Early Childhood Education and Care

For the United States and other societies that experience high rates of immigration, investments in early childhood education and care (ECEC) are likely instrumental to successful integration. But the reach of high-quality early learning programs to children of immigrants remains limited. As the research here reveals, there are wide differences in access to early childhood education and care among the children of immigrants.

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Multimedia February 24, 2022 Bridging the Digital Divide for U.S. Children in Immigrant Families	Multimedia December 1, 2021 The Importance of Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care for Immigrant and Dual Language Learner Families
Policy Briefs December 2021 The Invisible Work of Family, Friend, and Neighbor Caregivers and Its Importance for Immigrant and Dual Language Learner Families By Maki Park and Jazmin Flores Peña	Multimedia November 5, 2021 Immigrant Integration: Essential to the Success of Immigration Policy
Multimedia June 16, 2021 A First Step Towards Equity for Dual Language Learners in Early Childhood Systems: Identifying Their Language Needs and Characteristics	Policy Briefs May 2021 Ending the Invisibility of Dual Language Learners in Early Childhood Systems: A Framework for DLL Identification By Maki Park and Delia Pompa
Reports May 2021 Taking Stock of Dual Language Learner Identification and Strengthening Procedures and Policies By Melissa Lazarin and Maki Park	Multimedia April 21, 2021 Disparities Facing U.S. Children in Immigrant Families: New Data and Ideas for Indicators to Promote Equity

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Fact Sheets April 2021 Immigrant and U.S.-Born Parents of Young and Elementary-School-Age Children: Key Sociodemographic Characteristics By Jacob Hofstetter and Margie McHugh	Policy Briefs October 2020 Supporting Immigrant and Refugee Families through Home Visiting: Innovative State and Local Approaches By Caitlin Katsiaficas
Reports May 2020 European Cities on the Front Line: New and Emerging Governance Models for Migrant Inclusion By Liam Patuzzi	Policy Briefs August 2019 Leveraging the Potential of Home Visiting Programs to Serve Immigrant and Dual Language Learner Families By Maki Park and Caitlin Katsiaficas
Policy Briefs April 2019 Mitigating the Effects of Trauma among Young Children of Immigrants and Refugees: The Role of Early Childhood Programs By Maki Park and Caitlin Katsiaficas	Reports December 2018 Promoting Refugee Integration in Challenging Times: The Potential of Two-Generation Strategies By Mark Greenberg, Julia Gelatt, Jessica Bolter, Essey Workie and Isabelle Charo
Reports November 2018 Minnesota’s Superdiverse and Growing Dual Language Learner Child Population By Caitlin Katsiaficas and Maki Park	Reports April 2018 Responding to the ECEC Needs of Children of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Europe and North America By Maki Park, Caitlin Katsiaficas and Margie McHugh

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Video, Audio

June 16, 2021

A First Step Towards Equity for Dual Language Learners in Early Childhood Systems: Identifying Their Language Needs and Characteristics

MPI experts discuss a framework describing the most critical elements that should be included in standardized, comprehensive DLL identification and tracking processes for early childhood systems, based on program and policy needs.

Video, Audio

April 21, 2021

Disparities Facing U.S. Children in Immigrant Families: New Data and Ideas for Indicators to Promote Equity

MPI analysts discuss their analysis comparing key sociodemographic characteristics of immigrant and U.S.-born parents of young and school-age children, along with the two-generational implications of these findings.

Flickr SweetwaterISDCowen Early Childhood CenterNationalTeddyBearDay

Video, Audio

August 28, 2019

Effectively Serving Immigrant and Dual Language Learner Families through Home Visiting Programs

Marking a policy brief's release, this webinar explores the promise of home visiting services that support new parents alongside their infants and toddlers, plus strategies for improving how these programs work with immigrant and linguistically diverse families.

FLICKR UN Women Arab States Jordan Empowerment through employment for Syrian refugee women in Jordan

Video, Audio

April 3, 2019

Addressing Trauma in Young Children in Immigrant and Refugee Families through Early Childhood Programs

During this webinar, speakers provide an overview of an MPI policy brief that seeks to raise awareness of the intersection of trauma and early childhood development, and how U.S. early childhood programs could more effectively address this trauma in young children in refugee and immigrant households. The participants discuss efforts to integrate trauma-informed approaches into early childhood systems and how home visiting services can effectively address trauma and mental health through a two-generation approach.

flickr 25944533204_cb4e9bcf7c_z (1) United Way of the Lower Mainland

Video, Audio

December 13, 2018

Exploring the Potential of Two-Generation Strategies in Refugee Integration

On this webinar, MPI researchers and Utah and Colorado refugee coordinators explore promising practices to better serve refugee families, including education services for refugee youth, innovative efforts to secure better jobs for adult refugees, and other services designed to aid integration over time.

Recent Activity

Reports

March 2018

The Language of the Classroom: Dual Language Learners in Head Start, Public Pre-K, and Private Preschool Programs

As preschools across the United States enroll Dual Language Learners who speak a wide variety of languages at home, it is crucial that early childhood education and care providers have the tools to effectively support this superdiverse population. This report examines how teachers in different preschool programs use English and their students’ home languages to support their development and future academic success.

Reports

March 2018

Supporting Dual Language Learner Success in Superdiverse PreK-3 Classrooms: The Sobrato Early Academic Language Model

In early education and care programs where children come from a variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds, superdiversity is challenging providers to look beyond traditional approaches to supporting Dual Language Learners. This report examines a well-regarded model for preK-3 professional development. The report highlights promising practices and key adaptations of the model for use in in multilingual, multicultural classrooms.

Video, Audio, Webinars

February 22, 2018

Effectively Serving Children in a Superdiverse Classroom: Implications for the Early Education System

As the number and share of Dual Language Learners (DLLs) continues to grow across the United States, diversity within this population is also increasing. This webinar marks the release of a report providing analysis of the diversity within the DLL population nationwide and at the state and local levels. Speakers discuss data on the three rapidly growing subgroups within the DLL population: Black and Asian American and Pacific Islander DLLs and young children of refugees, and the implications for the early education and care field and K-12 education systems.

Reports

February 2018

Growing Superdiversity among Young U.S. Dual Language Learners and Its Implications

Dual Language Learners (DLLs) grow up in U.S. families with a wide range of languages, origins, and socioeconomic characteristics. Yet little is known about which practices and program models work best in superdiverse classrooms where no minority language is dominant. This report explores DLL diversity at national, state, and local levels, highlighting its implications for early childhood programs and schools.

Reports

February 2018

Mainstreaming 2.0: How Europe’s Education Systems Can Boost Migrant Inclusion

Rising numbers of young immigrants and refugees entering European schools following the 2015–16 migration crisis strained system capacity and injected new urgency into debates about how to support diverse learners and their families. This report examines the challenges facing European education systems and identifies key lessons to improve migrant inclusion in schools and integration more broadly.

Policy Briefs

December 2017

New Opportunities? ESSA and Its Implications for Dual Language Learners and ECEC Workforce Development

Enactment of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015 introduced opportunities to use federal funds to strengthen the early childhood education and care (ECEC) workforce as a means of better meeting the needs of the growing and increasingly diverse young child population.

Video, Audio, Webinars

October 12, 2017

Are States Recognizing and Responding to the Needs of Their Dual Language Learner Children?

Dual Language Learners (DLLs) now make up nearly one-third of all children ages 8 and under in the United States, and on this webinar, MPI analysts outline key findings from a national demographic and policy profile and series of state fact sheets highlighting characteristics of the growing DLL population and the policy context they encounter in state early childhood education and care (ECEC) systems. Panelist discuss the implications for the ECEC programs and systems that seek to provide equitable access and quality for DLLs, and highlight California's response to the growing population of DLLs in the ECEC system.

Fact Sheets

October 2017

Dual Language Learners: A National Demographic and Policy Profile

As the share of U.S. children under age 8 who are Dual Language Learners (DLLs) increases, state policies have an important role to play in ensuring all young learners are able to get their education off to a good start. These fact sheets compare key characteristics of DLLs and their peers nationwide and in 30 states, and identify state policies that support equitable access to high-quality early childhood education and care programs.

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