The First of the Firsts: Illinois Bilingual Preschool Legislation

• In Event: Poster Session 8
  In Poster Session: Research in Bilingual Education

Abstract

In 2009, Illinois was the first state to adopt regulations for bilingual education at the preschool level. If there are more than 20 children in a pre-K program who are bilingual speakers of the same language, then the preschool or child care center is required to offer bilingual education in the child’s native language. In addition, by July 2014, all certified early childhood educators who teach preschool ELL children will be required to obtain a bilingual or ESL endorsement. The reaction to the new early childhood legislation has been mixed. Our research study analyzes data from an online survey in which 437 early childhood directors were asked what they are doing to comply with the new state deadline.

Authors

• Samina Hadi Tabassum, Dominican University

• Idalia Gutierrez, Dominican University