A Report on Tribal Language Revitalization in Head Start and Early Head Start

The Office of Head Start (OHS) has long supported the cultural and linguistic diversity of the families and children in its programs. This commitment includes support for language revitalization in tribal programs. In early 2015, OHS commissioned a project to learn directly about the efforts underway in the field, and the findings are presented in this report. Under a National Center on Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness contract, visits were made to 17 tribal Head Start or Early Head Start (HS/EHS) programs. Visits also were made to four other early childhood programs that are considered leaders in language revitalization with young children. The programs were selected to ensure diverse representation of geographic region, community language situation, language goals, resources and teaching methods. Tribal leaders, elders, program staff, parents and community members provided information during the visits. Academicians, researchers and other experts were consulted, along with participants at conferences and workshops. The information in this report is drawn from these visits and contacts, unless otherwise indicated by references to published materials or websites.