1. Dual Language Learners
and Their Families:
National and Maryland
Perspectives
Margie McHugh
Director, MPI NCIIP
School Readiness Symposium
Ellicott City, December 10, 2015
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

2. MPI National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy (NCIIP)
Areas of Work:
Education:
Early Childhood
K-16
Adult Education and Workforce Development
Language Access and Other Benefits
Governance of Integration Policy
E Pluribus Unum Prizes
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute 2

3. © 2015 Migration Policy Institute
Overview
Number and growth of young DLLs
Parent and family characteristics
ECEC workforce demographics
Implications for policy and program planning
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

4. Dual Language Learners (DLLs)
Federal Office of Head Start’s definition:
DLL children as “children learning two (or more) languages at the same time, as well as those learning a second language while continuing learning to develop their first (home) language.
Using Census data we identify:
DLLs as children 5 and under with at least one parent (or a householder if no parent is present) who speaks a language other than English at home.
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

5. U.S. DLLs Ages 0-5: from 4.2 M in 1990 to 7.5 M in 2014
United States
+ 81%
- 8%
Notes: DLLs are defined as children 5 and under with at least one parent (or a householder if no parent is present) who speaks a language other than English at home.
Source: MPI analysis of 1990 and 2000 Census and pooled American Community Surveys.
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

6. Maryland DLLs Ages 0-5: from 49,000 in 1990 to 122,000 in 2014
+ 149%
- 16%
Notes: DLLs are defined as children 5 and under with at least one parent (or a householder if no parent is present) who speaks a language other than English at home.
Source: MPI analysis of 1990 and 2000 Census and pooled American Community Surveys.
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

7. DLL Share of All U.S. Young Children: From 19% in 1990 to ??% in 2014
12%
Notes: DLLs are defined as children 5 and under with at least one parent (or a householder if no parent is present) who speaks a language other than English at home.
Source: MPI analysis of 1990 and 2000 Census and pooled American Community Surveys.
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

8. DLL Share of All U.S. Young Children: from 19% in 1990 to 32% in 2014
28%
Notes: DLLs are defined as children 5 and under with at least one parent (or a householder if no parent is present) who speaks a language other than English at home.
Source: MPI analysis of 1990 and 2000 Census and pooled American Community Surveys.
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

9. Top 15 States with the Largest Number and Share of Young DLLs
Total children
Dual Language Learners
DLL Share of State Child Population (%)
United States
23,842,000
7,525,000 32
California
3,014,000
1,785,000 59
Texas
2,337,000
1,145,000 49
New York
1,389,000
594,000 43
Florida
1,291,000
505,000 39
Illinois
958,000
316,000 33
New Jersey
636,000
282,000 44
Arizona
522,000
216,000 41
Georgia
805,000
181,000 22
Washington
527,000
164,000 31
Massachusetts
436,000
161,000 37
Pennsylvania
854,000
160,000 19
North Carolina
735,000
157,000 21
Virginia
609,000
149,000 24
Maryland
439,000
122,000 28
Colorado
406,000
114,000
Notes: DLLs are defined as children 5 and under with at least one parent (or a householder if no parent is present) who speaks a language other than English at home.
Source: MPI analysis of pooled American Community Surveys.
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

10. Young DLL Characteristics: Preschool Enrollment (U.S. and MD)
United States
Maryland
Notes: DLLs are defined as children 5 and under with at least one parent (or a householder if no parent is present) who speaks a language other than English at home.
Source: MPI analysis of pooled American Community Surveys.
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

11. Percentage of 4th Graders Scoring At or Above Proficient on 2015 NAEP
Maryland
Math
Reading
Notes: The term “ELLs” refers to English Language Learners. * No data are available.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Math and Reading Assessments, 2015.
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

12. Implications: Child Data
Apparent need for ECEC programs to better promote L1 and L2 development with clear strategies and competences for supporting DLLs’ development of academic proficiency in English
Implies systematic approaches to DLL identification, instruction, assessment, etc.; building relevant workforce skills across all ECEC occupations; and…
Incorporating DLL quality indicators in workforce and program licensing and accountability schemes
Apparent needs to address linguistic and cultural competence of programs and workers, including with regard to parent/family engagement strategies
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

13. Young DLL Family Characteristics: Poverty (MD)
Maryland
Notes: DLLs are defined as children 5 and under with at least one parent (or a householder if no parent is present) who speaks a language other than English at home.
Source: MPI analysis of pooled American Community Surveys.
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

14. Parents of Young DLLs: Potential Risk Factors (MD)
Notes: DLLs are defined as children 5 and under with at least one parent (or a householder if no parent is present) who speaks a language other than English at home. * Refers to parents with no high school diploma or its equivalent.
Source: MPI analysis of pooled American Community Surveys.
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

15. Linguistic Diversity of LEP Parents: Top 15 DLL States
Lang 1
Lang 1 (%)
Lang 2
Lang 3
Lang 4
Lang 5
United States
7,525,000
Spanish
70.6
Chinese
Vietnamese
Arabic
Korean
California
1,785,000
75.6
Tagalog
Texas
1,145,000
87.8
New York
594,000
52.5
Russian
Bengali
Yiddish
Florida
505,000
74.5
Creole
Illinois
316,000
70.1
Polish
New Jersey
282,000
60.9
Portuguese
Arizona
216,000
86.2
Georgia
181,000
Ethiopian
Washington
164,000
57.3
Massachusetts
161,000
43.7
Pennsylvania
160,000
44.0
German
North Carolina
157,000
81.7
French
Virginia
149,000
53.8
Maryland
122,000
Colorado
114,000
77.2
Notes: DLLs are defined as children 5 and under with at least one parent (or a householder if no parent is present) who speaks a language other than English at home. Spanish includes Spanish and Spanish Creole; "German" includes German and Pennsylvania Dutch; "Portuguese" includes Portuguese and Portuguese Creole; "French" includes Patois and Cajun; "Creole" includes French Creole and Haitian Creole; "Chinese" includes Mandarin, Cantonese, and Chinese; and "Russian" includes Russian and Ukrainian.
Source: MPI analysis of pooled American Community Surveys.
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

16. Implications: Parent and Family Data
DLL-serving programs are challenged to address language access issues without additional funding support (especially challenging with low-incidence languages or in contexts of hyper-diversity)
Immigrant parents’ child development, system navigation, and cultural knowledge needs can generally not be met by ECEC programs and are a poor fit for existing adult education/literacy programs
WIOA implementation will likely further reduce opportunities for limited English proficient (LEP) or low-educated parents of young children to access ESL, family literacy or other basic skills programs
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

17. Overview: Native- and Foreign-Born ECEC Workers in Maryland
Of the approximately 43,000 ECEC workers in Maryland 26% are foreign born
96% of native workers speak only English; 41% of immigrant workers speak Spanish as first language
Roughly half (49%) of the state’s foreign-born ECEC workers are LEP
Foreign-born workers are much more likely to serve in lower-paid child-care worker positions than in teacher or program director positions
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

18. © 2015 Migration Policy Institute
Distribution of MD Native- & Foreign-Born Workers in Key ECEC Occupations
Maryland
Population ages 16 and older
Source: MPI tabulation of U.S. Census Bureau pooled American Community Survey Data.
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

19. © 2015 Migration Policy Institute
Levels of Educational Attainment: MD Native- & Foreign-Born ECEC Workers
Maryland
Population ages 25 and older
Source: MPI tabulation of U.S. Census Bureau pooled American Community Survey Data.
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

20. Implications: ECEC Workforce Data
Given linguistic and cultural competency needs of ECEC programs and immigrants’ large share of the existing workforce, addressing the education and professional development needs of immigrant ECEC workers should be a priority
Integrated ECEC education and training career pathway programs and/or Welcome Back models for foreign- educated immigrants are needed to accelerate LEP and low-educated ECEC workers to post-secondary credentials and degrees
WIOA presents new opportunities and some challenges in this regard
Raising wages in the profession remains a critical concern in order to induce better-educated workers to remain in the field
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

21. © 2015 Migration Policy Institute
In Sum
Measures to assure DLL quality must be woven into all aspects of ECEC system operations; visibility in data is essential
WIOA further destabilizes immigrant-parent- focused programs but perhaps also clears the way for new models to arise
WIOA and the general trend towards career pathway models should be used to leverage creation and expansion of integrated ECEC education and training programs
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute

22. Thank you—let’s stay in touch!
Margie McHugh
With thanks to Jie Zong, MPI Research Assistant
Find data, reports and other analysis by state and for the nation at
© 2015 Migration Policy Institute 22