Developing Observational Measures of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse and Indigenous Classrooms

• In Event: Language, Culture, and Resiliency in National Participatory Studies with Young Indigenous Children and Families

Abstract

Over the past two decades, the number of culturally and linguistically diverse children and families has increased dramatically within ECE programs, particularly for Head Start programs serving children from low-income families (NIEER, 2017). Decades of research have documented the importance of high quality early care and education (ECE) experiences on supporting positive development and academic success of young children (Burchinal, et.al, 2000). As part of this work, scholars have endeavored to accurately conceptualize and reliably measure the most critical aspects of quality necessary to achieve these positive outcomes, such as teacher-child interactions, instructional practices and other aspects of the classroom environments (Mashburn, et.al, 2008). One key challenge to providing high quality care for children from culturally and linguistically diverse families is that existing quality measures do not adequately assess the full range of teacher-child interaction and/or instructional practices relevant for understanding the rich cultural experiences of these children (Peisner-Feinberg, et.al, 2014), particularly those factors associated with resilience (Fleming & Ledogar, 2008).
Two national studies of Head Start have endeavored to fill this gap. The American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) programs serve two special populations within the larger Head Start program structure. The current paper will present data on two similar approaches to develop and implement classroom observational measures to capture some of the relevant classroom characteristics and experiences, and resilience factors relevant to the unique indigenous and culturally and linguistically diverse populations served by these programs.
The Native Culture & Language in the Classroom Observation (NCLCO) is a new measure developed for the AI/AN FACES study in collaboration with community partners to fill the gap in our capacity to understand the rich experiences of indigenous children in AI/AN classrooms. The first section, which documents Native materials, records the types of culturally significant materials that surround children and captures information on materials use. The second section, on language and cultural practices, asks whether Native language use occurred in the classroom and, if so, whether it was used in instruction or in conversation. This section also documents if storytelling following a Native oral tradition occurred.
The Cultural Items and Language Use (CILU) Checklist classroom observation measure was developed as an adaptation of the NCLCO for the national MSHS study to be responsive to the specific cultural and linguistic context of migrant and seasonal farmworker families. The MSHS study team adapted the cultural items to reflect Hispanic culture, farmworker context, and languages specific to the MSHS context—Spanish, English, as well as indigenous Mexican languages and Haitian Creole.
Key findings on the NCLCO and CILU observational measures will be presented for the AI/AN and MSHS national studies, respectively. Findings will highlight the value-added benefits of such measures to improve the understanding of relevant classroom characteristics and experiences relevant to the development and resilience of the unique culturally and linguistically diverse and indigenous populations served by AIAN and MSHS programs. Figure 1 highlights several of the findings that will be shared during the presentation.

Group Authors

Michael López, Sandra Barrueco, Erin Bumgarner
Jessica Barnes-Najor and Michelle Sarche

Authors

• Michael L. Lopez, NORC at the University of Chicago
  Presenting Author

• Sandra Barrueco, Catholic University of America
  Non-Presenting Author

• Erin Bumgarner, Abt Associates - Massachusetts
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jessica V Barnes-Najor, Michigan State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Michelle Sarche, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
  Non-Presenting Author