Our Vision

Texans Care for Children, Philanthropy Advocates, and IDRA, along with a variety of partners and stakeholders, launched the Texas Early Childhood English Learner Initiative in early 2020.

What We Seek to Accomplish

The Initiative aims to ensure more Texas children are successful both inside and outside the classroom and to maximize the impact of the historic education investments in House Bill 3 from the 2019 Texas legislative session. 

Our goals are to ensure more English Learner (EL) students become strong readers by third grade, become fluent and literate in both English and their home language, and are learning in settings where educators, principals, child care directors, and parents have the tools they need to support them during this precious period of childhood.

Why Focus on Early Childhood Policies for English Learners

Early childhood experiences — in the home, child care, pre-k, and other early grades — provide the foundation for success in later grades and later in life. The early years of life are the optimal time to develop skills in a child’s home language and a second language. Research shows this is the age range when the brain is most ready and able to acquire two or more languages. Furthermore, the languages and cultures ELs bring to their education are not just assets for their own learning, but also are important contributions to learning for their entire class. That’s why school districts and communities nationwide are updating their approaches to early education to make the most of the developing brain’s capacity to gain fluency in multiple languages.

Regardless of the language spoken at home, helping students become bilingual has well-documented cognitive benefits for children and strengthens the ability of the state to compete in a global, multilingual economy. When young children develop their literacy skills in their home language, it speeds up their ability to learn English and other subjects. Importantly, early childhood teachers can cultivate English skills while ensuring that the children’s first language continues to flourish.

English Learners have always made up a significant portion of the population of Texas public schools and Texas child care. Texas schools educate the greatest proportion of English Learners in the U.S., including 28 percent of the state’s pre-k through 3rd grade enrollment. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) defines an EL as “a student whose primary language is not English and whose English language skills are such that the student has difficulty performing ordinary classwork in English.”

Addressing early childhood policies for English Learners is especially important in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. English Learners have been missing out on in-person learning and even distance learning if they lack quality internet access and devices; families of ELs are experiencing unemployment and an uncertain financial future; and many EL children have experienced traumatic stress and social isolation that will add to their academic challenges as they return to school. Experts are predicting a significant “academic slide,” in particular for young English Learner and low-income students.

Who We Are

The Texas Early Childhood English Learner Initiative is led by a Steering Committee consisting of David Feigen (Texans Care for Children), Jennifer Esterline and Becky Calahan (Philanthropy Advocates), Dr. Chloe Latham Sikes and Ana Ramon (Intercultural Development Research Association), Kim Kofron (Texas Association for the Education of Young Children), and Dr. Dina Castro (University of North Texas at Denton).

From January through October 2020, the Initiative developed its recommendations through a statewide survey of 185 experts in bilingual and early childhood education, three virtual workgroup convenings with community leaders from around the state, and numerous conversations with education program leaders and stakeholders.

The Initiative’s research was produced with the support of Philanthropy Advocates, a collaboration with Educate Texas. Philanthropy Advocates is composed of over 55 foundations and philanthropists from across Texas interested in ensuring that policymakers, parents, educators, media, and the general public have objective data about Texas public and higher education. Since their founding a decade ago, Philanthropy Advocates (formerly Texas Education Grantmakers Advocacy Consortium) has harnessed the power of philanthropy and data-driven research to achieve their vision: to see all Texas students achieve their educational goals from cradle to career. For more information on Philanthropy Advocates, please visit philanthropyadvocates.org.