Addressing the needs of Latino children: A national survey of state administrators of early childhood programs

Abstract

This study consisted of a national survey of 117 state administrators of early childhood programs to examine specific challenges, strategies, and beliefs around serving Latino children and families. Four types of early childhood programs were represented: child care, Head Start, Part B-Section 619 preschool special education programs, and Part C infant-toddler programs for children with developmental disabilities. The survey consisted of 48 Likert scale items across six subscales to gather information about challenges and strategies for serving young Latino children and their families, as well as administrators’ beliefs about issues related to language development and early literacy learning, child assessment, approaches to support equity and diversity, and parental involvement. Administrators generally agreed on the importance of preserving a child's home language and the need to assess young children in either their home language or their home language and English. All four groups held similar views about strategies. The study found less agreement among groups on issues related to challenges, approaches to promoting diversity, and strategies for promoting parental involvement.