Week 3 Blog - Research that Benefits Children and Families

Building ELL’s Literacy Early is Crucial

I found an article published in Education Week that talks about a Dual Language Academy in Tulsa Oklahoma.  It noted how 50 percent of children are English-Learners and the student are taught in English and Spanish.  Tulsa has provided prekindergarten students free classes that teach literacy to children.  The article also spoke about the long-term study that was conducted by Georgetown University.  For decades they have Tulsa has been providing this service to children and it has shown that as children progress to kindergarten they come academically prepared for school.  So Georgetown University found that children come prepared to school months ahead of their peers who did not enrolled in Pre-K.  It was also determined that after spending 15 years studying Tulsa’s efforts, the data indicated that English learners are the student group who has benefited most from the access to free pre-K classes. 

I believe this is a great opportunity for other districts to implement the same program so children can be prepared when they enter kindergarten. 

https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/05/11/building-ells-literacy-early-is-crucial.html