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Family Child Care Providers

Family Child Care Providers

Implications for Serving Dual Language Learners and Their Families

A cheerful mature mother delivers a box of fresh produce to her young adult daughter. The daughter is holding her toddler son.

Family Child Care Providers are an essential segment of California’s early childhood workforce. These individuals care for both young children and school age children in their homes. Forty-two percent of California's Family Child Care providers were born outside of the US and are bilingual or multilingual. Sixty percent of California’s young children come from homes where English is not the primary language, so it is very common for non-English-speaking Family Child Care Providers to serve young children whose home languages are not English. Given the likelihood that non-English-speaking Family Child Care Providers serve Dual Language Learners, they are in a unique position to support the continued development of a child’s home language, which is essential as a foundation for bilingual development.

This report describes the strengths and challenges faced by non-English speaking Family Child Providers during the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. A number of recommendations are highlighted to help support home-based care providers and view them as vital contributors to the well-being of families and their communities.

Family Child Care Providers_Executive Summary_Cover

Implications for Serving Dual Language Learners and Their Families: Executive Summary
By Marlene Zepeda, Ph.D.

This executive summary discusses how Non-English-speaking Family Child Care Providers contribute to the health and well-being of their communities by providing continuity of care for the many cultures and languages of the families they serve. These providers also offer children and families with dissimilar languages and cultures opportunities to benefit from a different way of experiencing the world around them. Although these Family Child Care Providers collectively demonstrate a high degree of perseverance in the face of challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, they also encounter a number of difficulties due to language and cultural barriers.

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Family Child Care Providers_Overview Report_Cover

Implications for Serving Dual Language Learners and Their Families: Overview Report
By Marlene Zepeda, Ph.D.

This overview report summaries the responses of three groups of non-English speaking Family Child Care Providers (FCCHs). Cantonese/Mandarin, Filipino/Tagalog and Spanish speaking FCCHs were interviewed about their working lives during the time of the pandemic. The responses of a small group of coaches who work with non-English speaking FCCHs are also reported. Based on participants' responses, a set of recommendations are advanced to support this segment of the early childhood workforce.

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Family Child Care Providers_Coach Summary_Cover

Implications for Serving Dual Language Learners and Their Families: Coach Summary
By Marlene Zepeda, Ph.D.

In this summary ten coaches serving providers working with Dual Language Learners and their families were interviewed via Zoom regarding their perceptions of the assets and challenges faced by providers during the pandemic and the resources they rely on for assistance. The coaches did not necessarily work with the Family Child Care Providers (FCCHs) interviewed for this study. All coaches had a minimum of two years of experience and were bilingual or multilingual in either English/Spanish or English/Cantonese/ Mandarin. With the exception of one coach who served exempt providers, all coaches worked with licensed providers. No coach was located who worked with Filipino/Tagalog-speaking providers.

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Family Child Care Providers_Filipino-Tagalog-Speaking_Cover

Implications for Serving Dual Language Learners and Their Families: Filipino/Tagalog Speaking Family Care Provider
By Marlene Zepeda, Ph.D.

This report focuses on Filipino/Tagalog-speaking Family Child Care Providers (FCCHs) who are not typically considered in Dual Language Learning discussions and analyses. This report examines nine licensed Tagalog/Filipino speaking FCCHs from the Stockton area. Filipino providers view caring for children as a vocation that gives them joy and fulfillment. The majority emphasized the caring aspect of their work and the importance of developing 'respect' for others. The focus on caring for children may be associated with their perceptions of parental expectations for the health and safety of their children.

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Family Child Care Providers_Mandarin- and Cantonese-Speaking_Cover

Implications for Serving Dual Language Learners and Their Families: Mandarin and Cantonese Speaking Family Child Care Providers
By Marlene Zepeda, Ph.D.

In this report nine Mandarin/Mandarin Family Child Care Providers (FCCHs) were recruited through the Family Child Care Association of San Francisco and the California Family Child Care Network. The majority of these providers did not exclusively serve families with similar linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Some providers felt that Chinese parents sought them out to provide their children with a good foundation in their native language. Many of the providers saw the exposure to Mandarin as a primary benefit for the children. A recurring theme throughout the interviews was the need for support personnel and training presentations and materials in their native language.

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Family Child Care Providers_Spanish-Speaking_Cover

Implications for Serving Dual Language Learners and Their Families: Spanish Speaking Family Child Care Providers
By Marlene Zepeda, Ph.D.

This report describes the responses of a group of Family Child Care Providers who were recruited through the Child Care Resource Center in Southern California. The majority of these providers resided in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, with a few living in San Bernardino County. The majority of these providers served children and families of Latinx heritage. Providers reported that most of the children spoke English, and they themselves speak mostly English with the children.

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Creating and Sustaining Family Partnerships in Distance Learning

Creating and Sustaining Family Partnerships in Distance Learning

Family engagement, connection and involvement in their children’s schooling is always essential, but has particular urgency, implications and challenges in this pandemic era of hybrid and distance learning. Without careful planning and intentionality, new for English learners could exacerbate stressors on families, and damage relationships between schools and families. With appropriate attention, however, there is tremendous potential to leverage partnership between families and schools with great benefits for our students, thereby creating a strong foundation of family partnership long after the pandemic ends. In this session, teachers will learn strategies designed to engage families in meaningful dialogue and goal setting, streamline communications, provide instruction with flexibility for families, and create a culturally responsive and sustaining community within the virtual classroom.

Presenters: Charice Guerra, Adriana Diaz, and Jaylene Shelby, SEAL

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June 2023 Legislative Update

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Greetings from Californians Together!

The June 15th constitutional deadline for the Legislature to pass the budget has come and gone, from that point forward, the Governor has 12 days to sign the budget bill. It is worth noting that the Governor has the power to “line item” veto items of the budget trailer bill should he want to eliminate or reduce any given spending. It is also important to note that negotiations on many topics, typically the most controversial ones, are still happening and the Governor does not sign the budget until a final deal is met. On the night of June 26th the Assembly, Senate and Governor announced that they had reached a deal. The Governor and the Legislature agreed that budget reserves need to be maintained due to significant uncertainties about the economy and tax revenues to be paid by California’s high-income tax filers in October; total reserves are estimated to be $37.8 billion with a $310 billion spending plan. Given the late filers and the budget deficit that the state faces, this budget also includes language that allows for the Governor, with notification to the legislature, to delay one-time spending proposals before March 1, 2024. This was a well-balanced budget that included big changes, some great wins for California’s English learners and others that we have concerns with. 

TOP WINS – We were excited for the inclusion of a $20 million one-time appropriation for the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program, we’re especially grateful for our budget champion Asm. Majority Leader Reyes and to our co-sponsor the California Association for Bilingual Education. This will make a significant impact toward California’s efforts to ensure there is an adequate supply of bilingual educators to serve our students and address this component of the teacher shortage. The budget plan also includes $5 million one-time appropriation for a three-year period, with expenditure authority through June 30, 2026, for the Opportunities For Youth program, serving Undocumented, Unaccompanied Minors (UUM). 

Below are a few items we would like to highlight: 

Local Control Funding Formula and Accountability

  • Provides an increase of $3.4 billion in Proposition 98 funding for the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), reflecting Universal Transitional Kindergarten (UTK) enrollment and an 8.22% percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in 2023-24. Total Budget Year LCFF is estimated at $79.8 billion. 
  • Authorizes a new, ongoing $300 million LCFF equity multiplier and LCAP accountability system changes to target low-performing student groups. Provides $2 million for an associated System of Support proposal.
  • Requires local educational agencies that have the lowest performing pupil subgroups to provide specific actions to address these pupil subgroups. 
    • To address and reduce disparities in opportunities and outcomes between pupil groups indicated by the California School Dashboard.
    • Focused goals for all pupil groups that have the lowest performance level on one or more state indicators on the California School Dashboard pursuant to Section 52064.5.
  • Requires Long-term English learners to be reported as a separate student group in addition to English learners for accountability purposes. 
  • Requires local educational agencies with schools receiving equity multiplier funds to provide focused goals. 
  • Establishes equity leads in the statewide system of support. 
    • Equity leads are to be chosen on a competitive basis to work collaboratively with  California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, the Department of Education, and other lead agencies in the system of support to advance the purpose of the statewide system of support. 
    • Among their many duties, equity leads are to develop and disseminate resources on effective practices for analyzing programs, identifying barriers and opportunities, and implementing actions and services to meet the identified needs of all pupils, including by addressing racial disparities. 
  • Requires a mid-year update on the local control and accountability plan on the progress at a public meeting. 
  • Provides additional assistance to local educational agencies that are unable to submit data to CALPADS. 
  • Provides an additional opportunity for struggling school districts to work with county offices of education that are geographic leads to improve pupil outcomes.
  • Requires local educational agencies to include information about the technical assistance it receives on its local control and accountability plan, as applicable.

Early Education 

  •  Provides $762 million to expand Universal Transitional Kindergarten (UTK) access including: 
    • $597 million General Fund to “rebench” the Proposition 98 guarantee for an estimated 42,000 new universal TK enrollments in 2023-24. 
    •  $165 million Proposition 98 to maintain decreased UTK ratios at 1:12, adults to children. Adopts a 1:10 ratio beginning 2025-26. 
    • Allows early Transitional Kindergarten enrollment at 1:10 ratio, in the Budget Year.
    • Sunrises UTK increased lead teacher quality standards in 2025-26. 
    • Maintains the state’s 2025-26 goal for full UTK implementation.
  • Includes a total of $1.4 billion to supplement reimbursement rates for all subsidized child care providers, inclusive of ongoing collective bargaining between the state and Child Care Providers United.
  • Enacts permanent family fee reform beginning October 1, 2023. Under the new family fee structure, families below 75 percent of state median income will pay no fee for subsidized child care, and families at or above 75 percent state median income will pay fees capped at one percent of monthly income. Allows family fees accrued but uncollected prior to October 1, 2023 to be forgiven. Appropriates $56 million from the General Fund to the Department of Social Services to reimburse child care providers for family fees waived or reduced.

TK-12 Public Education

  • Increases the projected Proposition 98 “Rainy Day” fund (PSSSA) to $10.829 billion through the Budget year. The current Rainy Day fund balance continues to trigger the statutory 10% cap on local school district reserves, and would reach the state constitutional cap. 
  • Reduces the one-time surplus available for the Arts, Music, and Instruction Materials Block Grant by $200 million.  
  • Delays $1.2 billion of the one-time surplus available in the current year for the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant, for planned restoration over the 2024-25, 2025- 26, and 2026-27 fiscal years.

Literacy 

  • $250 million one-time Proposition 98 funding for Literacy Coaches.
  • $1 million one-time General Fund for a state Literacy Roadmap. 
  • Screening for Reading Difficulties – $1 million for reading screening assessments and new mandate. Requires an expert panel to approve a list of screening instruments to assess pupils in kindergarten through second grade for risk of reading difficulties, and appropriates $1 million for this purpose. Requires local educational agencies serving pupils in kindergarten through second grade to screen pupils for risk of reading difficulties using the instruments they will adopt from the approved list beginning no later than the 2025-26 school year.  Here are our thoughts on the final trailer bill language regarding screening for reading difficulties: 
    • We appreciate the opportunity to engage in dialogue around screening for reading difficulties and what this means for English learners. We must note that the final language reflected on Chapter 15.5 of AB/SB 114 falls short of providing the appropriate safeguards to prevent overidentification and/ or unintended consequences of the state’s 340,000 English learners in grades K-2.
    • We do appreciate the updated language making the selection of the panel of experts and their meetings subject to Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. This means that all the meetings will be open to the public. We are excited to have English learner representation on the panel and look forward to working with the State Board of Education. 
  • Increases the CalNEW program with $1.9 million in on-going Proposition 98 funding which provides support services to newcomer students, English learners, and immigrant families. 

 

Impact of 2022-23 California State Budget Opportunities for Supporting English Learners

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On June 30, Governor Newsom signed a $308 billion State Budget for 2022-23. The approved spending plan presents yet another historic investment in public education, totaling $128.6 billion for K-12 education. This includes a 13 percent increase to the base funding for the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) over the 2021-22 levels.

As a coalition focused on improving educational outcomes for English learners, and immigrant and refugee students, we celebrate these historic investments at the same time that we continue to advocate for ensuring that new programs prioritize the needs of our highest need students and those who have been the most impacted by the pandemic, including English learners. The following reflects the approved budget and the budget trailer bill (AB 180) that is currently being negotiated.

Summary of Legislative Priorities
We appreciate the recognition by the Governor and Legislature that we face a teacher shortage and must continue to invest in the training, recruitment, and retention of teachers. In particular, we will continue to shed light on the need for bilingual teachers. With this goal in mind, we reflect on our legislative priorities, co-sponsored by our partners at the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE):

  • Made it in the Budget: We applaud the inclusion of a $20 million one-time Proposition 98 General Fund to continue the work of the Educator Workforce Investment Grant (EWIG) program in areas of Special Education and in the implementation of the EL Roadmap. It is our hope that these investments will fund non-profits, county offices of education, or county consortia to continue and expand the collaboration across the state of the current grantees.
  • Missed Opportunities: We are disappointed that the following items were not included:
    • $15 million to bring back the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program (BTPDP) which was highly successful and had a “grow your own” approach to assist teachers in the bilingual education space.
    • $25 million in the California State University budget to increase student enrollment in bilingual authorization programs through the recruitment and retention of full-time faculty through their Colleges of Education. However, we are pleased to see a $5 million one-time investment for the Asian Language Bilingual Teacher Education Program Consortium to increase the number of credentialed teachers with Asian bilingual authorization.

Lastly, as AB 1868 (Rivas) moves through the Legislature, we hope that it will pass with a $1 million ongoing appropriation to disaggregate data in order to strengthen California’s guidance and resources to ensure Long Term English Learners (LTELs) students are correctly identified and provided with targeted interventions that best meet their needs.

Educator Investments that Can Help Support the Bilingual Teacher Pipeline
While not all of our legislative priorities were achieved through the Budget, we still see significant opportunities to expand the bilingual teacher pipeline through the broader educator workforce investments listed below. We will continue to advocate for these investments to prioritize bilingual teachers that can best meet the needs of English learners and students in multilingual programs.

  • Career Pathway Programs ($500 million). This one-time investment over seven years will support the development of secondary school pathway programs focused on technology, health care, education (including early education), and climate-related fields. These programs will bring together school systems, higher education institutions, employers, and other relevant community stakeholders to align needs to preparation. We encourage districts to create bilingual teacher pathways that can recruit bilingual staff and students on the path toward the State Seal of Biliteracy to obtain a teaching credential with bilingual authorization after graduation.
  • Teacher Residency Expansion ($250 million). This investment will increase the pipeline of teachers and school counselors. The Budget also enables school counselors, social workers, and psychologist candidates to be eligible for the Golden State Teacher Grant Program, which provides incentives to individuals to consider earning a credential and serving at a priority school in California for four years, within eight years after completing a preparation program. Currently, there are some but few bilingual teacher residencies and with this new funding, we hope they will expand.
  • Support for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Instruction ($85 million). This one-time Proposition 98 General Fund will create Pre-K-12 educator resources and professional learning opportunities to implement the Next Generation Science Standards, the California Math Framework, the California Computer Science Standards, and the math and science domains of the California Preschool Learning Foundations. It is our goal for these funds to support integrated ELD professional learning and the implementation of strategies to help ELs access the curriculum.
  • Waiving Teacher Examination Fees ($24 million). This one-time investment in 2022-23 and 2023-24 will allow candidates to waive certain teacher examination fees.
  • Integrated Teacher Preparation Program ($20 million). This one-time investment will support a competitive grant program that provides grants to public and private institutions to develop and implement integrated teacher preparation programs allowing teacher candidates to receive their credentials simultaneously while completing their Bachelor of Arts degree. It is hoped that bilingual authorization will be included in this integrated model.

Significant Investments that Can Be Leveraged to Improve EL Outcomes
In addition to the education and LCFF increase, there are several new and continued investments that can greatly expand educational access for English learners. It is our hope that as LEAs expand programs with these investments they prioritize the needs of students that have been the most negatively impacted by the pandemic, including ELs.

  • Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant ($7.9 billion). This grant will support LEAs in establishing learning recovery initiatives through the 2027–28 school year, with investments in instructional learning time, closing learning gaps, student support, instruction, and academic services. As these grants are allocated, we support efforts to increase accountability to ensure that they are improving services for the highest need students such as enhancing both designated and integrated ELD and biliteracy.
  • Arts, Music, and Instructional Materials Block Grant ($3.6 billion). This grant will allow LEAs to expand arts and music programs, deliver standards-aligned professional development, acquire quality instructional materials, develop diverse book collections, and cover operational costs and expenses related to the COVID-19 Pandemic. We hope that LEAs will utilize these resources to secure quality instructional materials for ELs and expand both school and classroom libraries with multilingual books and instructional materials.
  • Expanded Learning Opportunities Program ($3 billion). This investment, on top of the $1 billion allocated through the 2021 Budget Act as part of a multi-year investment plan, increases total ongoing program funding to $4 billion. This additional investment will accelerate the implementation timeline, and beginning in 2023-24, LEAs will be required to offer expanded learning opportunities to all low-income students, English language learners, and youth in foster care. Moreover, LEAs with the highest concentrations of these students will be required to offer expanded learning opportunities to all elementary students.
  • Community Schools ($1.1 billion). In addition to the $3 billion included in the 2021 Budget Act, this additional investment will assure that eligible LEAs interested in applying on behalf of its high-needs schools have access to the community schools grants. These new monies are necessary given the large demand for community school grants received by the California Department of Education earlier in 2022, with over $700 million in total application requests far exceeding the $400 million grant round.
  • Early Literacy ($250 million). This one-time funding, available over five years, will provide grants to high-needs schools to train and hire literacy coaches and reading specialists. The Budget also includes statutory language that clarifies that Expanded Learning Opportunities Program funds may be used to hire literacy tutors that would assist students as part of the program’s enrichment activities. It is our hope that these funds will support bilingual literacy coaches so that this investment continues to support the expansion of pathways to biliteracy.
  • Dual Enrollment Access ($200 million). This one-time funding, available over five years, will strengthen and expand student access and participation in dual enrollment opportunities, which allows high school students to take classes that count towards high school graduation and earning college credit. This can be an opportunity to expand access for ELs, including high school newcomers and LTELs.
  • Community Engagement Initiative ($100 million). This additional one-time funding will allow the initiative to expand its reach to hundreds of additional LEAs. The goals of this initiative are to build positive relationships between schools and their communities through authentic family engagement, which will align with work to build community schools. Strategies within this initiative should include engaging in the home languages spoken by family members.

Expansion of Early Childhood Education
We also continue to applaud the continued investments in the State Preschool Program and Transitional Kindergarten. We see tremendous opportunity for these investments to provide greater access to culturally and linguistically relevant instruction for the 60 percent of children birth to five, who come from a household where another language other than English is spoken.

  • Expansion of State Preschool Programs ($485 million). This will support programs in serving students with disabilities, dual language learners, and childhood mental health. This also includes new requirements for State Preschool providers to incrementally ramp up to serving at least 10 percent of students with disabilities by July 1, 2024, and provide additional supportive services for dual language learners. This additional funding also increases access to more families by raising eligibility from 85 percent of state median income to 100 percent of state median income.
  • Transitional Kindergarten ($614 million). This ongoing Prop 98 funding will begin in the 2022-23 school year, supporting the first year of expanded eligibility for transitional kindergarten, shifting from all children turning five years old between September 2 and December 2 to all children turning five years old between September 2 and February 2. Additionally, the Budget provides $383 million Proposition 98 General Fund to add one additional certificated or classified staff person to every transitional kindergarten class, reducing student-to-adult ratios to more closely align with the State Preschool Program. The Budget also increases the pipeline of qualified transitional kindergarten teachers by allowing the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to issue a one-year emergency specialist teaching permit in early childhood education that authorizes the permit holder to teach transitional kindergarten provided that they hold a bachelor’s degree or higher and meet other requirements. This is an opportunity to initiate multilingual programs beginning in TK.

We will continue to work with the administration and Legislature to advocate for English learners and the expansion of pathways to biliteracy within our budget priorities. It is our goal to ensure that the inclusion and success of the State’s English learners be inserted in several program initiatives and be prioritized.

For more information about the 2022-23 California Budget and the Budget Trailer Bill click here.

To download the Impact of 2022-23 California State Budget Opportunities for Supporting English Learners as a pdf click here.

Expanded Learning Opportunity Grants: Recommendations for Making them Work for English Learners

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The COVID relief package that the California legislature approved to support public schools and that Governor Newsom signed on March 5, included $2 billion for In-Person Instruction (IPI) Grants and $4.6 billion for Expanded Learning Opportunities (ELO) Grants. Per CDE, to be eligible for ELO Grant funding, “LEAs must implement a learning recovery program, that at a minimum, provides supplemental instruction, support for social and emotional well-being, and...meals and snacks to specified student groups...who have faced adverse learning and social-emotional circumstances.” These grants can be used to support “extending instructional learning time, accelerating progress to close learning gaps, integrated pupil supports, community learning hubs, supports for credit deficient pupils, additional academic services, and training for school staff.”

In order to receive their ELO Grant funding allocation, the governing board of a school district must approve an ELO Grant Plan at a public meeting on or before June 1, 2021. In a year in which  many English learners (ELs) have faced significant learning loss, it is critical that these funds are used strategically to close gaps as effectively as possible. Therefore, to meet the needs of ELs in the implementation of their ELO Grant Plans, school districts should ensure that their expanded learning programs are not traditional, but programs that are engaging, enriching, and joyful. Such programs should incorporate the following components:

  1. Project-based and experiential learning;
  2. Socioemotional learning;
  3. English language development;
  4. Differentiation for different typologies of ELs; and
  5. Culturally and linguistically relevant practices.

This fact sheet describes each of these focus areas and offers examples of how districts have incorporated aspects of these areas. We hope that each of these five areas are included in each district’s ELO Grant Plan so that the needs of ELs are met. 

1) Project-based and experiential learning

As students come back to school, engagement and learning linked to real-world experiences should be a priority. Expanded learning should not be “traditional” or remedial -  it must be an opportunity for students to learn skills and content through projects that incorporate a well-rounded education, including science, math, and the arts. Specifically for ELs, project-based learning and experiential learning that offer engaging language development activities are critical. For additional support, districts should consider partnering with community based organizations to provide enriching opportunities for students, including  adult mentors or counselors tied to practical career experiences in a field of interest. 

To ensure that the needs of ELs are met, district ELO Grant Plans should include project-based and experiential learning by:

  • Ensuring that expanded learning opportunities are centered on projects that build student skills and content knowledge, promote collaboration and language development, and are tied to students’ experiences. 
  • Building partnerships with community organizations that can bring in mentors and role models, and provide experiential opportunities tied to what students are learning. 

Examples of How Districts are Providing Project-Based and Experiential Learning

Los Angeles Unified School District: Summer School for Newcomer Students. The district is offering summer school for newcomer students as a strategy to engage them and prepare them for the regular school year. The district has designed a curriculum focused on project based learning that incorporates language and art. 

Azusa Unified School District: Multidisciplinary Summer Learning. The district will be extending instructional learning time by offering three 12-day sessions of summer learning acceleration for students, with priority enrollment for ELs. Students have the option of attending one, two, or three sessions, as a way of providing flexibility for families who may have other summer commitments. The instructional program is designed to provide ELs with multidisciplinary units incorporating language development. The units also include project-based learning in science, math, social science, and fine arts topics, while  incorporating social emotional development. The district’s goal is to provide a fun, engaging, and collaborative structure for ELs to develop language and accelerate learning, providing authentic opportunities for them to engage in academic discourse around complex questions or problems. To help deliver this and layer funds with 21st Century Learning grants, the district is partnering with Think Together, who currently operates their  community learning hubs and after school learning program. Additionally, the sessions will be offered in Spanish for students in bilingual programs.

2) Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)

There is considerable, and mounting evidence that the pandemic has imposed significant stress and trauma on ELs and their families. Therefore, any expanded learning time must first meet the socioemotional needs of students and understand the specific needs of ELs. 

There is still room for improvement in this area as evidenced by our review of Learning Continuity and Attendance (LCP) Plans that districts developed in fall 2020. According to this report, while all districts described plans to provide students with access to social-emotional support, 59 percent did not describe how these supports would be available in the students’ home languages. Moreover, one in four districts had weak or no plans for teachers to incorporate social-emotional learning (SEL) within instruction, while nearly three in four districts did not include considerations for ELs in their professional learning plans meant to support SEL. 

To ensure that the needs of ELs are met, district ELO Grant Plans should support social-emotional learning by:

  • Ensuring that SEL supports are available in the students’ home languages; and 
  • Providing all educators with professional learning for being responsive to student social-emotional needs within instruction, including considerations for ELs.

Examples of How Districts are Meeting SEL Needs

Glendale Unified School District: Counseling Resources for Schools and Families. The district brought on 33 social worker and counseling interns and has two psychological service providers who are assigned to schools. In addition, the district provides virtual counseling services to students through Telehealth and develops weekly mindfulness videos that are posted on the district website and shared with teachers. To reach and support multilingual families, the district has “health parent forums, parent support groups, and parent helplines in English, Armenian, and Spanish.”

West Contra Costa Unified School District: Integrated Homeroom Support During the School Day. Schools conducted SEL surveys of students to establish baseline data and track progress multiple times during the school year. The district also established a “homeroom” advisory period at all grade levels to serve as a central component of distance learning, where “teachers will provide social-emotional learning via a variety of curricular options.” Families of ELs also “receive direct counselor communications, including referrals and access to available resources,” with all information available “with translation or in languages spoken at home.”

3) English Language Development (ELD) Instruction and Assessment

ELs have lost significant learning time, including time for designated and integrated ELD. Therefore a central focus for the ELO Grant Plans must be to provide additional time for these students to receive the ELD instruction and support they deserve. This includes time for designated ELD and professional development for educators to deliver integrated ELD instruction in all core subjects. Providing designated and integrated ELD supports is not only required by law, but also a critical way to keep linguistic and academic development on track.

As evidenced by our review of Learning Continuity and Attendance (LCP) Plans, almost all districts described how they would provide ELD. However, nearly half did not specify weekly time for ELD instruction. Meanwhile, 44 percent of districts had no or weak descriptions for providing evidence-based strategies for integrated ELD support in at least some core subjects (One in nine districts did not mention integrated ELD at all!). Similarly, 22 percent of plans made no mention of professional development to help teachers to deliver ELD services. 

To ensure that the needs of ELs are met, district ELO Grant Plans must ensure designated and integrated ELD, including:

  • Guaranteeing time for designated ELD instruction within the daily lesson plans;
  • Providing materials and evidence-based strategies to ensure that ELs receive integrated ELD supports in all core subjects; and
  • Providing all educators and administrators with professional development to deliver ELD services.

Examples of How Districts are Providing ELD

Calexico Unified School District: Guaranteed Time for Live ELD Instruction. During distance learning, the district specified guaranteed times of live ELD instruction. Elementary ELs received 30 minutes of live ELD instruction four days per week and asynchronous ELD on the fifth day, while most secondary ELs received designated ELD in one of their periods (newcomer students were guaranteed daily ELD instruction). The district also provides ELD intervention classes to ELs who show learning loss, are at risk of becoming LTELs, or are LTELs. These classes are taught by EL Interventions Teachers, who also collaborate with classroom teachers, monitor participation, and connect with parents when the student is not engaged. 

San Diego Unified School District: Educator Support for Designated and Integrated ELD. The district described the delivery of ELD through a “push-in integrated model.” This model builds the capacity of a broad range of educators who work with ELs (including teachers, paraeducators, district resource teachers, education specialists, counselors, and administrators) to deliver effective teaching practices that support ELD. Coaching and a co-teaching model also provide additional support for classroom teachers in delivering designated ELD and planning integrated ELD strategies within content courses.

4) Responsiveness to Different EL Profiles

ELs are racially, ethnically, socioeconomically, and linguistically diverse. They enter public school at different ages and with diverse linguistic proficiencies in their native languages and English. This diversity should inform the instructional models and strategies used to support them.

As evidenced by our review of Learning Continuity and Attendance (LCP) Plans, districts are struggling with this differentiation. Half of plans did not mention strategies for supporting Dual Language Learners (DLLs) in preschool, 37 percent did not mention supports targeted for newcomers, and 32 percent had no plans specific to Long-Term English Learners (LTELs).

District ELO Grant Plans should differentiate strategies to meet the specific needs of different typologies of ELs, including:

  • Providing specialized support for LTELs, including ELD support to ensure access to the core curriculum (grades 6-12), attention to oral and writing proficiency, and educator professional development focused on delivering an engaging curriculum that addresses their specific language development needs.  
  • Providing specialized support for newcomer students, including identifying strengths in their home language, level of English proficiency, and basic knowledge of schooling; providing ELD support to ensure access to the core curriculum; and designing lessons that build upon student background knowledge. Counselors and educators should also receive professional development on meeting SEL, language, and academic needs.   
  • Providing multilingual support in English and the home language for students in dual-language programs, including by  assessing the strengths and needs of students in English and their home language, and providing professional development for teachers that includes reflection on how distance learning has impacted academic and language development (in both languages) and strategies for delivering instruction that builds bilingualism and biliteracy.

Examples of How Districts are Responsive to Different EL Profiles

Oakland Unified School District: Newcomer Supports. The district has newcomer teacher leaders at selected schools with a high concentration of newcomers to provide them with small group instruction and support teachers “to embed linguistically and culturally responsive supports.” At the secondary level, newcomer assistants provide instruction to small groups of students. In addition, the district has a staff of 12 newcomer social workers that help address basic needs, such as supporting families to access financial resources.

San Diego Unified School District: Coaching Team to Support LTELs. The district “integrated coaching team” analyzes data “to determine action steps needed to support Long Term English Learners” and other students at risk of becoming LTELs. The district also provides professional development to help teachers with strategies to support this group of students.

Azusa Unified School District: SEAL Summer Bridge Units for DLLs.  During summer 2021, the district is planning for preschool DLLs and TK students to utilize SEAL Summer Bridge Units to continue their SEAL instructional learning program. The SEAL Summer Bridge Units correspond to the project-based units planned for the summer program and reinforce the instructional practice their early learners are receiving during the regular program.

5) Culturally and Linguistically Relevant Practices

Given that many ELs and their families face significant stress or trauma caused by the pandemic, schools must be prepared to engage and support them in culturally affirming ways. As students come back to in-person learning, schools should collaborate more comprehensively with families—including linguistically and culturally diverse families. This means working with families in linguistically and culturally competent ways to build capacity to best help students  succeed. All communications to families should be translated into languages they speak and understand. Ideally, these efforts are led by staff who speak the languages of ELs and their families.

School staff are critical to ensuring culturally and linguistically relevant practices, therefore professional development activities for certificated and classified staff must address elements of cultural proficiency/competency (i.e., cross-cultural interactions, role of culture, and culturally- responsive instruction and curriculum), and address cultural differences in communication patterns and their impact on EL learning and achievement. Additionally, instructional resources and courses should support a culturally responsive environment, including units in Spanish and other languages, supporting the use of students’ home languages, and ensuring that literature and other instructional resources are relevant to the variety of cultures.

As evidenced by our review of Learning Continuity and Attendance (LCP) Plans, this is an area for districts to continue to improve and build partnerships. Over half of plans had no evidence that professional development opportunities would address cultural proficiency or competency. 

To ensure that the needs of ELs are met, district ELO Grant Plans must center culturally and linguistically relevant practices, including:

  • Prioritizing bilingual and culturally relevant/responsive staffing within programs to support better student and family engagement (and when possible, support the development of biliteracy). 
  • Ensure that  certificated and classified staff receive professional development  focused on building cultural competency, and addresses cultural differences in communication patterns and their impact on EL learning.

Examples of How Districts are Incorporating Culturally and Linguistically Relevant Practices

Whittier Union High School District: Building Capacity Through Parent Mentor Program. The district’s Road to Success Parent Mentor Program (also called “El Programa de Padres Promotores del Camino al Éxito Univeritario”), provides comprehensive training for parent volunteers to support ELs and other parents in finding online resources, monitoring grades, and strengthening student  social-emotional well-being. Parent mentors are also tasked with  attending District English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC) workshops, co-facilitating and coordinating parent events, and serving as ambassadors for the program.

Azusa Unified School District: Camp ABC for TK-1st Grade ELs. Camp ABC helps to acclimate the district’s  youngest scholars to the school environment as well as a chance to learn procedural practices that help them navigate school and the classroom successfully.  Students experience open learning centers, carpet time, as well as visits to the library, cafeteria, office, playground, and health room. The district is extending this offering to rising 1st grade students as they did not experience or benefit from a typical first year of school.

Conclusion

Schooling as we knew it in the past cannot be the same for upcoming summer and fall in-person instruction. The inequities that we knew existed prior to the pandemic have been clearly exposed and  exacerbated. Many ELs and their families have not only experienced lost time interacting with friends and teachers and  receiving live instruction, but many family members have experienced trauma associated with loss and isolation.  We need to re-envision an education system that is responsive to the diversity of EL profiles; delivers instruction and curriculum that is language rich, engaging, culturally responsive; and uplifts the languages and social-emotional needs of our students and families.  It is time to use the resources and creativity within our district and schools to ensure that expanded learning opportunities are joyous and filled with the smiling faces of our students as their voices and laughter are synonymous with their learning. 

Resources to Support Expanded Learning Opportunities Grant Planning

Schools Must be a Place of Healing – We Stand with the API Community

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As schools reopen and students anticipate going back to school, some students are scared and worried about their safety and the safety of their friends and family members.  As we have seen a surge of unprovoked violence, we at Californians Together are saddened and sickened by the hateful speech and disturbing attacks on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in our communities.  The deaths in Atlanta serve as a lesson to what years of demonizing the Asian community can cause. We reject those who choose to see our brothers and sisters as less than and fail to see the beauty of their languages and cultures.

 We call upon all districts, schools and leaders to work intentionally to build community with API students and their families. Schools need to be a place of security, safety and support. Schools should not shy away from bringing difficult discussions about anti-Asian hate into our classrooms. In fact, Learning for Justice (formerly Teaching Tolerance) has recently released a lesson plan focused on the recent shootings in Atlanta, and the youth group Student Voice has compiled a list of education resources, including a great post from Educators 4 Social Change entitled “Teaching About Anti-Asian Racism and Xenophobia” Oakland USD has also launched a webpage with several resources including curriculum resources guides for both elementary and secondary levels to address anti-Asian hate. 

We need to recognize what our students are feeling and experiencing that causes pain, anger and sadness. It is our duty to  honor every child for who they are and what they contribute to our lives, state and nation needs to be a high priority.  We cannot open school without reaching out to those who are hurting and scared.  We stand with the API community against the hatred and violence of the past and present.  Let school be a place of healing for all of us.