Portraits of Dual Language Learner Communities in Head Start

Abstract

SRI Education used a community-centered analysis method (latent class analysis) to identify and describe the multidimensional characteristics of neighborhoods where dual language learners (DLLs) and their families receive Head Start services. The result is four community portraits that illustrate how the neighborhood, classroom, and family characteristics of DLLs vary across the United States.

Overall, findings indicate that DLLs across Head Start communities differ in the characteristics and experiences that most closely relate to their linguistic background. This includes family characteristics such as home language, parents’ country of birth, and race/ethnicity, as well as classroom characteristics such as whether their home language was used in the classroom, whether their teacher was trained to support DLLs, and whether their teachers and peers shared their linguistic or racial/ethnic background.

Results highlight how DLL students’ needs can vary both across and within Head Start programs, especially within programs that operate centers in an array of neighborhoods. Both nationally and at the program level, Head Start services may be most effective when tailored to meet the specific linguistic backgrounds and contexts of DLLs in their local communities.