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Access, Quality, and Home Language Support for Emergent Bilingual Children in NYC's Universal Pre-K Programs

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Title: Access, Quality, and Home Language Support for Emergent Bilingual Children in NYC's Universal Pre-K Programs
Language: English
Authors: Brian A. Collins (ORCID 0000-0002-4359-5847)
Source: International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy. 2025 19.
Availability: Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 17
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Preschool Education
Elementary Education
Kindergarten
Primary Education
Descriptors: Language Usage, Preschool Education, Kindergarten, Bilingual Students, Bilingual Education, English Learners, Family Environment, Access to Education, Geographic Regions, Immigrants, Urban Areas
Geographic Terms: New York (New York)
Assessment and Survey Identifiers: Classroom Assessment Scoring System
DOI: 10.1186/s40723-025-00159-w
ISSN: 1976-5681
2288-6729
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.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1488773
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0188318827;[ds0u]27sep.25;2025Oct01.03:45;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0188318827-1">Access, quality, and home language support for emergent bilingual children in NYC's universal Pre-K programs </title> <p>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.</p> <p>Keywords: Language; Communication and Culture Linguistics Medical and Health Sciences Public Health and Health Services</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-2">Introduction</hd> <p>In the U.S., one in four children comes from a home where a language other than English is spoken (U.S. Census, [<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref1">50</reflink>]). In urban settings, the number is often much higher; for example, in New York City (NYC), over half of all children (U.S. Census, [<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref2">50</reflink>]) come from homes where at least one of over 700 languages is spoken (Kaufman & Perlin, [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref3">22</reflink>]). Most of these children are from immigrant families and from Spanish-speaking homes. As a result, today's schools have experienced an unprecedented increase in the number of emergent bilingual students, yet they remain widely understudied and underserved (Collins & Toppelberg, [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref4">6</reflink>]). In regard to Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), young bilingual children are particularly underserved and have limited access to high-quality state-funded preschool programs (Gillispie, [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref5">15</reflink>]). This study considers how urban cities with high populations of immigrant families, such as NYC, have planned for and provided access to universal Pre-K programs that support children who speak a language other than English and the quality of these programs. Research has shown that high-quality early childhood education improves developmental, academic, and social-emotional outcomes, with higher levels of educational attainment, employment, income, and health (Magnuson & Duncan, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref6">27</reflink>]; Weiland & Yoshikawa, [<reflink idref="bib53" id="ref7">53</reflink>]). For young emergent bilingual children, who are often children of immigrants with higher rates of poverty, the positive impact of high-quality ECEC has been demonstrated to be even greater than in other groups (Mendez Smith et al., [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref8">28</reflink>]; Zachrisson et al., [<reflink idref="bib55" id="ref9">55</reflink>]). However, disparities in ECEC access have resulted in emergent bilingual immigrant children being underrepresented in high-quality Pre-Ks (Friedman-Krauss et al., [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref10">12</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-3">State funded Pre-K programs</hd> <p>Public Pre-K has expanded over the past two decades in response to encouraging research on the benefits of ECEC (Barnett et al., [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref11">1</reflink>]; Yoshikawa et al., [<reflink idref="bib54" id="ref12">54</reflink>]; Zachrisson et al., [<reflink idref="bib55" id="ref13">55</reflink>]). Currently, 37% of 4-year-olds in the U.S. are enrolled in state-funded Pre-K, which occurs in a variety of settings, including public schools, Head Start, private schools, and family-based child care (Friedman-Krauss et al., [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref14">12</reflink>]). However, for emergent bilingual and immigrant families, access to high-quality programs is much lower (Nores & Barnett, [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref15">36</reflink>]). Recent analysis of multiple state-funded preschool programs by the National Institute for Early Education Research suggests that emergent bilingual children had less access to high-quality ECEC and lower enrollment than would be expected given incentives in many states aimed to support this population (Nores et al., [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref16">37</reflink>]). The low enrollment of emergent bilingual children may be a result of a lack of programs that speak the home language of families, impeding the outreach of programs (Gillispie, [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref17">15</reflink>]). Pre-K policies vary greatly across states; many have little or no guidelines or standards for emergent bilinguals, and most states have an English-focused approach (Friedman-Krauss et al., [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref18">11</reflink>]).</p> <p>Furthermore, most states, including New York, do not collect and report data on the home language of children enrolled in Pre-Ks (Lazarín & Park, [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref19">25</reflink>]). Policy is needed that ensures equitable access to high-quality preschool programs that fit families' needs and promote emergent bilinguals' academic, cognitive, and social-emotional development (Bassok & Galdo, [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref20">2</reflink>]). Equitable access for families to find appropriate early childhood programs is based on factors like location, quality, availability, and specific needs. We must consider ECEC access more broadly, not only by enrollment and equitable distribution, but also how these programs support diverse populations to meet unique family needs and reach underserved children (Thomson et al., [<reflink idref="bib48" id="ref21">48</reflink>]). Equitable access must provide all children with the same opportunities for high-quality ECEC without barriers related to socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, cultural background, or home language (Trust for Learning, [<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref22">49</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-4">New York city Pre-K expansion</hd> <p>New York City's Pre-K for All initiative began in 2014 to offer Pre-K to every 4-year-old in NYC, using a mixed-delivery system where the Department of Education (DOE) oversees school-based programs and the Administration for Children's Services (ACS) oversees community-based programs. NYC Universal Pre-Ks are offered in NYC Public Schools (NYCPS) and NYC Early Education Centers (NYCEECs) which include Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), non-profits, nursery schools, day care centers, and faith-based organizations. The Pre-K for All initiative expanded the number of children enrolled in full-day Pre-K from 19,287 children to 68,647 children in 2015–16; about 70% of all New York City 4-year-olds, representing the nation's largest universal early childhood initiative. State funding increased from $2.4 billion in 2002 to $9 billion in 2019 (Reid et al., [<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref23">45</reflink>]), though enrollment and funding have fluctuated since this time. The universal Pre-K initiative aimed to ensure that all children gain foundational language, cognitive, and social-emotional skills, including for children whose home language is a language other than English (NYC DOE, [<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref24">39</reflink>]; Reid et al., [<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref25">45</reflink>]). Although bilingual education programs have been offered for many years in the NYC public K-6 schools, within Pre-K programs there are wide discrepancies in the access, quality, and support that emergent bilinguals receive (Friedman-Krauss et al., [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref26">11</reflink>]; García & Sánchez, [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref27">14</reflink>]; Karoly & Gonzalez, [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref28">21</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-5">Support for emergent bilinguals in NYC Pre-Ks</hd> <p>The implementation of NYC universal Pre-K began and has continued with insufficient planning for how best to support emergent bilinguals in these programs. Dual Language (DL) programs are available at NYC DOE Pre-Ks and aim to support the continued language development of both English and the home language through instruction and activities to build knowledge and fluency in both languages. There are regular opportunities for children to extend home language practices through stories, games, and music. Enhanced Language Support (ELS) programs are available in community-based NYCEEC programs. ELS programs support the development of home languages other than English by having at least one staff member who speaks the home language regularly available on-site to meet with families and provide additional supports.</p> <p>Initially, from the over 1500 Pre-K sites, only 11 DL programs were available. There has been an effort to add more bilingual Pre-K programs, which have increased since 2015, with currently over 100 DL Pre-K programs; however, this still represents only 6% of all programs (NYC DOE, [<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref29">40</reflink>]). There are not nearly enough bilingual Pre-K programs available to support the growing number of emergent bilingual children in the schools. The process for identifying bilingual children is often overlooked when providing the most appropriate Pre-K setting and program type (Morell et al., [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref30">30</reflink>]). There is not equitable access to programs that reflect the local community needs when considering the demographics of the related geographic unit (Bassok & Galdo, [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref31">2</reflink>]). Factors related to access, such as location, cost, family income, parental education, race, ethnicity, and home language, must be taken into consideration (King et al., [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref32">23</reflink>]; National Center for Education Statistics, [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref33">32</reflink>]; Ready & Reid, [<reflink idref="bib44" id="ref34">44</reflink>]).</p> <p>High-quality Pre-K programs have been shown to benefit the language development of young emergent bilinguals and are associated with higher levels of school achievement (Nores et al., [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref35">37</reflink>]; Partika, [<reflink idref="bib41" id="ref36">41</reflink>]). Supporting children's home language practices in Pre-K settings has been demonstrated to make significant contributions to emergent bilinguals' kindergarten readiness (Hernandez et al., [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref37">18</reflink>]; Morell, [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref38">29</reflink>]), improve early learning outcomes, and contribute to long-term academic development (Espinosa & García, [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref39">10</reflink>]). Integrating the use of home language and culture in Pre-K settings has been associated with positive child development for emergent bilinguals, more so than English-only approaches (Spencer et al., [<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref40">47</reflink>]). The development of both languages is often interdependent and related to the quality of language support and exposure in distinct contexts (Hammer et al., [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref41">17</reflink>]). Studies have shown that young emergent bilinguals who have frequent interactions in both their home language and English develop bilingualism related to significant advantages in cognitive, social-emotional, and linguistic areas of development (Bialystok, [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref42">3</reflink>]; Collins et al., [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref43">7</reflink>]; National Academies of Sciences, ([<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref44">34</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref45">33</reflink>]). The benefits of bilingual learning for emergent bilinguals extend beyond the development of foundational academic and socioemotional skills. By providing families access to ECEC where their home language is spoken, we expand their cultural communities, which can be transformative for families that often experience stress or trauma associated with immigration. In these circumstances, ECEC may serve as a protective factor by providing social services and expanded access to mental health for children and families (Mendez Smith et al., [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref46">28</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-6">Quality of early childhood education</hd> <p>Equitable access to high-quality Pre-K requires being able to measure quality based on different dimensions. Pre-K quality is often conceptualized with structural and process-related constructs that are associated with positive child development. These include structural quality, which consists of tangible classroom features (teachers' years of experience, certification, child-to-adult ratios, classroom size, and materials), and process quality, which is characterized by the practices and behaviors of teachers and children, such as children's social interactions, instructional practices, and teacher–child interactions (Cryer, [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref47">8</reflink>]). Process quality is most related to communication and interactions (Pianta et al, (Pianta, et al., [<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref48">42</reflink>])) which would be more effective in children's home languages. Higher levels of process quality have demonstrated a direct relationship to children's academic outcomes (Burchinal et al., [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref49">4</reflink>]). High-quality early childhood education can provide many important supports to young children and families, which are often critical to those with limited resources, though emergent bilinguals have been documented to be enrolled disproportionally in low-quality Pre-K classrooms (Valentino, [<reflink idref="bib51" id="ref50">51</reflink>]). We must also take into consideration how we measure quality and use a critical and culturally responsive lens. Many of the widely used measures of Pre-K classroom quality are limited in capturing the multiple ways classroom quality can be demonstrated in diverse settings. Equitable access to quality ECEC must account for the unique needs and local demands of the families they serve (Bassok & Galdo, [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref51">2</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-7">Present study</hd> <p>The present study aims to provide a better understanding of access to Pre-K programs in NYC that offer home language support for emergent bilingual children and their families. Our study is guided by the following research questions:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> What are the types of Pre-K programs that are available for emergent bilingual children and their families in each borough of NYC? Are DL and ELS programs located in neighborhoods with higher percentages of LOTE-speaking families?</item> <p></p> <item> How does the quality of bilingual Pre-K programs compare with other Pre-K programs in each borough of NYC?</item> </ulist> <p>Using an equity-based framework, we apply evidence-based approaches (Hirilall et al., [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref52">19</reflink>]) to investigate emergent bilingual families' access to Pre-K programs which meet their unique needs and explore the potential barriers related to the number and location of Pre-Ks with bilingual and home language supports. We identify the various types and availability of Pre-K programs and analyze access to bilingual programs across different NYC boroughs and school neighborhoods (within census tract boundaries). We compare the number of bilingual DL and ELS programs with other programs and analyze access to these programs in relation to the percentage of the population that speak a language other than English (LOTE). We also consider enrollment in each of the programs and the populations that they serve. We address conceptual and measurement considerations of the most relevant geographic unit to equitable access (Bassok & Galdo, [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref53">2</reflink>]) by analyzing differences at the borough, district, and census tract levels. Lastly, we examine the quality ratings of all NYC Pre-K programs and compare those that support emergent bilingual children with programs that have home language supports. Based on previous research, we expect to find more NYCEECs providing Pre-Ks programs to emergent bilinguals than NYC DOE, and the quality is expected to vary based on location and program type, but be higher in NYC DOE settings (Reid et al., [<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref54">45</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-8">Method</hd> <p>Using publicly available data from New York City's OpenData (NYCDOE, [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref55">38</reflink>]), we compiled a database of all NYC DOE Pre-K programs in 2018, which is the most complete data available that includes program characteristics and student population information considered in this study. Within this dataset, we identified NYC DOE Pre-Ks that offer DL and ELS programs from information reported by the schools to the NYC DOE. In addition, we matched NYC DOE reported data for each school on program quality, including the two most widely used measures of early childhood classroom quality (ECERS and CLASS). This database was created with the consultation of the NYC DOE Division of Early Childhood Learning and Multilingual Learners and other experts in the field. We also matched program data with census tract level data from the American Community Survey (U.S. Census, [<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref56">50</reflink>]) to include information about racial/ethnic and socioeconomic composition, as well as population density and in-depth information on languages spoken at home for each census tract within NYC.</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-9">Measures</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0188318827-10">Pre-K program type</hd> <p>A directory of Universal Pre-K (UPK) School Locations provided by the NYC Department of Education (DOE) reported in NYC OpenData for all 1,850 UPK providers was used to determine program type (DOE/NYCEECs), location, and enrollment for each program, as well as program types offered to support emergent bilingual children. <emph>Dual Language</emph> programs are mostly available only at DOE Pre-Ks. <emph>Enhanced Language Support</emph> (ELS) programs are mostly only available in NYCEEC programs.</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-11">Percentage of language other than English (LOTE) speakers</hd> <p>Using the American Community Study (ACS) 2020 census data, we computed the total population (including children under 5) who spoke a language other than English divided by the total population in each census tract to determine the percentage of LOTE speakers. Using census tract level data allows us to analyze at the most precise level available and capture the percentages of LOTE speakers in each census tract that is also matched to the Pre-K location within each borough.</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-12">Pre-K quality</hd> <p>We use program quality reports that were collected by NYC DOE observers to rate interactions and the learning environment of each NYC Pre-K program. These measures of classroom environment evaluate a range of factors that impact children's experiences in Pre-K, including structural and process dimensions of quality such as student–teacher and student–student classroom interactions.</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-13">The early childhood education rating scale-revised edition</hd> <p>The ECERS-R (Harms, Clifford, & Cryer, 2004) is a 43-item scale to rate ECEC programs across dimensions of quality, including space and furnishings, personal care routines, language and literacy, learning activities, interaction, and program structure. Items yield a score between 1–7, with 1, 3, 5, and 7 indicating "inadequate", "minimal", "good", or "excellent" quality. For the ECERS-R, a single classroom was rated at each provider, randomly selected on the morning of assessment. ECERS-R subscales have a high reported internal consistency of 0.95 (Snow et al., [<reflink idref="bib46" id="ref57">46</reflink>]) and demonstrate adequate reliability and validity to be used in both quality assurance and research, including inter-rater reliability and convergent validity (Pianta et al., [<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref58">43</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-14">The classroom assessment scoring system</hd> <p>The CLASS (Pianta et al., [<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref59">43</reflink>]) is an observational measure of quality that consists of three composite measures of classroom quality: emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support, and focuses on the interactions between teachers and children. Each dimension is scored on a 1–7 scale. For all three dimensions, a score of 5 is considered the threshold for a "high-quality" program. For the CLASS, most or all classrooms at each UPK provider were assessed (NYC DOE, [<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref60">39</reflink>]). Findings indicate that the CLASS exhibits stable psychometric properties within classrooms across repeated observations, with high alpha coefficients (Neitzel, et al., [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref61">35</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-15">Analytical strategy</hd> <p>We first present the number and settings (DOE/NYCEEC) and enrollment of Pre-Ks located in each of the five NYC boroughs. We also report the percentage of the population who speak a language other than English and the percentage living in poverty for each borough. We examine the number and enrollment for programs that specifically support bilingual children (DL and ELS). Within each borough, we used <emph>t</emph>-tests and Pearson bivariate correlations to analyze the association between the percentage of LOTE speakers and the number of DL or ELS Pre-K programs reported in each census tract. Next, we examine program quality, as measured by the ECERS and CLASS scales, for all programs and separately by language supports offered by DL or ELS programs. We conduct ANCOVAs to determine the significance of differences in program quality across DL or ELS and all other Pre-K programs, controlling for poverty. Bonferroni corrections were used when testing the significance of multiple comparisons.</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-16">Results</hd> <p> <emph>We first investigated Research Question 1: What are the types of Pre-K programs that are available for emergent bilingual children and their families in each borough of NYC? Are Dual Language and ELS programs located in neighborhoods with higher percentages of LOTE-speaking families?</emph> A total of 1850 Pre-K programs were included in the study, which represent all programs offered across the five boroughs in 2018. The total number of Pre-K programs and the percentage of bilingual Pre-Ks in each borough were compared, as well as the number of children enrolled in each program type (see Table 1). Enrollment in bilingual Pre-K programs (DL and ELS) was far lower than the number of children who speak a language other than English in each borough.</p> <p>Table 1 Number and percentage of dual language and ELS programs in DOE/NYCEEC within each borough and enrollment</p> <p> <ephtml> <table frame="hsides" rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left"><p>Setting</p></th><th align="left"><p>Number (percent) of programs in borough</p></th><th align="left"><p>Number (percent) of children enrolled</p></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left" colspan="3"><p>BRONX-60% of population speak a language other than English at home (28% poverty)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> DOE</p></td><td align="left"><p>109 (30%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>4183 (28%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> DOE-Dual Lang</p></td><td align="left"><p>20 (6%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>957 (6%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> NYCEEC</p></td><td align="left"><p>197 (54%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>8271 (55%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> NYCEEC-Dual Lang</p></td><td align="left"><p>6 (2%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>467 (3%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> NYCEEC-ELS</p></td><td align="left"><p>30 (8%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>1171 (8%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> TOTAL BRONX PREKs</p></td><td align="left"><p>362</p></td><td align="left"><p>15049</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="3"><p>BROOKLYN-44% of population speak a language other than English at home (18% poverty)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> DOE</p></td><td align="left"><p>188 (30%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>7304 (32%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> DOE-Dual Lang</p></td><td align="left"><p>32 (5%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>1922 (8%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> NYCEEC</p></td><td align="left"><p>335 (54%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>10622 (47%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> NYCEEC-Dual Lang</p></td><td align="left"><p>8 (1%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>412 (2%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> NYCEEC-ELS</p></td><td align="left"><p>56 (9%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>2389 (11%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> TOTAL BROOKLYN PREKs</p></td><td align="left"><p>619</p></td><td align="left"><p>22649</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="3"><p>MANHATTAN-45% of population speak a language other than English at home (19% poverty)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> DOE</p></td><td align="left"><p>88 (34%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>3027 (40%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> DOE-Dual Lang</p></td><td align="left"><p>20 (8%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>749 (10%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> NYCEEC</p></td><td align="left"><p>125 (49%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>3008 (40%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> NYCEEC-Dual Lang</p></td><td align="left"><p>2 (1%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>109 (1%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> NYCEEC-ELS</p></td><td align="left"><p>21 (8%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>665 (9%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> TOTAL MANHATTAN PREKs</p></td><td align="left"><p>256</p></td><td align="left"><p>7558</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="3"><p>QUEENS-54% of population speak a language other than English at home (11% poverty)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> DOE</p></td><td align="left"><p>160 (32%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>6847 (35%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> DOE-Dual Lang</p></td><td align="left"><p>14 (3%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>752 (4%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> NYCEEC</p></td><td align="left"><p>280 (56%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>9698 (50%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> NYCEEC-Dual Lang</p></td><td align="left"><p>9 (2%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>464 (2%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> NYCEEC-ELS</p></td><td align="left"><p>33 (7%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>1699 (9%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> TOTAL QUEENS PREKs</p></td><td align="left"><p>496</p></td><td align="left"><p>19460</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="3"><p>STATEN ISLAND-40% of population speak a language other than English at home (10% poverty)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> DOE</p></td><td align="left"><p>42 (35%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>1626 (40%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> DOE-Dual Lang</p></td><td align="left"><p>4 (3%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>175 (4%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> NYCEEC</p></td><td align="left"><p>64 (54%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>1959 (49%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> NYCEEC-Dual Lang</p></td><td align="left"><p>0</p></td><td align="left"><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> NYCEEC-ELS</p></td><td align="left"><p>7 (6%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>273 (7%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> TOTAL STATEN ISLAND PREKs</p></td><td align="left"><p>117</p></td><td align="left"><p>4033</p></td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>In the Bronx (28% poverty rate), there are 15,049 children enrolled in 362 programs (1 program for every 42 enrolled children). Based on ACS data, approximately 9,029 (60%) of enrolled children in the Bronx speak a language other than English at home. Yet, only 2,592 children are enrolled in a DL or ELS program, which represents only 29% of emergent bilinguals. In Brooklyn (18% poverty rate), there are 22,649 children enrolled in 619 programs (1 program for every 37 enrolled children). Approximately 9,966 (44%) speak a language other than English at home, yet only 4,723 children are enrolled in DL or ELS programs, which represent 47% of emergent bilinguals. In Manhattan (19% poverty rate), there are 7,558 children enrolled in 256 programs (1 program for every 30 enrolled children). Approximately 3,401 (45%) speak a language other than English at home, yet only 1,523 children are enrolled in DL or ELS programs, which represents 45% of emergent bilinguals. In Queens (11% poverty rate), there are 19,460 children enrolled in 496 programs (1 program for every 39 enrolled children). Approximately 10,508 (54%) speak a language other than English at home, yet only 2,915 children are enrolled in DL or ELS programs, which represents 28% of emergent bilinguals. In Staten Island (10% poverty rate), there are 4,033 children enrolled in 117 programs (1 program for every 35 enrolled children). Approximately 1,613 (40%) speak a language other than English at home, yet only 448 children are enrolled in a DL or ELS program, which represents 33% of emergent bilinguals.</p> <p>Overall, across each borough, there is a wide range in the number of children enrolled in UPKs (4033–22,649) and a wide range in the number of programs (117–619). There is a similar percentage of programs in DOE settings (36–39%) and NYCEEC settings (58–65%) in each of these boroughs. Higher percentages of emergent bilingual children are enrolled in DL and ELS programs in Manhattan (45%) and Brooklyn (47%) than in the Bronx (29%), Queens (28%), and Staten Island (33%). Overall, across NYC, higher percentages of emergent bilingual children are enrolled in NYCEECs (59%) than in DOE (41%) settings.</p> <p>Next, we analyzed the percentage of LOTE speakers in each census tract within each of the five boroughs. We found wide variation in the percentage of LOTE speakers, ranging from 4% in some census tracts to 95% in others. Using <emph>t</emph>-tests to evaluate access to DL Pre-K programs, we compared the percentage of LOTE speakers with the number of DL Pre-K programs. In most boroughs there was not a significant relationship in the percentage of LOTE children and Pre-Ks that had DL programs than those that did not. Only in Manhattan was there a significant relationship between the mean level of LOTEs in Pre-Ks with DL programs (<emph>M</emph> = 0.557 <emph>SD</emph> = 0.147) than those without (<emph>M</emph> = 0.438 <emph>SD</emph> = 0.160), <emph>t</emph>(<reflink idref="bib254" id="ref62">254</reflink>) = − 3.350 <emph>p</emph> < 0.001.</p> <p>We repeated the t-test analyses with the percentage of speakers of a language other than English (LOTE) in each census tract at Pre-Ks with Enhanced Language Support (ELS) programs. In Brooklyn, there was a significant relationship between the mean level of LOTEs in Pre-Ks with ELS programs (<emph>M</emph> = 0.627 <emph>SD</emph> = 0.198) than those without (<emph>M</emph> = 0.420 <emph>SD</emph> = 0.217), <emph>t</emph>(<reflink idref="bib617" id="ref63">617</reflink>) = −6.838 <emph>p</emph> < 0.001. In Queens, there was a significant relationship between the mean level of LOTEs in neighborhoods with ELS programs (<emph>M</emph> = 0.698 <emph>SD</emph> = 0.166) and those without (<emph>M</emph> = 0.527 <emph>SD</emph> = 0.216), <emph>t</emph>(<reflink idref="bib494" id="ref64">494</reflink>) = −5.601 <emph>p</emph> < 0.001.</p> <p>Next, we conducted Pearson correlations to test the association between school districts with high populations of LOTE speakers and Pre-K with bilingual programs. There were no significant correlations between Pre-Ks with DL programs and the percentage of LOTE speakers in any of the NYC school districts except one in Brooklyn, District 32 (<emph>r</emph> = 0.36 <emph>p</emph>. < 0.05); which includes a high percentage of LOTE speakers (> 50%) and almost half of the Pre-Ks have bilingual programs. There were no significant correlations between the number of ELS Pre-K programs and the percentage of LOTE speakers in most of the NYC districts except seven: Districts 3 (<emph>r</emph> = 0.39 <emph>p</emph>. < 0.01) and 11 (<emph>r</emph> = −0.27 <emph>p</emph>. < 0.05) in Manhattan, 12 in the Bronx (<emph>r</emph> = 0.40 <emph>p</emph>. < 0.01), 20 in Brooklyn (<emph>r</emph> =.30 <emph>p</emph>. < 0.01), 21 (<emph>r</emph> = 0.25 <emph>p</emph>. < 0.05), 24 (<emph>r</emph> = 0.32 <emph>p</emph>. < 0.05) and 32 (<emph>r</emph> = 0.50 <emph>p</emph>. <.01) in Brooklyn, and District 24 in Queens (<emph>r</emph> = 0.32 <emph>p</emph>. < 0.01). Overall, in only 6 of the 32 school districts, there is a positive significant correlation between the number of ELS programs and percentage of LOTE speakers.</p> <p> <emph>Next, we investigated Research Question 2: How does the quality of bilingual Pre-K programs compare with other Pre-K programs in each borough of NYC?</emph> We analyzed the level of quality in each of the different program types (no language support, ELS, and DL) across each of the five boroughs (see Table 2). There were no significant differences in any of the subscales of the CLASS in each program type across the different boroughs. For the ECERS, there were several significant differences between programs.</p> <p>Table 2 Means and analysis of variance (ANCOVAs) for quality measures (CLASS & ECERS) for each borough and program type</p> <p> <ephtml> <table frame="hsides" rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left"><p>Program type</p></th><th align="left"><p>CLASS emotional support</p></th><th align="left"><p>CLASS classroom organization</p></th><th align="left"><p>CLASS instructional support</p></th><th align="left"><p>ECERS observation average</p></th><th align="left"><p>ECERS language reasoning</p></th><th align="left"><p>ECERS interaction</p></th><th align="left"><p>ECERS activities</p></th><th align="left"><p>ECERS personal care routines</p></th><th align="left"><p>ECERS Space and furnishings</p></th><th align="left"><p>ECERS program structure</p></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left" colspan="11"><p>Bronx</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> No Home Language Program</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.30</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.14</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.11</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.03</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.17</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.05</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.33</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.57</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.80*</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.47</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Enhanced Language Support</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.29</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.11</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.28</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.99</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.88</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.06</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.23</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.73</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.70</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.57</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Dual Language Program</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.34</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.22</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.85</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.83</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.00</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.85</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.24</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.37</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.42*</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.38</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Total</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.30</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.14</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.11</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.01</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.13</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.03</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.31</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.57</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.77</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.47</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="11"><p>Brooklyn</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> No Home Language Program</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.35</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.14</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.25</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.14***</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.20*</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.10***</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.47</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.69***</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.81**</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.81*</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Enhanced Language Support</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.45</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.34</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.40</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.53***</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.56*</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.74***</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.77</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.19***</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.07**</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.29*</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Dual Language Program</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.46</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.26</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.29</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.09</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.19</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.18</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.36</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.62***</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.76</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.71</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Total</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.37</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.17</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.27</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.17</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.23</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.17</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.49</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.73</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.83</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.84</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="11"><p>Manhattan</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> No Home Language Program</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.36</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.17</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.95</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.98</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.96</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.09</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.16</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.71</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.64</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.76</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Enhanced Language Support</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.23</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.97</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.96</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.04</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.85</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.38</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.06</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.06*</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.63</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.79</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Dual Language Program</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.47</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.31</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.11</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.89</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.98</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.67</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.26</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.47*</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.52</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.78</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Total</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.36</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.16</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.97</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.98</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.95</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.07</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.16</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.72</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.63</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.77</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="11"><p>Queens</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> No Home Language Program</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.50</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.33</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.11</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.47</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.47</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.26*</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.97</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.88</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.16</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.25</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Enhanced Language Support</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.47</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.29</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.08</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.68</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.68</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.80*</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.01</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.10</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.39</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.43</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Dual Language Program</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.57</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.54</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.98</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.60</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.66</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.37</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.24</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.11</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.28</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.82</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Total</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.50</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.34</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.10</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.49</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.49</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.30</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.99</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.91</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.18</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.24</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left" colspan="11"><p>Staten Island</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> No Home Language Program</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.46</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.24</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.06</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.33</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.27</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.40</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.70</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.52</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.91</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.65</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Enhanced Language Support</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.23</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.00</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.36</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.39</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.10</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.77</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.86</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.06*</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.69</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.97</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Dual Language Program</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.47</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.33</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.47</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.28</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.63</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.05</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.73</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>1.85*</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.88</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.13</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p> Total</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.44</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>6.22</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.99</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.33</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.27</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>5.41</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.71</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>2.53</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>3.90</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>4.63</p></td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>Significantly different from one another at the *<emph> p</emph> = 05, **<emph>p</emph> ≤.05 level or ***<emph> p</emph> ≤.01 level</p> <p>In the Bronx, programs with no home language support had significantly higher ECERS Space and Furnishing average scores (<emph>M</emph> = 3.804 <emph>SD</emph> = 0.656) than DL programs [<emph>F</emph>(2352) = 4.346, <emph>p</emph> = 0.014]. In Brooklyn, ELS programs had significantly higher ECERS Observation average scores (<emph>M</emph> = 4.529 <emph>SD</emph> = 0.5493) [<emph>F</emph>(2597) = 6.937, <emph>p</emph> = 0.001], Interaction (<emph>M</emph> = 5.735 <emph>SD</emph> = 0.8202) [<emph>F</emph>(<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref65">2</reflink>,<reflink idref="bib597" id="ref66">597</reflink>) = 5.215, <emph>p</emph> = 0.006], Personal Care Routines (<emph>M</emph> = 3.185 <emph>SD</emph> = 0.1.1380) [<emph>F</emph>(2597) = 8.433, <emph>p</emph> <.001], Space and Furnishing (<emph>M</emph> = 4.06<emph>9 SD</emph> = 0.6880) [<emph>F</emph>(2597) = 3.205, <emph>p</emph> = 0.041]; and borderline significantly higher for Language Reasoning (<emph>M</emph> = 5.560 <emph>SD</emph> = 0.7685) [<emph>F</emph>(2597) = 2.891, <emph>p</emph> = 0.056], and Program Structures (<emph>M</emph> = 4.285 <emph>SD</emph> = 0.1.302) [<emph>F</emph>(<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref67">2</reflink>,<reflink idref="bib597" id="ref68">597</reflink>) = 2.975, <emph>p</emph> = 0.052], than programs with no home language support. In Manhattan, ELS programs had significantly higher ECERS Personal Care Routines average scores (<emph>M</emph> = 3.057 <emph>SD</emph> = 0.6079) [<emph>F</emph>(2248) = 4.269, <emph>p</emph> = 0.015] than DL programs. In Queens, ELS programs had significantly higher ECERS Interaction average scores (<emph>M</emph> = 5.800 <emph>SD</emph> = 0.8832) [<emph>F</emph>(2488) = 1.501, <emph>p</emph> = 0.048] than programs with no home language support. In Staten Island, ELS programs had significantly higher Personal Care Routines average scores (<emph>M</emph> = 3.057 <emph>SD</emph> = 0.1.302) [<emph>F</emph>(2113) = 3.807, <emph>p</emph> = 0.025] than DL programs. Overall, ELS programs demonstrated higher levels of quality in several subscales in most boroughs, except the Bronx.</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-17">Discussion</hd> <p>The purpose of this study was to identify the various types, availability, and quality of Pre-K programs and analyze access to bilingual programs across different boroughs and neighborhoods in NYC. Recent studies have shown that children under 5 in the U.S. are increasingly diverse, yet Pre-Ks tend to be more racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically segregated than K-12 schools (Fuller & Leibovitz, [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref69">13</reflink>]). Furthermore, there is a lack of reporting and data representing emergent bilinguals, who are the largest marginalized Pre-K population. Our findings provide an in-depth overview of the NYC Pre-K programs that offer home language support for emergent bilingual children and their families. From our analyses, we were able to evaluate gaps in access to appropriate and high-quality early childhood education opportunities that multilingual families face, depending on the neighborhood and borough in which they live.</p> <p>Our findings suggest the presence of systemic barriers to access to high-quality UPK programs with support for home languages other than English. These barriers include an insufficient number of bilingual programs due to a lack of systematic planning related to Pre-K policy to meet community needs. Overall, the enrollment in bilingual Pre-K programs (DL and ELS) was far lower than the number of children who speak a language other than English enrolled in Pre-K in each borough. Our findings demonstrate that in most cases, neighborhoods with higher percentages of LOTE-speaking families do not have a significantly higher number of bilingual Pre-Ks than neighborhoods with lower percentages of LOTE-speaking families. Among children who speak a language other than English at home, less than half are enrolled in bilingual programs. Higher percentages of bilingual children were enrolled in bilingual programs (DL and ELS) in Manhattan (45%) and Brooklyn (47%) than in the Bronx (29%), Queens (28%), and Staten Island (33%). Access to home language support in DOE Pre-Ks with DL programs tends to be concentrated in district schools in Manhattan. Emergent bilinguals in other boroughs with lower levels of household income were most often supported by ELS in community-based Pre-Ks. In Brooklyn and Queens, there was a significant relationship between neighborhoods (census tracts) that had a higher average of LOTE speakers with access to a Pre-K program with ELS. However, in most boroughs (besides Manhattan), there was not a significant difference in the percentage of LOTE children in neighborhoods with Pre-Ks that had DL programs than those that did not. This indicates that the schools that offer DL programs are not necessarily located in neighborhoods with the highest percentage of LOTE households.</p> <p>These findings reveal inequities in access to Pre-K programs that are capable of supporting the unique needs of a diverse population. The early childhood education environment plays a critical role in supporting children's language development and school readiness (Dearing et al., [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref70">9</reflink>]). Pre-K programs provide many important supports to young children and families that extend the environment of the home, which is particularly important to families living in poverty with fewer resources. Furthermore, Pre-K is more than an extension of the home, serving as a transitional space between home and school to introduce important developmental and school readiness skills.</p> <p>An additional concern is when emergent bilingual children attend English-only Pre-K programs, they are less likely to enroll in the more established bilingual K-6 programs which have been demonstrated to be most effective in supporting emergent bilinguals' language development and academic achievement (Hammer et al., [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref71">16</reflink>]; Morell, [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref72">29</reflink>]). If there is not support for the home language in the early education opportunities provided to emergent bilingual children, they may continue in English-only, monolingual school programs which could further exacerbate gaps in academic, cognitive, and social-emotional development. Bilingual programs have not been consistently provided at the Pre-K level as a result of multiple systemic and structural barriers. Many Pre-Ks do not formally test preschoolers' language proficiency until kindergarten, and schools do not ask parents about their language backgrounds. Also, multi-delivery systems are managed by multiple different agencies, and there is not a unified policy for screening, enrollment, and accommodations for diverse learners at the preschool level, resulting in emergent bilinguals not receiving the same intensive language supports afforded to older students.</p> <p>Research has shown high-quality Pre-K programs are associated with stronger language, literacy, and math skills, particularly for low-income, immigrant children (Nores et al., [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref73">37</reflink>]). This study contributes to the literature by revealing disparities in the quality of bilingual Pre-K programs that are aimed at serving these populations. In some boroughs, differences were more significant, particularly in Brooklyn, where Pre-K classroom quality across DL and ELS programs was found to be higher than programs without home language support across multiple quality dimensions of the ECERS. It is encouraging that ELS programs, particularly in Brooklyn, were found to have higher quality than programs without home language support. These findings of higher quality among specific reported dimensions in ELS programs offered at NYCEECs programs may be more reflective of the demographics of the community versus the public DOE Pre-K programs (Long et al., [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref74">26</reflink>]). This also could be related to the lower range of poverty rates across certain neighborhoods in Brooklyn and more established ELS programs. Pre-K teachers in the community-based centers, more so than DOE Pre-Ks, reflect the cultures, languages, and backgrounds of the children in their classrooms. Overall, ELS programs demonstrated higher levels of quality in several subscales in most boroughs, except the Bronx. This could be related to higher overall rates of poverty across the borough of the Bronx. Research has demonstrated that low-income neighborhoods typically have less access to high-quality Pre-K, which reinforces disparities between lower and higher-income children (Kagan, [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref75">20</reflink>]).</p> <p>Although NYC Pre-K for All has vastly increased enrollment, it has also created disparate access to programs that meet the needs of the families they serve. Most of these disparities exist within a segregated system of inequitable access to high-quality programs for families, often based on location and different opportunities across the five boroughs. Documented structural inequities between district public and NYCEEC programs have been attributed to differences in budget, staffing, quality, district support, and teacher experience and training (Reid et al., [<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref76">45</reflink>]), and race/ethnicity (Fuller & Leibovitz, [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref77">13</reflink>]; Latham et al., [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref78">24</reflink>]). The present study further documents these inequities in access to bilingual programs that support the home languages of the families they serve.</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-18">Limitations</hd> <p>The present study was limited in the type of available data regarding race, ethnicity, and home languages. Many states, such as New York, with high populations of emergent bilingual children, do not report the home language of children enrolled in their state-funded preschool programs. Reporting information on children's home language would allow a more precise measurement of how many emergent bilinguals are enrolled in preschool programs and increase a better understanding and access.</p> <p>Furthermore, the widely used observation tools of quality (e.g., ECERS and CLASS) do not measure how language and culture can influence interactions and relationships (Buysse et al., [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref79">5</reflink>]) and fail to measure staff stability and communication with families. Although these measures are widely used, they lack the sensitivity and cultural responsiveness to accurately measure quality (Weiland & Rosada, [<reflink idref="bib52" id="ref80">52</reflink>]). Additional measures of evaluation of the quality of programs that measure the effectiveness of different language support strategies must be considered to inform future policy decisions. Evidence-based decisions should be used to guide the instruction and support services that emergent bilinguals need in early childhood programs. Language practices in bilingual Pre-Ks, as well as other programs in high LOTE neighborhoods, need to be researched and analyzed for how to best support children's language development. Findings from this study are an important first step towards better understanding the current programmatic landscape and its relation to access, which could inform future policy decisions. Future research should also include qualitative data and interviews of multiple ECEC shareholders, such as teachers and parents.</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-19">Policy recommendations</hd> <p>Federal and state funding and initiatives to offer universal Pre-K programs have, in many ways, expanded access to early childhood education and care. Though expansion has resulted in many states and cities utilizing a multi-delivery system of public schools and community-based organizations, which has created a system of programs that differ greatly in the service, supports, instruction, and levels of quality they provide. Within a system that is managed by separate agencies, populations that may benefit most from high-quality preschool programs, including emergent bilingual and immigrant children, do not have equitable access to Pre-K programs (Friedman-Krauss et al., [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref81">12</reflink>]).</p> <p>To better support bilingual children in NYC Pre-Ks, several policy initiatives could be considered. These initiatives should aim to promote and support linguistic and cultural diversity, enhance language development, and create a more inclusive and equitable early childhood education system. These include ongoing expansion of bilingual programs and home language support within existing Pre-K programs. Currently, only a small percentage of NYC Pre-Ks offer bilingual programs; this number must be significantly increased to support the multiple languages and diverse language needs of the city's population. This expansion must be prioritized in neighborhoods with high concentrations of non-English-speaking families. Relatedly, additional support is needed to increase workforce development, specifically to support emergent bilingual children and open certification pathways to expand bilingual Pre-K programs and access.</p> <p>Secondly, critical improvements are needed in data collection, reporting, and evaluation, which include transparency and access to disaggregated data. There have been many changes to ECEC since the pandemic, with changing administrations and funding, that are important to understand. The collection and access of more recent data should include reporting the language support, use, and developmental as well as academic outcomes of bilingual students in Pre-K programs. Foremost, at a basic level, all children's home languages should be collected and reported for all Pre-Ks in order to effectively inform programmatic approaches and support emergent bilingual children in their care. This would allow families and researchers to better understand available options and existing characteristics of each program.</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-20">Conclusion</hd> <p>This research aims to deepen our understanding of available Pre-K programs in NYC and access to programs with home language support for young emergent bilingual children. In summary, many emergent bilingual children do not have access to Pre-K programs with established bilingual programs. Our findings demonstrated that only a few of the bilingual Pre-K program locations are significantly correlated to the percentage of LOTE children in the Pre-K neighborhoods. NYC is providing DL programs to neighborhoods with high proportions of bilinguals only in Manhattan and meeting the need in other boroughs through ELS. While this study found that ELS programs in Brooklyn had higher quality ratings than non-ELS programs, additional discrepancies were found across boroughs in the type, number, and quality of Pre-K programs in each borough. Higher quality programs that meet the unique needs of emergent bilingual children and their families are not equitably accessible. State and federally funded ECEC initiatives are an important social investment and lever for addressing inequities; however, access to these programs must better support and match the characteristics of the children and families they serve.</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-21">Acknowledgements</hd> <p>Not applicable.</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-22">Author contributions</hd> <p>All contributions from the single author submitting.</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-23">Funding</hd> <p>Not applicable.</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-24">Data availability</hd> <p>All data are publicly available.</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-25">Declarations</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0188318827-26">Ethics approval and consent to participate</hd> <p>Not applicable.</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-27">Consent for publication</hd> <p>Not applicable.</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-28">Competing interests</hd> <p>Not applicable.</p> <hd id="AN0188318827-29">Publisher's Note</hd> <p>Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.</p> <ref id="AN0188318827-30"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref11" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Barnett WS, Votruba-Drzal E, Dearing E, Carolan ME. 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Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Access, Quality, and Home Language Support for Emergent Bilingual Children in NYC's Universal Pre-K Programs
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
  Group: Lang
  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Brian+A%2E+Collins%22">Brian A. Collins</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4359-5847">0000-0002-4359-5847</externalLink>)
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22International+Journal+of+Child+Care+and+Education+Policy%22"><i>International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy</i></searchLink>. 2025 19.
– Name: Avail
  Label: Availability
  Group: Avail
  Data: Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
– Name: PeerReviewed
  Label: Peer Reviewed
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: Y
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 17
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2025
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
– Name: Audience
  Label: Education Level
  Group: Audnce
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Early+Childhood+Education%22">Early Childhood Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Preschool+Education%22">Preschool Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Elementary+Education%22">Elementary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Kindergarten%22">Kindergarten</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Primary+Education%22">Primary Education</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+Usage%22">Language Usage</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Preschool+Education%22">Preschool Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Kindergarten%22">Kindergarten</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Bilingual+Students%22">Bilingual Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Bilingual+Education%22">Bilingual Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22English+Learners%22">English Learners</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Family+Environment%22">Family Environment</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Access+to+Education%22">Access to Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Geographic+Regions%22">Geographic Regions</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Immigrants%22">Immigrants</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Urban+Areas%22">Urban Areas</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22New+York+%28New+York%29%22">New York (New York)</searchLink>
– Name: SubjectThesaurus
  Label: Assessment and Survey Identifiers
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SU" term="%22Classroom+Assessment+Scoring+System%22">Classroom Assessment Scoring System</searchLink>
– Name: DOI
  Label: DOI
  Group: ID
  Data: 10.1186/s40723-025-00159-w
– Name: ISSN
  Label: ISSN
  Group: ISSN
  Data: 1976-5681<br />2288-6729
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: 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.
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  Data: As Provided
– Name: DateEntry
  Label: Entry Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2025
– Name: AN
  Label: Accession Number
  Group: ID
  Data: EJ1488773
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=EJ1488773
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1186/s40723-025-00159-w
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 17
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Language Usage
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Preschool Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Kindergarten
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Bilingual Students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Bilingual Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: English Learners
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Family Environment
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Access to Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Geographic Regions
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Immigrants
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Urban Areas
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: New York (New York)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Classroom Assessment Scoring System
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Access, Quality, and Home Language Support for Emergent Bilingual Children in NYC's Universal Pre-K Programs
        Type: main
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            NameFull: Brian A. Collins
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            – D: 01
              M: 12
              Type: published
              Y: 2025
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 1976-5681
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              Value: 2288-6729
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              Value: 19
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            – TitleFull: International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy
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