Access and Support for Emergent Bilingual Children in Universal Pre-K Programs (Poster 1)

• In Event: Thursday Poster Session 4:20 pm
  In Poster Session: Early Education and Child Development: Poster Session 1

Abstract

Providing support for the home languages of immigrant children is a critical component of high-quality Early Childhood Education. We examine the types and availability of PreK programs for emergent bilingual children and their families under NYC’s Universal Prek program. This study describes PreK programs which offer dual language programs or enhanced language services to the large populations of emergent bilinguals. We analyze the number and quality of programs within each borough and compare these with recent Census reports on the proportion of children who speak a language other than English. Our findings show that the number of bilingual PreK programs offered is grossly inadequate and is not significantly correlated to serve the neighborhoods with high proportion of emergent bilingual children.

Author

• Brian A. Collins, Hunter College - CUNY