California’s Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) initiative expands access to high-quality early learning for all of the state’s four-year-olds. Central to this vision is meeting the needs of the growing population of young dual-language learners (DLLs) in the state—children under age 5 acquiring English alongside one or more home languages. Today, DLLs make up nearly 59 percent of California children under age 5, totaling approximately 1.69 million.1

The reality is that California’s early learning classrooms are multilingual by default. Not only are most young children growing up with more than one language, but many early educators are also multilingual adults who are continuing to develop their English proficiency. These educators—who, in their preparation to teach, are often the first in their families to attend college—bring essential strengths to the early learning workforce. However, they face persistent challenges in accessing and completing teacher preparation programs.2

Despite strong evidence of the cognitive, social, and academic benefits of multilingualism and bilingual education, California’s educator preparation system remains largely out of sync with the strengths of its population. Monolingual norms remain deeply embedded in credentialing and coursework expectations, while rigid program structures, limited flexibility, and the absence of a bilingual specialization in California’s Child Development Permit make it difficult for aspiring bilingual educators to advance. In sum, the current system overlooks the contributions of those educators best positioned to support DLLs.3

Fragmented Systems and Barriers to Preparation

California’s early childhood education system is not yet equipped to meet the needs of its linguistically diverse children or to support the multilingual educators who serve them. While the UPK initiative promises expanded access to high-quality early learning for all four-year-olds, the infrastructure for preparing and credentialing the early childhood workforce remains deeply fragmented, creating significant roadblocks for multilingual educators entering and advancing in the field.4

These inconsistencies stem from the fact that different early learning settings, such as Transitional Kindergarten (TK), Head Start, California State Preschool, and family child care, operate under separate requirements and expectations. For example, TK lead teachers are now required to hold either the Preschool–Third Grade Early Childhood Education Specialist Credential (PK-3) or a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential with additional units in early childhood education and supervised field experience in elementary and early childhood settings. Meanwhile, educators serving children from birth to age 5 often rely on the Child Development Permit, which emphasizes unit-based coursework without a cohesive pathway to a full degree or credential. This patchwork of standards makes it difficult to establish a coherent, equitable system for workforce preparation, especially one that supports bilingualism and multilingualism as assets.5

One notable structural gap is the absence of a bilingual specialization within the Child Development Permit. Educators who want to pursue bilingual teaching must obtain a Bilingual Authorization developed for K–12 contexts, which requires transferring to a four-year institution and completing coursework that is not specifically aligned with early childhood education. This disconnect leaves many early educators without a credentialing option “on ramp” that recognizes their language skills, pedagogical knowledge or classroom experience. Financial barriers, including tuition costs, unpaid practicum hours, and expensive exams, combined with inflexible course schedules and weak articulation between community colleges and universities, makes degree attainment at four-year institutions difficult for working early learning professionals.6

Instructionally, many educator preparation programs are delivered entirely in English, often without opportunities to support bilingual teacher candidates’ English language development, let alone to validate and build upon their language abilities. Furthermore, these programs rarely distinguish between the academic English required for coursework and the instructional English needed to effectively guide classroom learning and family engagement.

Compounding these challenges, many educator preparation programs do not consistently align their coursework with California’s Preschool and Transitional Kindergarten Learning Foundations, especially in key areas such as Foundational Language Development and English Language Development.7 This lack of alignment is not a simple oversight, it reflects the lasting influence of California’s historical English-only policy context, particularly Proposition 227. For nearly twenty years, under that state mandate, state policy prioritized English as the sole language of instruction, and many preparation programs continue to operate under assumptions shaped by that era. These assumptions have been baked into policies, coursework, and credentialing priorities.8

For nearly twenty years, under state mandate, state policy prioritized English as the sole language of instruction, and many preparation programs continue to operate under assumptions shaped by that era.

Even after Proposition 227’s formal restrictions on bilingual education were repealed, the systems that shape teacher preparation have remained largely unchanged, leaving bilingual development largely on the periphery. Namely, California’s teacher training systems are structurally set up under the assumption that English-only instruction is more effective or more aligned with academic success than bilingual approaches. Unsurprisingly, then, aspiring educators often graduate without a clear understanding of DLLs’ language development or how to support learning across both English and home languages.9

This misalignment is further reinforced by gaps in faculty preparation. Many faculty members lack early childhood classroom experience and have received limited training in dual-language development, bilingual instructional strategies, or the intentional use of home languages in early learning. Without coordinated state efforts to build bilingual/multilingual training capacity, preparation programs may default to monolingual approaches because English-only frameworks have long been positioned as the standard. This inadvertently reinforces the message that English is the only language of schooling, even in multilingual communities. For multilingual educator candidates, many of whom are themselves navigating complex language identities, this creates a preparation experience with few models or mentors who affirm their language practices or show how to build on them instructionally. Without systemic efforts to dismantle the remnants of English-only mindsets in educator preparation, California risks leaving the strengths of its multilingual communities untapped.10

Meeting the Moment: Emerging Success Stories

California stands at a defining moment to reimagine educator preparation across the birth-to-third-grade continuum. At the heart of this transformation is the state’s new PK–3 Credential, designed to bridge early learning and the early elementary grades. This credential offers a unique opportunity to align educator competencies across systems, ensuring that teachers are well-prepared to meet the diverse linguistic and cultural needs of young children during their foundational years.11

Despite significant challenges across California’s early childhood education preparation landscape, a growing number of institutions are demonstrating what is possible when preparation programs are designed with multilingual educators at the center. These models reflect a critical shift from deficit-based approaches toward strategies that intentionally value, develop, and sustain bilingualism as a professional and instructional asset. Colleges and universities, such as EDvance College and Fresno City College, are leading the way—reimagining educator preparation through flexible delivery formats, language-specific pathways, and integrated academic supports—to support a new generation of linguistically diverse educators.

EDvance embeds multilingual educator preparation into every aspect of its programs. Upon enrolling, teacher candidates pursuing an education degree receive comprehensive supports, from onboarding to guidance from student success advocates to access to writing coaches. EDvance’s bachelor’s degree in early childhood studies is designed specifically for multilingual educators who may need flexible class scheduling to allow them to pursue additional credentials. To that end, for this degree, EDvance offers evening courses.

The college provides two language pathways: an English Pathway with embedded language support to strengthen academic outcomes for multilingual educators—who make up 65 percent of EDvance’s student population—and a Spanish Pathway that deepens Spanish proficiency for educators teaching in Spanish so they can serve as strong linguistic role models for their students. All courses integrate language development into pedagogical training, and its “earn-and-learn” model awards credit for prior learning and employment in early education settings. With institutional grants to reduce student debt and a cohort-based model, EDvance offers a flexible, workforce-centered pathway for multilingual educators to advance their careers.

At Fresno City College, three fully online, synchronous certificate programs are offered entirely in Spanish: the Child Development Certificate of Achievement, the Family Child Care Certificate of Achievement, and the Race, Language, and Equity Certificate of Achievement. Enabled by Assembly Bill 1096—which permits California community colleges to offer instruction in languages other than English without requiring concurrent English as a Second Language (ESL) enrollment—these programs expand access to higher education for multilingual adult learners.

Fresno City College embeds Personalized Oral Language(s) Learning (POLL) strategies throughout its child development coursework to prepare multilingual educators to support the language development of young children and to engage families in culturally and linguistically sustainable ways. These embedded practices are reinforced through Fresno City College’s active collaboration with the Fresno County superintendent of schools and Fresno Unified School District in the Language Learning Project—a countywide initiative to build capacity among center-based and family child care providers through sustained professional development in POLL implementation. This combined effort strengthens the early childhood education workforce across the region and serves as a replicable model for supporting multilingual children and families. Additionally, the college’s Child Development Department partners with the English for Multilingual Students (EMLS) program to help students strengthen English proficiency while advancing in academic coursework. A new memorandum of understanding with California State University, Fresno has also established a PK–3 credential pathway, with clinical hours completed at the FCC Child Development Lab, which is developing a dual language immersion program.12

Seven Strategic Priorities for Building a Multilingual Early Learning Workforce

The work of institutions like EDvance College and Fresno City College demonstrates how educator preparation can be aligned to valorize the strengths, needs, and realities of multilingual professionals. These models offer flexible delivery, targeted language development, and bilingual pathways to help better position future educators to succeed in higher education and continue into credentialed teaching roles.

But isolated innovation is not enough. Without systemic policy changes, these models will remain exceptions to the state’s monolingual norm. While some programs may voluntarily prioritize multilingual competencies, California must create conditions so that all educator preparation programs will do so. Systemwide change depends not just on institutional will, but on clear policy guardrails and accountability measures that embed multilingual development as a non-negotiable element of teacher preparation. This calls for a coordinated, statewide approach to reimagine educator preparation from the ground up, starting from birth-to-five and extending through third grade. California policy leaders must act boldly and intentionally, pursuing the seven strategic priorities below, to ensure that programs reflect the multilingual reality of the children they serve and support the multilingual early childhood workforce.13

1. Create Bilingual Pathways within the Child Development Permit.

The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) should establish a bilingual specialization within the Child Development Permit matrix. This specialization should include required coursework on language development, bilingual instructional strategies, and support for children’s home languages, along with formal recognition of bilingual proficiency.

2. Support All Educators in Multilingual Learning Environments.

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS), in collaboration with the California Department of Education (CDE) and First 5 California should require state-funded professional development systems (for example, California Early Childhood Online, Quality Counts California) include DLL-specific training for both bilingual and monolingual educators, focusing on family engagement, home language use, and linguistically sustaining practices.

In parallel, the CTC should strengthen accreditation requirements for educator preparation programs by embedding competencies related to dual language development and multilingual support. The commission should also initiate a review of its Curriculum Alignment Project (CAP) and aligned child development permit coursework to ensure it adequately addresses multilingual language development and instructional strategies.

3. Embed Language Development Across All Coursework.

The CTC should require all preparation programs to demonstrate the integration of DLL-supportive strategies across the full curriculum—including math, science, social-emotional development, and the arts—as a condition of accreditation renewal.

4. Recognize Prior Learning and Expand Degree Access.

The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO), California State University (CSU) Office of the Chancellor, and University of California (UC) Office of the President should prioritize the adoption and implementation of Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) policies that recognize verified early learning work experience and demonstrated knowledge, when aligned with educator preparation standards.

In parallel, CTC should update program standards and accreditation guidance to support and encourage the use of CPL within educator preparation programs. This includes allowing CPL to count toward coursework or supervised field experiences when educator competencies are clearly demonstrated.

5. Offer Flexible and Accessible Learning Options.

California legislators should expand funding and structural support for asynchronous, online, weekend, and competency-based coursework within early childhood education degree and credential pathways. This can be achieved by coordinating policy and funding efforts across key state agencies and higher education systems—including the CCCCO, CSU, CDSS, First 5 California, and CTC—to prioritize program models that promote access and completion for multilingual, working professionals with caregiving responsibilities, with a focus on equity, linguistic access, and workforce advancement.

6. Provide Real-World Practice and Feedback.

California legislators should invest in clinical training models that embed practice in classrooms serving multilingual children, building on California’s existing mentor teacher and coaching infrastructure. Structured coaching and feedback cycles focused on implementing multilingual instructional strategies should be supported through partnerships between educator preparation programs, local education agencies, and state entities. These investments will strengthen the quality of practice-based preparation to model and reinforce linguistically responsive practice and ensure early educators are well-prepared to support dual language learners from the start.

7. Offer Language Recognition and Credentialing Guidance.

CTC should ensure that statewide advising systems, such as the Roadmap to Teaching, articulate paths from the child development permit to the PK–3 credential and include credentials like the Global Seal of Biliteracy, the state’s Bilingual Authorization, and other language proficiency recognitions, and that these credentials are fully integrated into career advancement opportunities.

A Call for Bold Action

The success of Universal Pre-Kindergarten will depend on how well California prepares educators to effectively teach DLLs from the earliest years through the early grades. By investing in multilingual educators and building clear, accessible, and rigorous pathways from birth through third grade, the state can ensure that every child grows up seeing their language reflected, their voice valued, and their learning fully supported from the start.

But reaching this vision requires more than incremental change. California cannot meet the promise of Universal Pre-Kindergarten without fully preparing educators to teach and lead in multilingual classrooms. This moment demands bold, systemic action—action that removes barriers, builds professional and academic capacity, and aligns preparation systems with the linguistic strengths of California’s children and communities. By embedding multilingual strategies across coursework, expanding flexible and affordable pathways, and strengthening faculty expertise, the state can prepare a generation of educators who reflect and respond to the multilingual reality of the children they serve.

If California acts with clarity and commitment, it will lay the foundation for a more inclusive and academically rigorous early learning system—one where every child sees their home language honored, their learning supported, and their potential realized.

Notes

  1. Conor P. Williams and Jonathan Zabala, “Moving from Vision to Reality: Establishing California as a National Bilingual Education and Dual-Language Immersion Leader,” The Century Foundation, October 25, 2023, https://tcf.org/content/report/moving-from-vision-to-reality-establishing-california-as-a-national-bilingual-education-and-dual-language-immersion-leader/; Ivana Tú Nhi Giang and Maki Park, “California’s Dual Language Learners: Key Characteristics and Considerations for Early Childhood Programs,” Migration Policy Institute, October 2022, https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/publications/mpi-nciip_dll-fact-sheet2022_ca-final.pdf.
  2. Conor P. Williams and Jonathan Zabala, “How to Grow Bilingual Teacher Pathways: Making the Most of U.S. Linguistic and Cultural Diversity,” The Century Foundation, August 23, 2023, https://tcf.org/content/report/how-to-grow-bilingual-teacher-pathways-making-the-most-of-u-s-linguistic-and-cultural-diversity/.
  3. Conor P. Williams, Dr. Xigrid Soto-Boykin, Jonathan Zabala, and Dr. Shantel Meek, “Why We Need to Cultivate America’s Multilingual, Multicultural Assets” The Century Foundation, June 14, 2023, https://tcf.org/content/report/why-we-need-to-cultivate-americas-multilingual-multicultural-assets/; Conor P. Williams, Dr. Shantel Meek, Dr. Maggie Marcus, and Jonathan Zabala, “Ensuring Equitable Access to Dual-Language Immersion Programs: Supporting English Learners’ Emerging Bilingualism,” The Century Foundation, May 15, 2023, https://tcf.org/content/report/ensuring-equitable-access-to-dual-language-immersion-programs-supporting-english-learners-emerging-bilingualism/; Jonathan Zabala and Conor P. Williams, “How to Ensure Linguistic Equity in California’s Transitional Kindergarten Workforce” The Century Foundation, October 31, 2024, https://tcf.org/content/report/how-to-ensure-linguistic-equity-in-californias-transitional-kindergarten-workforce/.
  4. Anna Powell, Elena Montoya and Yoonjeon Kim, “Demographics of the California ECE Workforce,” Center for the Study for Child Care Employment, January 13, 2022\, https://cscce.berkeley.edu/publications/data-snapshot/demographics-of-the-california-ece-workforce/.
  5. “Pathways to Teach TK,” California County Superintendents, presentation, March 2024, https://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/assignment-resources/transitional-kindergarten; “Transitional Kindergarten: Credentialing Requirements,” California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, July 11, 2024, https://www.ctc.ca.gov/credentials/assignment-resources/transitional-kindergarten.
  6. Conor P. Williams and Jonathan Zabala, “How to Grow Bilingual Teacher Pathways: Making the Most of U.S. Linguistic and Cultural Diversity,” The Century Foundation, August 23, 2023, https://tcf.org/content/report/how-to-grow-bilingual-teacher-pathways-making-the-most-of-u-s-linguistic-and-cultural-diversity/.
  7. “California PTKLF,” California Department of Education, May 16, 2025, https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/psfoundations.asp.
  8. Zaidee Stavely, “California Must Put Money, Mandates Behind Promises of Bilingual Education, Researchers Say,” EdSource, December 12, 2024, https://edsource.org/2024/california-must-put-money-mandates-behind-promises-of-bilingual-education-researchers-say/723366.
  9. Conor P. Williams, “Making California Public Schools Better for English Learners: Lessons from Texas,” The Century Foundation, https://tcf.org/content/report/making-california-public-schools-better-for-english-learners/.
  10. Xigrid Soto-Boykin, Shantel Meek, Conor P. Williams, Gladys Aponte, Linda Espinosa, Gladys Montes, Eugene Garcia, Carola Oliva-Olson, Dina Castro, Michael Robert, Drew Gadaire, Ximena Franco-Jenkins, Alexandra Figueras-Daniel, Brenda Fyfe, Kelly Edyburn, Ryan Pontier, Dean Tagawa, Erminda Garcia, Cinthia Palomino, and Brittany Alexander, “Operationalizing High-Quality Dual Language Programming: From the Early Years to the Early Grades,” The Children’s Equity Project and The Century Foundation, April 2024, https://cep.asu.edu/resources/Operationalizing-High-Quality-Dual-Language-Programs.
  11. “PK-3 ECE Specialist Instruction Credential,” California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, November 21, 2024, https://www.ctc.ca.gov/educator-prep/pk-3-ece-specialist-instruction-credential.
  12. Carola Oliva-Olson, Linda M. Espinosa, Whit Hayslip, and Elizabeth S. Magruder, “Promoting Linguistic Diversity and Equity: Teaching in Multilingual Learning Spaces,” in Focus on Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Equitable and Joyful Learning in Preschool, ed. Iliana Alanís and Toni Sturdivant (Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2023), 44–55.
  13. Elizabeth Alvarado, “Bridging California’s Bilingual Teacher Gap in Early Childhood Education,” Californians Together, January 2024, https://californianstogether.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/DLL-Brief-1-final-compressed.pdf.

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