What is the Center for Early Care and Education Research – Dual Language Learners (CECER-DLL)?
- A new national research center charged with advancing the capacity of the research field for children who are DLLs by:
- improving assessment & measurement
- examining & improving early care & education practices
- A cooperative agreement between the FPG Child Development Institute & the Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration of Children & Families (ACF), in collaboration with the Office of Head Start (OHS) & the Office of Child Care (OCC)
- An initiative targeting children who are dual language learners (birth-age 5) and their families across settings such as: early care and education center-based programs, home-based and family child care providers, and Head Start and Early Head Start Programs
What is the need for CECER-DLL?
The creation of the CECER-DLL responds to the following:
- Substantial growth among heterogeneous population of DLLs
- New challenges & opportunities to serve DLLs in early childhood programs
- Need for defining policies & practices that support DLLs’ development & learning
- Gap between evidence base & addressing needs of DLLs & their families
- Existing challenges related to conducting research with DLLs
How will the CECER-DLL address these issues?
Through a focused agenda of research, national leadership activities, and supplemental activities the CECER-DLL will:
- Improve the state of knowledge & measurement in early childhood research on young DLLs
- Identify & advance research on best practices & strategies in early care and education programming
- Develop and disseminate products to improve research on young DLLs
Together these activities will contribute to supporting the overall development of young DLLs and their families.
For more information, please contact us at cecer_dll@unc.edu
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Primary definition of dual language learners (DLLs) used by the CECER-DLL:
Children who are DLLs are learning a second language (English) while continuing to acquire their first (or home) language. The term “DLLs” encompasses the following frequently used labels: limited English proficient (LEP); bilingual; English language learners (ELL); children from language minority backgrounds; children who speak a language other than English (LOTE); & children for whom English is a second language (ESL).
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Disclaimer: This website is the product of the FPG Child Development Institute of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Health and Human Services or the United States Government.