English Language Learners

‘Godfather' of Head Start Decries Poor Quality in Pre-K Programs

The average quality of child care programs in private settings is "somewhere between mediocre and poor," says Edward Zigler, who served as one of the founding directors of Head Start in the 1970s. Publicly funded programs - including Head Start - aren't doing much better. In a recent talk at Louisiana State University, Zigler says that Head Start has too often been more a jobs program than an education program and complained that there have been no fundamental improvements to early education and childcare since the Clinton administration. He stressed that it is important for pre-k programs to start small with a focus on quality and then scale up to a universal pre-kindergarten program, which he says is a more "pragmatic" alternative to targeted pre-k.

Earlier this week we looked at myths and evidence about educating English language learners. Helping these children to obtain proficiency in both English and their native language must be a critical goal for PK-3 education. But what about the 90 percent of children who already speak English--are we missing out on a critical opportunity to teach them a second language in the PK-3 years?

In our increasingly global economy, developing a workforce that is conversant in other languages and cultures will be increasingly important for our national economic competitiveness. Our government also needs a greater supply of proficient speakers of a variety of other languages to ensure our national security.

Yet only 9 percent of American adults are proficient in more than one language--compared to 53 percent of Europeans. And only a small percentage of multi-lingual Americans are proficient in Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, and other languages that will be in increasing demand in the years ahead.

A new report from the Foundation for Child Development surveys the research about language learning in the PK-3 years and debunks six common myths about young English Language Learner students.

Myth #1: Learning two languages during the early childhood years will overwhelm, confuse and/or delay a child’s acquisition of English. Scientific research shows that children as young as three years old are able to differentiate between different languages—so parents don’t need to worry that exposure to more than one language will confuse children. Research also suggests that there are long-term cognitive benefits to learning multiple languages early.

Myth #2: Total English immersion from Prekindergarten through Third Grade is the best way for a young English Language Learning to acquire English. In fact, recent research shows that ELL children who receive support for both home language and English acquisition in the pre-k and early elementary years have better middle- and high-school English language achievement than children from English-only early education. Children in total-immersion pre-k programs tend to lose their ability to speak in their home language, which may harm their ability to communicate with their families, and deprive them of the cognitive and economic benefits of knowing a second language.