Multilingual Learner Engagement in an Early Childhood Transition Program

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 3:20 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Equitable Assessment Practices With Multilingual Learners (Table 10)

Abstract

The pandemic highlighted U.S. educational disparities particularly of Multilingual Learners (MLs), many of whom attend low-income and under-resourced schools. Remote learning posed some barriers to multilingual learners’ participation such as: parents’ limited capacity to support home learning; inadequate remote learning resources and training for teachers; and school-family language barriers (Migration Policy Institute, 2020). In this paper, the authors explore the ways in which an early childhood transition program has supported pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers as well as multilingual families both at home and in the school. The authors describe the outcomes of a qualitative case study of one school districts’ focus on supporting multilingual families with school transition practices and how the program might be refined for the future.

Authors

• Theresa Harrison, University of South Carolina

• Leigh K. D'Amico, University of South Carolina

• Janice Elaine Kilburn, South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness

• Sue Maley, Retired