A proposed change to Head Start standards would require programs to conduct all instruction in English, reversing policies that support children’s home languages alongside English. A preschool educator says the shift could limit not only children’s multilingual development but also the connections and learning that take place between students and teachers.
The educator, writing from experience in early childhood classrooms, recalls teaching at an international school in Italy where she was expected to speak only English. One day, two children brushed off her carefully planned activity with “boh” — an Italian expression that can convey uncertainty, resignation or bemusement. The moment helped her recognise that an English-only approach could leave too little room for children to communicate in the ways most familiar to them.
In a later classroom conversation about the sound a rooster makes, a bilingual student shared the Portuguese version used by her family. The teacher offered the Italian word used in her own family, and they compared both with the English version they shared at school. The exchange became a small moment of humour and connection, with the child taking the role of expert and the teacher learning from her.
The article says English-only policies can signal that the language children use at home does not belong at school. It cites a 2025 report from the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, part of the Migration Policy Institute, which found that about one-third of U.S. children under five are dual language learners. Head Start children bring more than 140 languages to their classrooms, according to the article.
Current Head Start standards recognise bilingualism and biliteracy as strengths and call for children to develop English while continuing to receive support for their home language. The piece also points to a 2018 study of nearly 2,000 dual language learners in Head Start programs, which found that using Spanish alongside English did not impede their English development.
The proposed rule, described in the article as a Trump administration proposal, would reverse the 2016 standards and redirect funding from multilingual services toward English-language education and “assimilation.” The writer says it remains unclear how an English-only requirement would affect everyday classroom interactions, but worries teachers could become less willing to invite children to use words from home.
The author’s current preschool is not a Head Start program and would not be directly governed by the proposal. She urges educators in other settings to make space for children’s languages and share their experiences with families, colleagues, community organisations and policymakers. The formal public comment period ended on Oct. 6, and a final decision was still pending when the article was written.
Sources: EdSurge.