A Welcome for Every Student

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Karen N. Nemeth

On a recent tour of school districts, I visited two school board offices in two linguistically diverse cities. As I waited at the reception desk in one school, I realized that every word of every sign in that lobby was in English. There was nothing to make families who spoke different languages feel welcome or respected. Soon after, I visited a district building in another city where many postings appeared in 10 languages.

Reflecting on these two visits and knowing the power of first impressions, I couldn't help wondering how families from non-English-speaking cultures would feel when entering each building. If a family's initial contact was with the first district's office, how might this experience influence how that family engaged with its new school community?

Creating a welcoming environment is crucial to laying a path to success for children from different home languages and cultures. A welcoming environment goes beyond basic compliance with antidiscrimination regulations—and deeper than a few multilingual signs or posters. Multilingual signs, important as they are, are only one manifestation of a buildingwide or districtwide vision that the community will provide equitable, effective education for every student. It's the vision that's essential. Let's look at what a vision for diversity entails.

Because young children are in an early stage of language development, we must consider every child who speaks a language other than English at home to be an English learner. English learners in the early years are often referred to as dual language learners. Such children may speak English well or may never have spoken a word of English. English learners, the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, make up about 25 percent of the population of young children in this country. Thus, we must meet their educational needs—and that requires setting a welcoming tone within each community.

An educational leader must first articulate a vision for celebrating diversity. Working for diversity is a more positive approach than focusing on enforcing antidiscrimination rules. The vision talks about what everyone can and will do rather than what they shouldn't do. It establishes a framework for the atmosphere, attitudes, learning materials, communications, teaching practices, and provision of special services for the entire community.

A guiding vision is established best through teamwork and systemwide buy-in. Everyone in the district or school must realize that success will be best achieved by using educational practices that support both home languages and English. Research clearly shows that, in the early years, support for the home language builds a strong foundation of content knowledge that will actually help students do well in English (see, for example, Buysse, Peisner-Feinberg, Páez, Hammer, & Knowles, 2014; Espinosa, 2013).

Joan Youngquist and Bárbara Martínez-Griego (2009) outlined the process one Head Start program went through to bring about change when their preschool became increasingly diverse. The first step was to establish with everyone the importance of home cultures and languages for children's learning. Leaders invited experts to present key information to the staff. Staff members then discussed what they'd learned, addressed concerns, and developed suggestions for change. Everyone eventually embraced an approach of supporting home languages in order to improve children's English—and their ability to learn in English.

Many administrative teams also create a language plan, which describes the practical features of the vision for diversity (Nemeth, 2014). This effort should be led by the top administrator, but it should also involve a cross-disciplinary committee of teachers and staff. Input from teachers with English as a second language (ESL) or bilingual education expertise will be essential; general education, special education, and other teachers will also need to give input about how to implement the plan. Therapists, social workers, librarians, and other staff can guide discussions about changes that must be made outside classrooms.

In addition to selecting curriculum and deciding how to adapt it for diverse needs, your plan should describe concretely how members of your team will address the following:

Recruiting, hiring, orienting, and supporting staff, especially bilingual staff. (Ask yourselves what information you'll need to provide new hires to prepare them to succeed in multilingual classrooms.)Welcoming, communicating with, and engaging diverse families. (What resources will you use to translate materials and interpret at meetings?)Finding and using linguistically and culturally appropriate assessments. (What are your students' language needs? What screening or assessment tools are available in those languages?)Identifying, placing, and transitioning students who are English learners. (Describe the policies and procedures you will use to accurately identify English learners and decide when to enroll them in English language development services and when to transition them out of those services.)Coordinating education services across all sectors. (What provisions will be made so that general education, special education, ESL, and bilingual education teachers can collaborate to meet students' needs wherever they are learning?)Giving guidance for how home languages and English should be used. (In what situations, during which activities, and for how much time should home languages and English be used each day?)

Once your diversity vision and language plan are in place, update the common areas and classrooms so they reflect appreciation of the diversity of your population. Everything from the school website to outdoor signs, from the lobby to classrooms, should show the diversity of ethnicities and cultures within your school. Make welcome signs and information for new parents available in as many languages as possible.

Using certified translators is always best because not everyone who speaks another language has the skills or time to do translations. Reach out to parents, local social service agencies, or volunteer organizations. Computer translation programs aren't always accurate; anything they produce should be checked by a native speaker.

These efforts could be handled by a diversity coordinator or a small committee of interested staff and volunteers. Larger districts can create a centralized process for creating multilingual resources and making them available to each building. Smaller districts can partner with neighboring ones to share expenses.

Provide cultural sensitivity training to the people who greet newcomers. You might arrange for an expert speaker on this topic or distribute articles, a book, or links to webinars—and follow up with on-site discussions. Families should see the school as a place that respects who they are and tries to meet their needs. This helps parents give their children positive messages and confidence about attending school.

The most welcoming classrooms aren't fully stocked on the first day of school—because teachers can't fully equip their classroom until they know their students. Teachers should work with students and families to bring in materials and displays representing different aspects of their cultures and languages. School administrators must develop two things: an accurate, respectful system for learning about families' home languages and cultures early on and a flexible purchasing system so all teachers can get materials they need to support learning in multilingual classrooms.

A brief home-language survey is a first step, but it may yield inaccurate information. Schools that conduct home visits—or face-to-face meetings with families—and talk about each child's home language environment, each family's cultural connections, and families' home literacy practices can better establish linguistically and culturally relevant classrooms. Once relationships have been established and educators get a deeper understanding of each student's culture and language, they can acquire necessary learning materials.

Gathering materials that reflect students' languages is essential. Young English learners will need some information in their home languages to provide the comprehensible input needed for them to learn content (Haynes, 2007). Information in both the home language and English supports learning about the connections between words, which lets students build on prior knowledge as they both master new content and learn English. Even if teachers don't speak the languages of the children in their classrooms, they can use songs, books, and posters to add some home-language experiences to the schedule every day.

Multicultural, multilingual classrooms should contain

Displays and learning materials that represent the specific cultures and languages of each person in the classroom. When possible, these should connect with what's happening in the classroom rather than just fill space, so they should change often.Materials tied to key cultures that are contributed by families or created by children—like books, magazines, handmade posters, and maps. Post these close to children's eye level. Integrate them into interactions and learning activities.High-quality fiction and nonfiction books, plus games, music, digital resources, and hands-on learning materials that include all students' languages, with authentic themes and diverse characters (Nemeth, 2012).

Digital resources can expand access to multilingual opportunities. When used carefully, translation apps and online services can help teachers, students, and families communicate. Apps that present bilingual storybooks and nonfiction help students learn concepts and can even enable teachers to say key words in the children's languages. Teachers might access culturally relevant information through websites of groups like National Geographic Education or Bridging Refugee Youth and Children's Services—or connect with classrooms, friends, and colleagues in different countries for video chats.

Remember, however, that most of a young child's language and concept learning must be done in the context of rich, engaging interactions and hands-on experiences. Time alone with a computer program isn't as effective as time using digital resources to enhance projects, conversations, and explorations (Simon & Nemeth, 2012).

Making such cultural connections helps children feel welcomed and respected and enhances their engagement. As families see their cultures and languages displayed and used in the classroom, they also get the message that their participation is welcome at school and that their home language is valuable for their child's learning. Connecting schoolwork to home culture supports the whole child. This linking should happen for every child, even if he or she is the only one in a class that speaks a certain language.

For languages common to many children in class, finding materials shouldn't be hard. Online catalogs, school book distributors, and libraries have a growing variety of languages available. But even for less common languages, don't assume there's no hope. Type the language you need into a browser's search box and you may be amazed at the resources you find.

As you prepare the classroom, use Universal Design for Learning principles. Rather than setting up environments for one kind of student and then making adaptations for anyone who doesn't fit that mold, schools that use Universal Design for Learning plan in advance to create environments that support a wide range of student abilities—or languages. Linguistically diverse schools that use this approach do things like these:

Allow teachers to use mobile devices with open internet connections so they can show YouTube videos that demonstrate concepts to students who don't yet understand the teachers' words—or to any student.Distribute videos that show students doing key school activities (such as how to be have during fire drills or purchase lunch).Set up quiet corners in classrooms where English learners can play or learn independently to get a break from the stress of trying to understand the language around them.Train staff and students in strategies for communicating respectfully with others who have different languages or abilities.Emphasize visual and nonverbal supports (picture-based schedules, story props, and sign language that enhances understanding) for all interactions.

Partnerships are a boon to keeping the classroom stocked with an ever-changing array of materials in different languages. Public libraries share the school's mission to serve everyone in a diverse community and have resources and early literacy experts ready to help. Ask about digital resources; many libraries lend e-books in a variety of languages. Approach local businesses and organizations. Early childhood programs in Washington, D.C., often ask nearby embassies to provide educational materials representing their countries. There's no reason a teacher in any state couldn't telephone an embassy office and request the same.

Parents can help find supplies and share their talents and cultural and linguistic assets. Teachers may need to let go of assumptions and let parents make decisions. One educator told me about a time her team was planning upcoming activities to celebrate various cultures. When someone suggested getting sombreros to decorate the bulletin boards, the leader rejected the idea as too stereotypical. On the day of the family event, however, one student's grandmother proudly brought in a sombrero! At that moment, the team agreed they should ask families about the appropriateness of including various items rather than make assumptions.

Professional learning and collaboration can make a real difference in the school's efforts to create welcoming environments for diverse young children. Welcoming young children who speak different languages is everyone's job, so everyone in the school should be given opportunities to learn and participate. Ideally, schools would provide time for the general education teacher, ESL teacher, and special education teacher to regularly exchange ideas about meeting the complex needs of students they have in common.1 

Give staff members many opportunities to share ideas and resources for the different languages and cultures they encounter. One New Jersey district provides a resource library of teacher-created "prop boxes" (containing things like a storybook of The Three Little Pigs in several languages; pig and wolf puppets; a brick, sticks, and straw; and models of the three houses) that support learning in different languages. When a teacher takes time to gather and make materials on a certain aspect of culture or in certain languages, that work shouldn't stay within his or her classroom.

Monolingual and bilingual teachers each need specially designed professional development to guide them in using their unique language assets as educators of young children. Coaches and supervisors need guidance to work with teachers who may be teaching in different languages; teachers and specialists need to learn how to collaborate in the best interests of English learners (Nemeth, 2012).

Inclusive, multicultural classrooms will succeed in giving young children the best start if they attend to all these elements. As the diversity of the U.S. population continues to rise, the most effective schools will be those that have a strong vision for meeting the needs of individual children—and clearly demonstrate the value of that vision in everything they do.

Buysse, V., Peisner-Feinberg, E., Páez, M., Hammer, C. S., & Knowles, M. (2014). Effects of early education programs and practices on the development and learning of dual language learners: A review of the literature, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 29(4), 765–785.

Espinosa, L. M. (2013). PreK–3rd: Challenging common myths about dual language learners: An update to the seminal 2008 report. New York: Foundation for Child Development.

Haynes, J. (2007). Getting started with English language learners: How educators can meet the challenge. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Nemeth, K. N. (2014). Young dual language learners: A guide for preK–3 leaders. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Publishing.

Nemeth, K. N. (2012). Basics of supporting dual language learners: Introduction for educators birth–age 8. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Simon, F. S., & Nemeth, K. N. (2012). Digital decisions: Choosing the right technology tools for early childhood education. Lewisville, NC: Gryphon House.

Youngquist, J., & Martínez-Griego, B. (2009). Learning in English, learning in Spanish: A Head Start program changes its approach. Young Children, 64(4), 92–98.

1  A participant in the weekly Twitter chat at #ELLCHAT shared that her school follows this practice. This Twitter chat, organized around specific topics, happens every Monday at 9 p.m. EST. Anyone is welcome to join the discussion.

Karen N. Nemeth is an author and founder of the consulting firm Language Castle in Newtown, Pennsylvania.

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