California is on the cusp of exciting developments that signal a commitment to creating a system of early learning and care that centralizes the young dual language learners who now comprise the majority of young children in the state. Dual language learners now constitute 60% of all children under six in the state. A consistent, coherent body of research about dual language development and two major new state policies provide the framework for this work.
The adoption of the 2017 California English Learner Roadmap represented an important step forward for improving education for English learners broadly. Our latest resource supports the implementation of the roadmap policy as a framework to guide practice in preschools/transitional kindergarten across the state—enacting the commitments of the California Master Plan for Early Learning and Care to provide equitable access and quality care for dual language learners and utilizing the Principles of he California English Learner Roadmap to guide practice. Realizing the commitments to research-based, evidence based practices that underlie both the Master Plan and the Roadmap, this Toolkit also draws heavily upon the professional knowledge base in early childhood education and the dual language development fields.
We thank Dr. Laurie Olsen for her work in authoring this critically important toolkit.