A major challenge facing early childhood education and the K–12 education system in the United States is the fact that as the population changes, the particular needs of children change with it. One of the largest demographic shifts in the last decade is the increase in the number of children who speak English as their second language. The majority of these children are born in the United States and thus from a very young age are acquiring both the language of their family as well as the language of the larger community. These very young children are dual language learners (DLLs).