Giving Compass' Take:

•  Anya Hurwitz explains why English learners should be at the heart of early education planning because they have been historically underserved. 

• How does your school system support English learners? 

• Read about why English language learners need equal access to STEM opportunities. 

As Gov. Gavin Newsom’s team pulls together the components of the Master Plan for Early Education and Care, considers top priorities for the proposed California Department of Early Childhood Development, and continues to push for investments in our educator workforce, it should consider this fundamental fact: Today, 60 percent of all California children, birth to 5-years-old, come from homes where their families speak one or more languages other than English.

One critical component of the governor’s strategies should be to lay a strong foundation for our state’s youngest English/dual-language learners so they can be better prepared for later grades. This new master plan and all investments must put these children at the heart of our educational systems, or we risk leaving a generation of Californians unprepared to reach their full potential.

We must go big, be bold and build a system appropriate for the children that are the future of our state.

Fortunately, we have good models to guide the development of the master plan and investments in addressing English/dual language learners who have historically been underserved.

For the past 12 years, my organization, Sobrato Early Academic Language, or SEAL, has been working with early childhood educators and school leaders from more than 130 preschool classrooms across the state (and hundreds of elementary schools as well) to implement a powerful English learner/dual language learner-focused approach to education, rooted at the intersection of research-based practice and educational equity.

We would be wise to heed some lessons from that experience:

  • Children’s language, culture and identity matter.
  • Quality early education for a state as diverse as California has to recognize and respond to the languages and cultures of the children.
  • Teachers are key.
  • Families are essential partners.

Read the full article about english learners for early education by Anya Hurwitz at EdSource.