we definitely have our work cut out for us and this webinar is certainly timely in that. So we

provide targeted parent and professional development. And we engage diverse families at individual and

system levels. We engage them in advocacy, building coalitions, empowering families to serve on groups and

partnering to support diverse families reflective of the changing demographics. We partner with professionals

and again across systems. Next slide

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[Slide 36 – SPAN Activities]: So we do this through multiple ways. We provide parent trainings in multiple

languages where staff members represent at least eight to ten different languages, they speak at least eight to ten

different languages. We support families in their transition from Early Intervention to preschool across the

certification needs. We also focus on trainings that empower families to know their rights as immigrants and

those especially with limited English proficiency. And we really promote leadership development to bring the

voices of diverse family leaders to the table to improve outcomes and service delivery. Really to promote their

involvement from early on. From the preschool phases and beyond. Next slide please.

[Slide 37 – SPAN Activities]: We provide assistance in a myriad of ways. We do provide personalized and

individual assistance to families to help them to navigate the systems of care programs, early intervention,

special education and to empower their voices and advocacy. We give them tools, information and lots of

resources. We develop resources based upon the individual needs of families. And we really partner with;

across community-based organizations and encourage that a community-based organization is a catalyst for

change that can really help you support and deliver services. Next slide.

[Slide 38 – Underlying Principles]: So our underlying principles are really strengths-based. We focus on

really equipping families and providing them exactly with what they need. Helping them feel comfortable in

asking for help and finding their voice across advocacy. Our services are family-centered, believing that

families are at the center of all programs and we should be responsive to their needs.

We build empowerment. We don’t want families to keep coming to us for help. We’re there to give

them the tools to train them so that they can be informed and really involved in their children’s programing,

advocacy and all of the needs that they have across systems of care. We are relationship-based again across

partnerships with community; other community organizations, schools, health and all of the programs to find

the solutions that the families need to really be effective in their parenting and their partnership across systems

and services. Next slide.

[Slide 39 – Starting Place]: So how do you strengthen your relationships with families? Families being diverse

and whether you’re in home visiting or early childhood or whatever your program may be. Families are

interested in really being involved in your program to help improve. You need to understand that they are there

to serve and support your needs as well. They are there to help you develop strategies in your outreach to

support other families and also communicate with them.

Start with a small group of families. And bring them to the table realizing that they can serve as cultural

brokers, cultural liaisons, cultural mediators. And really they are a source of knowledge that can empower your

program. And help you to implement planning, evaluation and strategies to bring them to the table to help

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them, meet them where they’re at. So that they can become equipped with and really partner in their children’s

education and in their family life as well. Next slide.

[Slide 40 – Factors Affecting Family Partnership]: So beliefs and perceptions about what’s important to

families and permissible for them to do, so how you communicate with families are important. And to the

extent which immigrant families believe that they can have a positive influence in their children’s services and

outcomes. So breaking down that perception and making them feel welcomed and involving them at all levels

especially early childhood.

I love Lorraine’s model. We partner with her and she really provides excellent training. When family

members come out, a large group of sixty to receive training to find out how they can be partners in their

children’s education, and learn about behavior interventions and strategies that will make them more effective

partners. So families really want and hunger for that opportunity to learn, to be involved and then to model that,

what they have learned to others to equip their community as well. Next slide.

[Slide 41 – How do we get there?]: So how do you get there? Really it’s in your different programming

partnering with immigrants and really bringing them to the forefront and having them partner in a meaningful

way. As I mentioned in our vision statement, we completely integrate this across all of our programs, across all

of our supports, across all of our metrics and projects. We have a vision and opportunities to successfully be at

the table and implement their leadership with that opportunity that you may provide. So we listen, we provide

cultural reciprocity, and we provide them with tangible and emotional supports.

And that could be a stipend for their time, that could be having them volunteer, that could be having

them serve on an advisory or on a panel. But really trusting that they are there and that they’re willing

participants. But giving them that opportunity to practice, to learn. And it’s important to facilitate opportunities

for parents to learn about these educational structures, programs, policies at a state and a national level so that

they will know more about the programs. They want to support what you’re doing for them and to be a part of

that. Next slide.

[Slide 42 – Critical Supports]: So connect with families where they are. Help them to recognize that their

strengths; that they have strengths and that they are leaders in their own right. Understand them and help to

expose them to families that are just like them. Other immigrant families that have successfully gone through

the ranks of leadership and developed their leadership skills. Develop trust and empowerment, self-efficacy and

relationships through networks. Develop that trust.

Again with families strengthen them in their advocacy. Provide them with friendship opportunities

where they can gather a community-based setting. Immigrants really love that support group aspect to

programs. So bringing that network opportunity in your program is important. Connecting them to peers, focus

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on empowerment through again building those relationships and giving them opportunities to lead together is

important as well. Next slide.

[Slide 43 – Partner with Immigrant CBO and Parent-Led Organizations]: So what are the benefits of

partnering with a community-based organization and a parent led organization? Really we recognize and

understand the barriers of family participation beyond language. And we want to partner with you to help you

make those changes. And engage families in all processes and at all levels.

And the fundamental ingredients are mutual respect for their skills. What they bring to the table as

cultural brokers, as community liaisons, as mediators, are really knowledge and information that we need to

know so that we are more effective in our programs and in our service delivery models. Develop agreed upon

goals based upon trust, honesty, clear and open communication. Again, where they feel comfortable.

And we’re really empowering them to take an active role in decision making and support. And to really

benefit their students; their young students in early achievement and in helping them understand our programs

and services so that they can continue to grow, regardless of their limitations and language or even their

academic limitations as well. Next slide.

[Slide 44 – Our Lessons Learned]: So our lessons learned is really ensuring that we have staff members that

are reflective of the communities that we serve. Lorraine mentioned that she has diverse staff members as well,

that’s really important. If we don’t have staff that reflects the community that we serve that we really partner

with other community-based organizations so that they can serve again as that mediator and help us to reach

those communities that our programs are designed to serve. Be flexible and determined and conduct ongoing

evaluations as far as your outcomes and what you’re trying to achieve and the goals of your program. Next

slide.

[Slide 45 – Questions]: So in closing I just want to say you know families are; they need to be informed, to be

prepared and equipped to be advocates for their children. And they can serve as leaders and as cultural

connectors in their community and to students and families as well. We’ve learned you know in our

organization where all families with children and youth with special needs that have been given opportunities to

really support communities and programs and services catalyst to enhance system delivery.

And I can say through early intervention, serving in early childhood advisories, we really make a

difference when we give families opportunities to lead, to give voice to the needs that they have. Enable our

programs and services to be responsive and bring them to the table to really improve our programs, our services.

And listen, we can be more effective as we listen to the needs of families. Our programs are designed to serve

them. It behooves us to allow them to come forth and to be leaders in their own right so our programs are better

for it. Thank you.

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Taletha: Thank you Mercedes. Now I would like to take a couple of minutes to answer; if people have

specific questions for Mercedes since she just presented. We can field a few of them now. I did want to note

that we are; we are recording all of your questions and we’re not going to be able to get to all of them. But, we

will follow up with a question and answer document.

[Slide 46 – Discussion]: Because I think some of the questions people have asked might be questions that

everybody might have at some point. So look forward to that when we achieve the webinar. We will also post

a Q&A. And before I open it up I just wanted to let; emphasize what Lauren said is that NCSI is providing this

information. We don’t endorse anything in particular. We encourage you to investigate things and look at what

is evidence-based and fits your context.

And NCSI can be supportive in that regard. At the following; then ending slides of this presentation

provide resources that were cited on the slides earlier as well as some additional helpful references. And there’s

also the contact information for the NCSI staff; myself, Lauren, Diana Autin, Patrice Linehan and Mariola

Rosser, hopefully I didn’t forget anybody. If you want to follow up with questions to us.

So with that I wanted to open it up for discussion in our final five minutes. So Lauren have you been;

hopefully you’ve been looking at the questions and can help us address them in order:

Lauren Artzi: Yeah, I think a question that’s coming up in a couple of ways is methods for getting

families involved? Especially families that may have multiple jobs and also issues around transportation? So

I’m guessing if any of the presenters can kind of talk to ways you have encourage family involvement in your

programs?

Mercedes Rosa: Hi, it’s Mercedes. I can answer from a standpoint of our program. We provide

different platforms so that families can learn. We provide Webinars; just in time webinars that are accessible on

our website, twenty-four hours so that families can access learning at their convenience.

We also have county based training where we go where the families are. Again, we’ve gone to you

know Early Head Start programs or just different places in the evening, faith-based trainings at their houses of

worship. So just trying to meet the families where they are, where the training can be more accessible and it

really doesn’t create an additional barrier for them not to be able to access them. So you know webinars or in

person, whatever works for the families.

Lauren Artzi: Great, I think we have time for one more question. Another kind of question coming up

a couple of ways is supports; like what supports are in place to support parents who may have limited English

proficiency themselves in these programs?

Mercedes Rosa: Is that for me? Hi.

Lauren Artzi: Yeah

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Mercedes Rosa: So we have a lot of families that we work with that have you know limited reading. So

we try to you know partner them with another person so that we provide them with that in person tailored

support. Some of the families that didn’t know English have gone on to programs that help them facilitate

growth in their English language in programs that are set up at libraries. But for limited English, there are

courses that families have taken to improve in that.

Many have a third grade or a little under a third grade education. Just finding leaders within their

communities and community-based supports so that they can grow in their personal needs and become stronger

in their leadership and in their role as parents as well. So leveraging partnerships with other community-based

organizations that provide this as a service for families has really worked well for us.

Lauren Artzi: Great, wonderful. So I’ll turn it back over to Taletha because I know that we’re just

about at the top of the hour. And as she mentioned we will all follow up on the other questions because we did

get quite a few in.

Taletha: Thank you Lauren. And I want to give a big thanks to our presenters, Doré, Lorraine and

Mercedes. And a big thanks to all of you for your participation and all of your questions. I knew this was an

important topic. But it’s pretty obvious that it’s very critical. So as I mentioned earlier, we’ve had too many

questions to cover but your questions are all very; they’re great and I’m thinking about a lot of them.

So, we will work together with our team at NCSI and you know with the presenters to develop a Q&A

document that will accompany the slides and the webinar recording in the archive. And we will also send out

an announcement to the NCSI list serve where you got the announcement for this webinar to register. We’ll

send out an announcement when those; when that archived information is available so that you can share it with

your colleagues. And for those of you who might be in the Pacific, in the Pacific Island or overseas and in

Europe we; you know obviously there is the archived webinar but we might be able to you know arrange some

one on one time with you for specific questions. So if anybody is on here that works with those entities, please

feel free to get in touch with me, Taletha Derrington and we’ll be sure to try to set up something.

So with that, we’re at the top of the hour. Thank you again for your participation. And there will be a

survey following up, an evaluation of this webinar. We would appreciate your responses to help us improve our

future webinars. Okay everyone take care.

Lauren Artzi: Thanks Taletha. And there are additional resources in the back of the slide deck too as

Taletha mentioned. Great.

[Slide 47 – References]: Taletha: Yep

[Slide 48 – References]: Thank you everybody.

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