Supporting Preschool English Language Learners: First 5 LA Blazes the Path

How do we ensure preschool-age English language learners (ELLs) are ready for kindergarten?

The Universal Preschool Child Outcomes Study (UPCOS), a collaborative study involving First 5 LA, Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP) and Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., seeks to inform national policy on instructional practices supporting ELLs. 

"There is a growing body of research illuminating high quality instructional practices for ELLs," says Christine Ong, a research analyst at First 5 LA. "But we still have much to learn about what is happening on a day-to-day basis, what types of instruction ELL children are getting, and what are the best approaches for supporting their development."

Now in its third phase, the UPCOS study builds on findings from earlier phases and examines the instructional practices that LAUP providers use with ELLs. An aim of the study is to identify and provide a detailed description of best practices that could be implemented in other parts of the nation to support preschool-age ELLs.

Earlier UPCOS findings suggest that LAUP enrolled children from households where Spanish is primarily spoken, tend to lag behind their English-speaking peers academically. This finding is similar to those in other studies, and underscores the need to improve the approaches currently used by ELL teachers. 

A recent summary of ELL research by Claude Goldenberg, professor of education at Stanford University and member of First 5 LA's Research Advisory Committee, indicates that teaching students to read in their native language leads to better reading skills in English. Goldenberg also cites research suggesting that when ELLs are taught in English, instructors must adjust their teaching to take into account the fact that ELL students are learning academic content while simultaneously learning the language in which the content is being taught.

Ong emphasizes that the UPCOS study hopes to influence policy that will better support practitioners in their efforts to instruct ELLs. "Researchers across the country are interested in what we're doing in part because of the sheer diversity of L.A. County," Ong said. "It's very exciting.

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