How Home Language(s) Shape Early Intervention Exit: Unpacking Equitable Access

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 9:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Early Learning and Equitable Access: Language, Practice, and Equity

Abstract

This study investigates equitable access to Early Intervention (EI) by examining how children’s home language(s) and broader social contexts shape patterns of service exit. It also critiques a data system shaped by long-standing, unquestioned practices that fail to capture accurate demographic data, limiting understanding of who receives, and who loses, support. Using state-level data, the study explores disparities in EI exit reasons through QuantCrit, DisCrit, and Intersectionality frameworks. Infants and toddlers from English-only households were more likely to exit as “Not Eligible,” a pattern that may reflect differences in referral pathways or initial concerns. To support more accurate and equity-minded data practices across early childhood education systems, this study proposes a new data guideline: GUIDE-EI.

Author

• Maiko Hata, University of Oregon