Tag Archives: Language Preservation

Office of Head Start Policy

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3/17/2015

INFORMATION MEMORANDUM

TO: American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) Head Start and Early Head Start grantees and delegate agencies and those Head Start agencies whose service population includes AIAN children

SUBJECT: Native Language Preservation, Revitalization, Restoration, and Maintenance in Head Start and Early Head Start Programs

INFORMATION:

Purpose
The purpose of this Information Memorandum (IM) is to clarify the Office of Head Start (OHS) support for teaching tribal languages to children in AIAN Head Start and Early Head Start.

Background
Across the United States, 45,175 children with AIAN heritage are served in Head Start and Early Head Start programs. Region XI administers 148 tribal Head Start grantees and 57 tribal Early Head Start grantees that serve 47 percent, or 21,259, of the enrolled AIAN children. The remainder of children with AIAN heritage, 53 percent, are served across the regions.

Currently, almost two percent of enrolled children’s primary languages spoken at home are Native North American and Alaska Native languages (1.9 percent); one percent reported Spanish; and the majority reported English (95.7 percent). This shows a decrease from the eight percent enrolled children who reported AIAN languages as their dominant language in 2001 for Region XI.

The Native American Languages Act of 1990 (Pub.L. 101-477) found that the “lack of clear, comprehensive, and consistent federal policy on treatment of Native American languages…has often resulted in acts of suppression and extermination of Native American languages and cultures.”

President Obama’s early learning agenda included Executive Order 13592, which contains the objective of “increasing the number and percentage of AIAN children who enter kindergarten ready for success through improved access to high quality early learning programs and services, including Native language immersion programs, that encourage the learning and development of AIAN children from birth through age 5.”

In 2012, OHS released a Tribal Language Report that provided information on the success, progress, and challenges experienced by tribal programs as they work to preserve, revitalize, and maintain their tribal languages. The report highlighted a misperception among some tribal programs that the full integration of tribal language and culture in Head Start and Early Head Start programs was inconsistent with Head Start Program Performance Standards.

Currently, AIAN programs are involved in a number of language and cultural preservation, revitalization, and maintenance efforts. These efforts include teaching language using a variety of models and supporting cultural ways and traditions through aligning them with school readiness efforts.

The Head Start Program Performance Standards that support language preservation and culture and the resources that OHS has made available for this purpose are described below.

OHS strongly supports the full integration of AIAN languages and culture in their Head Start and Early Head Start programs, including the use of language immersion, dual language, and other proven approaches. Pursuant to Pub.L. 101-477, it is the policy of the United States to “preserve, protect, and promote the rights and freedom of Native Americans to use, practice, and develop Native American languages” and to “encourage and support the use of Native American languages as a medium of instruction…”

The Head Start Act requires that children make progress toward the acquisition of English and that instruction be culturally and linguistically appropriate (Sec. 641A(a)(1)(B)(x)). Some grantees have expressed concern that the requirement that children make progress toward English acquisition means that supporting acquisition or progress in other languages is prohibited. This is not the case. There is substantial and increasing evidence that young children can benefit from the opportunity to acquire more than one language, and that support of home or heritage languages results in improved English language skills.

The Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act of 2006 (Pub.L. 109-394), which amended the Native American Programs Act of 1974, provides for the revitalization of Native American languages through Native language immersion and restoration programs that are administered by the Administration for Native Americans (ANA), which is also a part of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

ANA and OHS believe language revitalization and continuation are fundamental to preserving and strengthening a community’s culture. Use of Native language builds identity and encourages communities to move toward social unity and self-sufficiency.

Head Start Act and Program Performance Standards
The Head Start Program Performance Standards provide for the integration of tribal language and culture in Head Start classrooms, in the curricula, with ongoing observation-based assessment, and across program systems and services. The current Head Start Program Performance

Source: Office of Head Start

Available at: http://hsicc.cmail20.com/t/ViewEmail/j/79748144B5C7D6BB/2ABD24CF6E74000C0F8C96E86323F7F9

Head Start Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness: Volume Two: Native and Heritage Language Preservation, Revitalization, and Maintenance (2nd Ed.) Resource Catalogue

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Head Start is more ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse than ever before. The Office of Head Start (OHS) is dedicated to providing all Head Start programs with resources to meet the diverse needs of their communities. This resource catalogue (volumes one, two, and three) is designed to provide programs with evidence-based materials, research, promising practices, and other information to help develop culturally and linguistically responsive systems and services. The catalogue includes books, articles, videos, and other useful resources—most of which are available free of charge.

The resource catalogue is organized into three volumes, each with a special focus. A few resources are included in more than one volume, but most are not.

  • Volume One: Dual Language Learning provides information to support Head Start programs working to maximize the development and potential of dual language learners (DLLs) and their families. Catalogue entries showcase resources and practices on topics such as teaching strategies, assessment of DLLs, and supporting culturally and linguistically diverse programs.
  • Volume Two: Native and Heritage Language Preservation, Revitalization, and Maintenance provides information to support Head Start programs working to preserve, revitalize, and/or reclaim American Indian, Alaskan Native, Pacific Island, and other heritage languages. Catalogue entries showcase resources and practices on topics such as early childhood language nests, the use of technology in language learning, immersion preschool programs, and culturally responsive curricula.
  • Volume Three: Cultural Responsiveness provides information to support Head Start programs in developing culturally competent and responsive practices. Catalogue entries showcase resources and practices on topics such as culturally responsive teaching strategies, working with culturally diverse families and communities, and infusing family cultures across the curriculum.

Source: Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center/National Center on Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness

Available at: http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/cultural-linguistic/docs/resource-catalogue-main-book-4.pdf