Interim Guidance for Identifying DLLs in CSPP

Early Education Division Email

Date Sent: August 26, 2024

Expires: Until Superseded by a Management Bulletin

Attention: Executive Directors and Program Directors of all California State Preschool Programs (CSPP) 

The Legislature has recently passed two bills that affect the way dual language learners (DLLs) are identified in California State Preschool Programs (CSPPs), which are:

• Assembly Bill (AB) 393 (Chapter 435, Statutes of 2023), signed by the Governor October 8, 2023
  
• AB 2268 (Chapter 15, Statutes of 2024), signed by the Governor on June 14, 2024
  

Due to certain provisions in AB 393 explained in further detail below, the Early Education Division (EED) at the California Department of Education (CDE) will wait to release a revised and rescinded Management Bulletin (MB) 23-03 for the CSPP until late summer or early fall. In the meantime, CSPP contractors are required to use this interim guidance, in conjunction with MB 23-03 where applicable, to identify and collect data on DLLs including multilingual learners, language characteristics of preschool programs, and language composition of program staff. This MB can be accessed at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/mb2303.asp.

Directives for Contractors

The following interim guidance applies to CSPP only.

Contractor Requirements

Effective January 1, 2024, completing the family language instrument and participating in the family language and interest interview is no longer a condition of enrollment.

This means that families are allowed to opt-out of completing the Family Language Instrument and or participating in the Family Language and Interest Interview; however, contractors are still required to report data on these children into the Preschool Language Information System (PLIS) Report either as a non-DLL or DLL through Teacher Designation.

In the event a parent chooses not to answer questions in the Family Language Instrument, the child will be identified as “not a DLL.” If within 30 calendar days from the date of enrollment through child observations, the child demonstrates they speak, respond to, or understand a language other than English, the contractor must meet and share these documented child observations with the family and review the DLL identification process and the Family Language Instrument to ensure proper designation. During this meeting, the CDE recommends contractors share the benefits of multilingualism and home language development, share that proper designation can support the program in supporting the child and their English and home language development, clarify that this designation is specific to CSPP and will not apply in elementary school and beyond, and address any other hesitations or concerns they might have around the process. If after meeting with the parent or guardian to ensure proper designation, the parent or guardian still chooses not to update their answers to the Family Language Instrument or to complete the Family Language Instrument, the child’s teacher may designate the child as a DLL through a Teacher Designation.

Teacher Designation can only occur after 30 calendar days and after meeting with the parent or guardian.

Note that, for the purposes of guidance on DLL identification (this email, MB 23-03, and answers to frequently asked questions about serving children who are DLLs), the date of enrollment from which to measure 30 calendar days is as follows:

• Part-Day Enrollment: the first day the child is scheduled to receive CSPP services.

• Full-Day Enrollment: the date that the contractor certifies the family for CSPP services.

• Pilot Counties: If you are a provider participating in an approved pilot plan that includes the 120-day Certification of Eligibility for Full-Day CSPP pilot flexibility, use the part-day definition of enrollment for your program. If you are unsure of your pilot status or unsure if this pilot flexibility is part of your county’s pilot plan, please reach out to your Program Quality Implementation (PQI) office Regional Consultant.
  

As a reminder, if Teacher Designation is used, contractors must include the following in the family file:

1. Written observations for how the child has demonstrated they speak, respond to, or understand a language other than English.
   
2. Documentation from conversation with the family about their responses to the Family Language Instrument.

For children identified as a DLL through Teacher Designation, contractors should attempt to obtain and document responses to Questions 4, 6, 7, and 8 from the Family Language and Interest Interview within 30 calendar days of designation as these responses are still required to be reported into the PLIS or the California Preschool Data Collection (CAPSDAC) system, as applicable.

The CDE recommends the following:

• Reassuring and addressing parents or guardians concerned about the implications of answering these questions and about DLL identification in preschool. The goal is to create interactions with parents and families and provide opportunities to strengthen the relationship between the program and family.

• Following the best practices on Teacher Designation found in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) webpage, which can be accessed at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/dllfaqs.asp.

• Reviewing the Purpose and Framing and Instruction sections found in both the Family Language Instrument and Family Language and Interest Interview as these documents offer additional context and supports for both contractors and parents or guardians, which can be accessed at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/csppdlltools.asp.

• Following the best practices on Teacher Designation found in the FAQs page located on the DLL Support webpage which can be accessed at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/dllsupport.asp.

CSPP Contract and Eligibility

As a result of AB 393, state law now prohibits CSPP contracts from being affected as a result of a parent or guardian declining to complete the Family Language Instrument or participate in the Family Language and Interest Interview.

State law also now clarifies that a child's eligibility for CSPP is not affected by a parent or guardian declining to complete the Family Language Instrument or participate in the Family Language and Interest Interview.

Previous Designation of a Child

AB 393 includes provisions that would allow a CSPP contractor to use the previous designation of child as a DLL by a General Childcare and Development (CCTR) program or Migrant Childcare and Development (CMIG) to identify the child as a DLL. The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) will provide their own guidance for their CCTR and CMIG programs. CDE plans to release guidance on how CCTR and CMIG designation under the new process can be used in CSPP in early fall after CDSS releases their guidance.

Dually Enrolled Transitional Kindergarten Children

Effective June 14, 2024, AB 2268 amends California Education Code (EC) Section 60810(b) to exempt Transitional Kindergarten (TK) students from both the Initial English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) or the Alternative ELPAC and the summative ELPAC/Alternate ELPAC.

As a result, for TK children that are dually enrolled in CSPP for Extended Learning and Care around their TK program day (under the provisions of EC 48000[l]), until further notice, contractors must conduct the Family Language Instrument to determine the DLL status of the child enrolled in CSPP. Using English learner status for DLL identification of those enrolled in both CSPP and TK is no longer an option.

However, dually enrolled kindergarten children may still use their ELPAC scores for their DLL designation.

Data Reporting

PLIS (Non-Local Educational Agency [LEA] CSPP contractors)

If a family opts out of the Family Language Instrument the value: “11/11/1111” shall be reported in the Date of Instrument field in the PLIS Report. This value cannot be used for any purpose other than to demonstrate that the family has opted out of the Family Language Instrument.

CAPSDAC (LEA CSPP contractors)

Users of the CAPSDAC System will also need to input the value “11/11/1111” in the Date of Instrument field in the CAPSDAC Monthly Data Submission if a family opts out of the Family Language Instrument. This value cannot be used for any purposes other than to demonstrate that the family has opted out of the Family Language Instrument.

Resources

If you have programmatic questions regarding the information in this email, please contact your assigned EED PQI Office Regional Consultant. The CDE, EED Consultant Regional Assignments Directory web page can be located at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/assignments.asp.