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The dramatic growth in the number of children learning English as a second language in our country has led to a corresponding increase in the need to understand how teachers and schools can effectively teach children who are learning English as a second language. Many teachers report not feeling prepared to meet the needs of these children (National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher preparation and professional development: 2000. http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/frss/publications/2001088/index. asp?sectionid=3, 2002). The current study used focus group interviews to examine how Head Start teachers in one program addressed the special learning needs of children learning English in their classrooms. Key challenges involved communicating with children and their families in their home language. Teachers used other staff, parents, and children in the classroom to interpret. Strategies involved visual aids, pictures, gestures, and a welcoming classroom environment. Resources used by teachers were professional development and language skills of other staff. However, available resources were often underutilized and limited for teachers to use in meeting the challenges the teachers faced in the classroom. Suggestions are presented for overcoming the challenges and limited resources encountered by teachers, such as changes in preservice and inservice training opportunities, and second language learning opportunities for teachers. Further implications for training and research are discussed.Keywords English language learners Á Preschools Á Children learning English as a second language Educators are increasingly aware of the dramatic growth in the number of children learning English as a second language in our country and the challenges schools face in serving these children. During the 2005-2006 school year there were approximately 5.5 million students who were learning English as a second language in US schools nationwide (National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition and Language Instruction Educational Programs 2007). Estimates are that more than 50% of all students in kindergarten through 12th grade will be learning English as a second language within 10 years (Gray andFleischman 2004-2005). The number of children learning English attending preschools nationwide increased by almost 190% between 1990 and 2000 (National Council of La Raza n.d.). Not all ELLs speak Spanish, but they do constitute a majority (79%) of US children who speak a language other than English at home (Center for Public Education 2007). Between 2005 and 2050, the population of Latino children under the age of five is expected to increase by 146% (Lopez 2005). Head Start programs have seen dramatic increases in Latino children who attend their programs (Brown 2008). Currently, 25% of children attending Head Start are from Latino families (Brown). The actual percentage of children attending Head Start coming from non-English speaking homes is probably considerably higher.These data bring raise the concern of how to best serve and meet t...

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This study examined the differences between preschool students from Spanish speaking homes and preschool students from English speaking homes in the areas of classroom conduct, social skills, and teacher-child relationship quality, as rated by their teachers. Data were taken from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project (EHSRE), a longitudinal study beginning in 1996. Participants in the current study included 1,034 parents, 1,034 children, and 743 teachers. Significant results revealed that students from Spanish speaking homes were rated more positively in the areas of classroom conduct and teacher-child relationship quality than students from English speaking homes. Analyses of sex differences yielded significant results, indicating that females were rated more positively than males in the areas of classroom conduct, social skills, and teacher-child relationship quality. Finally, classroom quality and receptive language scores accounted for some of the variance in the home language groups on the measures of classroom conduct and teacher-child relationship quality. The need for future research and implications for the social development of English learners are discussed.

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