Assessing Spanish-English Bilingual Preschoolers—A Guide to Best Approaches and Measures

Dr. Barrueco is Assistant Professor of Psychology and Fellow of the Institutefor Policy Research & Catholic Studies at The Catholic University of America.Dr. Barrueco specializes in the prevention and early intervention of developmentaldifficulties, particularly among language-minority, immigrant, and migrant children.Much of her grant-funded research has focused on early bilingual, socioemotional,and acculturative processes within the Latino community.

Throughout her training and career, Dr. Barrueco has been dedicated tolearning and utilizing advanced statistics to advance scientific knowledge andpractice with young immigrant children and families. This approach is rooted ina community-based participatory research framework involving strong collaborationswith families and the local and national programs that serve them. This isreflected in her involvement in local and national studies with Head Start, EarlyHead Start, and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start as well as her appointments asBoard Vice Chair of the DC Bilingual Public Charter School and on the AdvisoryCommittee of the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force onImmigration.

Dr. Michael LA3pez is Executive Director of the National Center for Latino Child& Family Research, which is dedicated to research on issues relevant to practicesand policies affecting the lives of Latino children and families. Previously, Dr. LA3pez directed the Child Outcomes Research and Evaluation team in theAdministration for Children and Families, where he managed a number of largescalenational, Head Start research studies, including the Head Start Family andChild Experiences Survey; the Head Start Transition Evaluation; and the NationalHead Start Impact Study, a nationally representative, randomized study examiningthe impact of Head Start on childrena€?s school readiness. Dr. LA3peza€?s currentwork is focused on applied policy research and programmatic activities on suchtopics as early childhood care and education; language and literacy development;bilingual education; early childhood prevention and intervention programs; andyoung childrena€?s mental health, with an emphasis on at-risk, low-income, and/orculturally and linguistically diverse populations.

Patricia Lozano is an Early Childhood Education expert with more than 10 yearsof experience in the field. She has worked extensively in conducting research andprogram evaluations of early care, education, and family programs with organizationssuch as First 5 Los Angeles, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA),and many others. Ms. Lozano is actively involved in the selection and adaptationof child assessments measures for English Language Learners across various researchstudies and observes various early childhood education programs usingmeasures like the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale and the ClassroomAssessment Scoring System? (CLASS?). In addition to her research experience,Ms. Lozano also evaluates children with special needs and works with parents inselecting the best therapies for their children.

Christine Ong recently joined the University of California, Los Angelesa€?s NationalCenter for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing as a SeniorResearcher. Previously, Dr. Ong was a visiting researcher at the National Centerfor Children in Poverty at Columbia University, participating in studies that examinedstate-level professional development initiatives linked to quality improvementrating systems as well as innovative early childhood mental health policies.Dr. Ong also served as a Senior Research Analyst at First 5 LA—a child-advocacyorganization dedicated to improving the lives of young children and their familiesin Los Angeles County. She was involved in several First 5 LA projects relatedto early learning and assessment, including the Los Angeles Universal PreschoolChild Outcomes S