This paper presents a collaborative effort between a Head Start lead teacher and an educational scholar, focusing on a Head Start classroom in a non-traditional migration area in Pennsylvania. The joint initiative, called "Juntos," was undertaken to support children's bilingualism in a context where English is the dominant language. The…

Using a nationally representative sample of dual language learners (DLLs) attending Head Start, this study investigated how the language used for instruction and the proportion of DLLs in the class was associated with English and Spanish receptive vocabulary development between the fall and spring (n = 531). Based on teacher report of the language…

In recent decades, the share of ethnically and linguistically diverse children enrolled in schools in the United States has exponentially increased. Despite the growing representation of ethnic minority and dual language learner (DLL) children, there is persistent evidence of early vocabulary gaps between low-income and DLL children and their…