Why Bilingual Staff Matter in Head Start: Language Access

Image

Why Bilingual Staff Matter in Head Start: Language Access, Family Engagement and Child Development

For a young child learning English while developing another language, being able to communicate with a teacher in their home language can make an enormous difference.

The same is true for parents.

When families can speak directly with their child's teachers, understand information about their child's education and participate in their Head Start program in a language they understand, they have greater opportunities to support their child's learning.

That's why bilingual staff in Head Start are about much more than translation.

Bilingual teachers and other bilingual educators can support children's learning, strengthen teacher-child relationships, improve family engagement and help ensure that dual language learners (DLLs) have meaningful access to Head Start.

This is particularly important because 7.1 million young children ages 0–5 in the United States are dual language learners, representing about 33% of children in this age group.

And in Head Start, DLLs make up a substantial share of enrollment.

The Children's Equity Project's report Preserving Access and Opportunity in Head Start for Children Who Are Dual Language Learners examines why bilingual staff have been part of Head Start standards for decades, and why language access is essential to high-quality early childhood education.

What Is a Bilingual Staff Member?

A bilingual staff member is an educator or other Head Start employee who can communicate effectively in English and another language used by children and families in the program.

In Head Start, bilingual staff can include:

• Teachers
• Teacher aides
• Family engagement staff
• Program administrators
• Consultants
• Other early childhood professionals

Their role can extend well beyond translating information.

A bilingual teacher may speak with a child in their home language, help a child understand classroom instructions, communicate with parents about their child's development, support family participation and help educators understand a family's cultural and linguistic background.

For DLLs, these interactions can be foundational to learning.

Why Does Head Start Need Bilingual Staff?

The simplest answer is access.

If a child or parent cannot understand the language being used by the adults providing an educational service, their ability to participate in that service is limited.

The CEP report explains that requiring exclusively English-language services can deny DLLs equal access to instruction, curriculum, accurate assessment and teacher-child relationships.

The same principle applies to families.

Parents need to understand information about:

• Their child's development
• Classroom activities
• Health and safety
• Family services
• Parent leadership opportunities
• Special education and early intervention
• Kindergarten transitions
• Family engagement activities

When families cannot access that information in a language they understand, they may be less able to participate fully.

Language access is therefore an educational equity issue.

Head Start Has Required Bilingual Staff for Decades

Bilingual staff requirements aren't new to Head Start.

The federal government's first Head Start regulatory standards in 1975 included provisions for bilingual staff serving children who spoke languages other than English.

The standards specified that when a majority of children spoke a language other than English, at least one teacher or aide regularly interacting with the children should speak their language.

The report notes that this approach was sustained through eight presidential administrations—four Republican and four Democratic administrations.

This history matters.

Bilingual staffing has long been understood as a practical part of providing effective early learning to children and families who speak languages other than English.

Bilingual Teachers Help Children Learn

Young children learn through relationships.

Especially during infancy and toddlerhood, development depends heavily on responsive, back-and-forth interactions with adults.

Children communicate through:

• Words
• Gestures
• Facial expressions
• Sounds
• Movement
• Play

Adults observe those signals and respond.

These "serve and return" interactions help support communication, cognitive development, emotional understanding, social skills and self-regulation.

For a dual language learner, those interactions can be more difficult when the adult and child don't share a common language.

A bilingual educator can communicate directly with the child in the language they understand.

That can help the child:

• Express their needs
• Ask questions
• Participate in classroom activities
• Build relationships
• Understand expectations
• Develop language skills
• Demonstrate what they know

The ability to communicate isn't separate from learning. It is one of the foundations of learning.

Bilingual Staff Support Home Language Development

Research reviewed in the CEP report finds that DLLs need both continued development of their home language and systematic exposure to English. Children benefit from exposure to both.

This means bilingual teachers aren't simply helping children communicate in their first language.

They can help create an environment where children can continue developing their home language while learning English.

The 2016 Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS) require research-based teaching strategies focused on home language development for infants and toddlers and dual language education for preschoolers, including instruction in English and children's home languages.

Bilingual staff can make those practices possible in everyday classroom interactions.

Bilingual Teachers Can Support English Language Development

Some people assume that using a child's home language will reduce their opportunities to learn English.

The research reviewed by CEP does not support that assumption.

Instead, the report identifies strong home language support as a way to strengthen English development, particularly literacy.

Head Start's own history provides an example.

In the late 1970s, Head Start launched bilingual and bicultural programs in 21 states.

An evaluation found that primarily Spanish-speaking children enrolled in these bilingual and bicultural programs performed better on measures including English fluency, abstract thinking and hand-eye coordination than children in English-only programs.

In one semester, children in the bilingual and bicultural program increased their English fluency by 21%.

The role of bilingual staff was particularly notable.

Approximately 90% of staff in these programs were Spanish-speaking, and researchers identified bilingual staff as one of the key ingredients in successful implementation because teachers who spoke both languages could provide planned and systematic instruction across languages.

Bilingual Staff Strengthen Family Engagement

Bilingual staff don't just support children.

They also help parents become active partners in their children's education.

In early childhood, families may be experiencing an education system for the first time. Positive, ongoing and reciprocal relationships between families and program staff can help families feel comfortable participating in their child's education.

When parents can communicate with educators in their preferred language, they can more easily:

• Ask questions
• Understand their child's progress
• Share information about their child
• Participate in parent meetings
• Join parent leadership activities
• Advocate for their child's needs
• Learn about available services
• Support learning at home

The CEP report cites a study of Nepali-speaking parents of DLLs in Head Start that found limited English proficiency discouraged some parents from participating as parent leaders and advocates. Parents said they needed additional language support, including interpreters and written materials in their language, to establish two-way collaboration with program staff.

Language barriers can therefore affect parent participation, not because families don't want to participate, but because programs haven't always removed the barriers to participation.

Families Want to Participate

It's important not to mistake limited English proficiency for a lack of interest.

The CEP report cites research finding that families who aren't fluent in English may feel unable to participate effectively in their children's education even when they want to be involved.

When educators create conditions for reciprocal communication and understanding, families can feel more integrated into the school community and become more involved.

The report also cites data showing that 69% of families who were not fluent in English participated in parent-teacher conferences, compared with 77% of English-speaking parents.

The participation gap was associated with barriers such as:

• Information not being available in a language families understood
• Lack of staff who spoke their language
• Limited opportunities for two-way communication 

That distinction is important.

The problem isn't necessarily that families aren't engaged. The problem can be whether programs make engagement accessible.

Why Google Translate Isn't a Replacement for Bilingual Staff

Technology can help with language access, but translation technology isn't the same thing as having a bilingual educator or staff member who understands a family.

The CEP report cites a study examining Google Translate for communication between teachers and Spanish-speaking parents of DLLs.

The study found that Google Translate was only 75% accurate, with errors involving meaning, register, nuance and cultural context. The report notes that error rates can be even greater for less common languages.

That matters because family-school communication isn't always a straightforward translation task.

A teacher may need to understand:

• What a parent is concerned about
• How a family describes their child's behavior
• Cultural expectations
• Family priorities
• Developmental information
• Questions about special education
• Concerns about health or safety

Those conversations require more than converting words from one language to another.

They require communication, context and relationships.

Bilingual Staff Are Especially Important for Children With Disabilities

Language access becomes even more important when a child is being evaluated for developmental or educational needs.

Dual language learners with disabilities can become bilingual without additional delay or confusion. Research reviewed in the CEP report finds that children with DLL status and disabilities benefit from interactions in their home language.

In fact, the report notes that not having exposure to a child's home language can negatively affect social development and language acquisition in both the home language and English.

Bilingual staff can also support more accurate assessment.

Head Start standards require screenings and assessments for DLLs to be:

• Culturally and linguistically appropriate
• Valid and reliable for the population and purpose
• Conducted in English and the child's home language when assessing language skills
• Conducted by qualified bilingual staff when possible
• Conducted in the child's most fluent language when possible
• Supported by an interpreter when bilingual staff are unavailable 

These requirements help prevent a child's developing English skills from being mistaken for a disability.

Bilingual Staff and Special Education: Why Language Matters

Children who are not yet fluent in English are frequently misrepresented in special education, according to the CEP report.

The report identifies several contributing factors, including:

• Limited standards for assessing bilingual children
• Insufficient teacher and therapist training
• A lack of assessments validated for bilingual children 

This is one reason bilingual staff matter.

A child should be evaluated based on what they actually know and can do, not simply on their English proficiency.

Head Start's assessment requirements specifically recognize this by requiring assessment of children's language skills in both English and their home language.

What Are the Current Head Start Bilingual Staff Requirements?

The Head Start Program Performance Standards require programs to hire bilingual staff when more than half of the children in the program share the same non-English home language.

The standards also require staff to receive training to work with families and support DLLs' language and literacy development in both languages.

This means bilingual staffing is connected to a broader system of support.

It isn't simply a requirement to have someone available to translate.

It is part of a framework designed to support:

children + families + teachers + learning + language development.

Why Removing Bilingual Staff Requirements Could Have Broader Consequences

The CEP report warns that eliminating bilingual staff requirements could affect children and families in several ways.

It could reduce:

• Teacher-child communication
• Teacher-family relationships
• Parent participation
• Access to information
• Support for home language development
• Access to linguistically appropriate instruction
• The linguistic diversity of the Head Start workforce 

There could also be workforce consequences.

In 2024, one-third of Head Start staff were proficient in a language other than English.

The report notes that the Head Start workforce was already fragile in 2024–2025, with 10% of positions vacant, while administrators reported that 71% of classroom closures were due to insufficient staffing.

In that context, losing qualified bilingual staff could compound an existing staffing challenge.

Bilingual Staff Are Part of a Diverse Early Childhood Workforce

The United States has a significant shortage of bilingual teachers across early care and education.

The report notes that early childhood educators have historically been more likely to speak a non-English language at home than K–12 teachers, giving early childhood education an advantage in linguistic diversity and linguistically responsive services.

That workforce matters.

A diverse early childhood workforce can help programs reflect the children and families they serve.

And for DLLs, having educators who understand their languages and cultures can make it easier to build relationships and implement dual language approaches effectively.

Bilingual Staff Help Head Start Meet Its Language Access Responsibilities

Language access isn't simply a best practice.

The CEP report describes federal legal requirements related to language access for families who don't speak English fluently.

The Head Start Program Performance Standards require family engagement services to be conducted in families' preferred language or through an interpreter, to the extent possible. Programs must also ensure staff can communicate effectively with families directly or through an interpreter.

Programs are also required to provide parents with information and resources about the benefits of bilingualism and biliteracy.

These requirements reflect a basic principle:

Families cannot fully participate in an education system if they cannot access the information and relationships necessary to participate.

What Can Head Start Programs Do to Support DLLs?

Bilingual staffing is one part of a broader approach to serving dual language learners.

High-quality Head Start programs can:

Hire bilingual teachers and staff

When a substantial share of children share a home language, programs should have staff who can communicate directly with them.

Train all staff to support DLLs

Even monolingual educators can learn strategies for supporting children who are developing English.

Provide materials in children's languages

When bilingual staff aren't available, Head Start standards call for materials that reflect children's languages and cultures and recruitment of volunteers who speak their language when possible.

Engage families in their preferred language

Families should have meaningful opportunities to communicate with programs and participate in decision-making.

Support home language development

Children should have opportunities to continue developing their home language while learning English.

Use linguistically appropriate assessment

Children's abilities should be evaluated across their languages.

Build relationships

Language access should be viewed as a pathway to stronger relationships—not simply a translation service.

Bilingual Staff Benefit the Whole Head Start Community

It can be tempting to think of bilingual staff as serving only children who speak another language.

But their role extends much further.

Bilingual staff can strengthen connections between:

Children ↔ Teachers

Teachers ↔ Families

Families ↔ Programs

Families ↔ Community Services

Children ↔ Their Home Languages

These connections are particularly important in early childhood because relationships are central to learning and development.

The CEP report emphasizes that positive, ongoing and reciprocal relationships between program staff and families can serve as a protective factor for children, helping families feel more comfortable, increasing engagement and giving families tools to support their children's learning beyond early childhood.

The Bottom Line: Bilingual Staff Are About More Than Translation

Bilingual staff in Head Start are not simply translators.

They are educators, relationship-builders, advocates and connectors between children, families and early learning programs.

They help children communicate.

They support home language development.

They help educators implement dual language education.

They make family engagement more accessible.

They can help ensure children receive appropriate assessments.

And they help Head Start programs provide services that are responsive to the communities they serve.

For decades, Head Start has recognized that language access is part of educational access.

The first federal Head Start standards included bilingual staff provisions in 1975, and that approach has continued through generations of Head Start policy.

Today, with millions of young dual language learners across the United States and nearly 40% of Head Start children identified as DLLs, the need for linguistically responsive early learning remains significant.

When children and families can communicate in a language they understand, they have a stronger opportunity to participate, build relationships and succeed.

Read the full Children's Equity Project report: Preserving Access and Opportunity in Head Start for Children Who Are Dual Language Learners: A Review of the Science, Legislative Mandates, and Regulatory Requirements.

Read the Full Report

Other Resources

Additional Content:

Dual Language Education vs. English-Only: What Does Research Say? | Benefits of Bilingual Education for Young Children: What Research Says | Why Home Language Matters: Supporting Bilingual Children | Why Bilingual Staff Matter in Head Start: Language Access, Family Engagement and Child Development | How Should Dual Language Learners Be Assessed for Disabilities? | Head Start, Dual Language Learners, and Children With Disabilities: Why Inclusive Early Learning Matters

News Mentions:

The Washington Post | ABC News | Fox 40 | The 74 | The Seattle Times| K-12 Dive| KQED