Access, quality, and home language support for emergent bilingual children in NYC’s universal Pre-K programs

Abstract Providing support for children’s home languages is a critical component of high-quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). We examine the types and availability of Pre-K programs for emergent bilingual children and their families under New York City’s (NYC) Universal Pre-K program. Currently, in the hyper-diverse linguistic landscape of NYC where the majority of children come from homes where a language other than English (LOTE) is spoken, bilingual Pre-Ks only represent 6% of all programs. This study describes Pre-K program types available in NYC that offer Dual Language (DL) or Enhanced Language Support (ELS) to the large populations of emergent bilinguals. We analyze the number of programs within each borough and compare these with census tract data on the percentage of children who speak a LOTE at home. Our findings show that the number of Pre-K bilingual programs offered is grossly inadequate and, in most cases, is not significantly correlated to the percentage of LOTE children in the corresponding Pre-K neighborhoods. Only within the borough of Manhattan are bilingual DL programs significantly associated with neighborhoods with high percentages of LOTE children. In the other boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, the higher percentages of LOTE children are served by ELS. Lastly, we compare the ratings of quality across Pre-K programs in each of the NYC boroughs. We present data demonstrating the inequity of access to high-quality programs that meet the community needs and discuss policy implications and recommendations.