Welcome to the interim project page for the Multilingual Learning Toolkit: Resources for Supporting PreK-3rd Multilingual Children! Early Edge California (EECA), in collaboration with the American Institutes for Research (AIR), is proud to share the essential ingredients of quality instruction for educators who work with young multilingual learners. Our work draws extensively from existing research and uplifts best practices that have emerged from the field. 

This interim project page will house our Starter Guide and initial set of resources, allowing us to share these with our project stakeholders as we develop the final standalone website. We look forward to officially launching the standalone website, which will be housed separately from Early Edge’s website and with unique branding to this project, by late August 2021. In the meantime, you may view the content here and download a PDF version of the Starter Guide here [link to document with watermark “Draft: Not for Distribution”].

How to Use this Starter Guide
Learn more about how to use this guide to enhance your work in supporting Multilingual Learners.

Foundational Principles of Dual Language Learning and Development
This section lays out four key principles that are critical to know when working with Multilingual Learners and their families.

Contexts and Conditions
Learn about the contexts and conditions in which you engage and support Multilingual Learners and their families and why they are critical to consider.

Common Language Models
There are a variety of language models that are used to support Multilingual Learners. Learn more about the models of Dual-Language Immersion, Developmental Bilingual, Transitional Bilingual, English Language Development with Home Language Support, and Structured English Immersion.

Insights from the Field in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual and hybrid learning has increased. Learn more about the considerations and lessons learned from the field for adapting practices to a virtual environment.

Instructional Strategies: What teachers and administrators need to know to best serve Multilingual Learner (ML) students

Below you will find a collection of strategies that come from the latest research on ML students. The strategies are presented as responses to questions you might have about how to best serve your ML students. Each question area includes both research support for why it is important, and specific, evidence-based strategies that have linked resources to help implement the strategy. Many of the research studies recommending these practices integrate several strategies over an extended period, so determining the unique impact of a single strategy implemented alone is not possible. Therefore, individual strategies across the different question areas are interconnected and should be implemented together, in a purposeful and connected manner throughout instruction, and not in isolation. Make sure to also consider your classroom or school’s language model when implementing the strategies and adapt accordingly.

How can I welcome and engage families of ML students to be active partners in their child’s learning?

How do I foster the social-emotional health and development of ML students?

What can I do to set up my classroom environment to support the learning of ML students?

How can I support my ML students’ oral language development?

How can I support my ML students’ literacy development?

What can I do to encourage home language development if I don’t speak the home language of all of the ML children in my classroom?

Are there additional strategies I can use to support my ML students’ English language development?

How can I support my ML students’ content learning?

What do I need to consider when assessing ML students?

How can I build my capacity to serve ML students?

This project would not have been made possible without The Emerging Bilingual Collaborative, a project of the New Venture Fund.

The Collaborative is comprised of the following foundations: