Rob Grunewald Economist Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Early Childhood Native American Language Immersion Programs A Promising Approach to School Preparation, Economic Opportunity and Language Preservation NCAI Tribal Leaders Forum St. Paul, Minnesota June 30, 2015
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Rob Grunewald Economist Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Early Childhood Native American Language Immersion Programs
A Promising Approach to School Preparation, Economic Opportunity and Language Preservation
NCAI Tribal Leaders Forum
St. Paul, Minnesota June 30, 2015
Research shows that high-quality early childhood education has a positive impact on children’s school performance and provides the foundation for future workforce skills. Consistent with this research, early childhood Native American language immersion programs have the potential to help children prepare for school and life as well as support efforts to increase the number of Native language speakers. When implemented with sufficient resources and high quality, early language immersion programs seem to support the goals of school preparation and future workforce skills as well as Native language preservation without downside risk to any of these outcomes.
Benefit-Cost Ratios for Other Longitudinal Studies
• Abecedarian Educational Child Care
– $4 to $1
• Chicago-Child Parent – $10 to $1
• Elmira Prenatal/Early Infancy Project
– $5 to $1
Sources: Masse & Barnett (2002); Reynolds, Temple, White, Ou & Robertson (2011); Karoly et al. (1998)
Lessons Learned from Research
• Invest in quality
• Involve parents
• Start early
• Reach vulnerable children and families
• Bring to scale
• Preschool or kindergarten classes connected with an
elementary school or full K-12 program.
• “Language nest” programs for infants, toddlers and preschoolers where Native language is spoken by adults and children.
Early Childhood Native American Language Immersion Programs
• School preparation and success
• Economic opportunity through stronger workforce skills
• Native language preservation
Promise of Early Childhood Native American Language Immersion Programs
Sources
Dong, M., Giles, W., Felitti, V.J., Dube, S.R., Williams, J.E., Chapman, D.P., & Anda, R.F. (2004). “Insights into causal pathways for ischemic heart disease: Adverse Childhood Experiences Study.” Circulation 110, 1761–1766. Fortune, T.W. and Tedick, D.J. (2008). One-Way, Two-Way and Indigenous Immersion: A Call for Cross-Fertilization. Pathways to Multilingualism: Evolving Perspectives on Immersion Education, Ed. Fortune, T.W. and Tedick, D.J. The Cromwell Press Ltd. Hart, B., & Risley, T.R. (1995). Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children. Baltimore: Paul H. Brooks Publishing Co. Heckman, J. J., Moon, S.H., Pinto, R., Savelyez, P., & Yavitz, A. (2010). “The Rate of Return to the HighScope Perry Preschool Program.” Journal of Public Economics 94(1-2), 114-28. Karoly, L.A., Greenwood, P.W., Everingham, S.S., Hoube, J., Kilburn, M.R., Rydell et al. (1998). Investing in Our Children: What We Know and Don’t Know About the Costs and Benefits of Early Childhood Interventions. Santa Monica, Cal.: RAND Corporation. Masse, L.N., & Barnett, W.S. (2002). A Benefit-Cost Analysis of the Abecedarian Early Childhood Intervention. New Brunswick, N.J.: National Institute for Early Education Research.
Sources
Nelson, C.A. (2000). Neural Plasticity and Human Development: The Role of Early Experience in Sculpting Memory Systems. Developmental Science 3, 115-130. Pease-Pretty On Top, J. (2002). Bringing Thunder. Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education. Vol 14, No.1. Reynolds, A.J., Temple, J.A., Robertson, D.L., & Mann, E.A. (2002). “Age 21 Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Title I Chicago Child-Parent Centers.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 4(24), 267-303. Schweinhart, L.J., Montie, J., Xiang, Z., Barnett, W.S., Belfield, C.R., & Nores, M. (2005). Lifetime Effects: The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study Through Age 40. Ypsilanti, Mich.: High-Scope Press. Wilson, W.H. and Kamana, K. (2011). Insights from Indigenous Language Immersion in Hawai’i. Immersion Education: Practices, Policies, Possibilities, Ed. Tedick, D.J., Christian, D. and Fortune, W.F. Short Run Press Ltd.