Dual Language Education Challenges & Opportunities

Lesson planning is a political act. As previously stated in the Language Magazine article “Content, Language, and Culture Targets” (Medina, 2023), schools in the US, at the core, are designed to promote a monocultural and monolingual perspective of teaching and learning. As educators, the lessons we design and facilitate either support or dismantle educational systems that have historically marginalized certain student communities (Medina and Izquierdo, 2021). Black, Indigenous, students of color (BISoCs), language learners, children with specific academic, behavioral and/or physical health needs, and students belonging to the LGBTQ2S+ community, among others, have been deprioritized in a schooling system that

Conroe ISD Superintendent Dr. Curtis Null unexpectedly withdrew a proposal to end the district’s dual language program after a wave of public backlash. Parents and educators criticized the lack of transparency, with many only learning about the decision two days before the board meeting.

In New York and other cities across the nation, educators are grappling with fear among students and parents that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will show up at schools – or their homes – as the Trump administration vows to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.

You know it when you see it” is an axiom that has been applied to rigorous educational experiences. And there is truth to this sentiment. When the classroom is humming along and teachers and students have high expectations for learning, combined with the support to achieve greatness, rigor seems self-evident. It’s obvious that learning will occur when rigor is present and that students’ content and language development will be accelerated. Yet the issue of rigor is especially problematic when it comes to multilingual learners (MLs). Evidence suggests that teachers lower the rigor threshold for these students, a process some researchers

Teachers who learned English as a second language have valuable cultural insights and experiences that can help them connect with students.

Language immersion programs not only boost academic performance but also foster cultural awareness and problem-solving abilities.

All 50 states now allow students to earn a distinction on their diploma signaling their mastery of multiple languages.

New students arriving in the US are usually called newcomers in a school setting. The term ‘newcomers’ is defined as K-12 students born outside the United States who arrived in the country in the last three years and are still learning English.

Goodall and Shelley: Five best practices for managing—and celebrating—cultural and linguistic diversity in ways that enhance learning.

Leer en español aquí George Lee, a third grade teacher at Camino Nuevo Charter Academy, speaks with the confident enthusiasm of someone who is where he belongs.  “I’m teaching in a neighborhood that I grew up in,” said Lee. “I’m really a part of this community, like, I have more of an obligation a

Contact: Kelly Craine, 254-297-9065Follow us: @BaylorUMedia on X and LinkedInNovember is Family Literacy Month, which shines a spotlight on the essential role of family engagement in fostering a love for reading and learning.

Meet Annie Connor. First thing in the morning, Ms. Annie co-teaches an Algebra class of both English learners (ELs) and non-ELs, all dressed in pajamas

Ofelia García; Professor Emerita in Urban Education and Latin American, Iberian, and Latino Cultures at the City University of New York (CUNY); shared the benefits of translanguaging pedagogies as the keynote speaker at the latest event part of the Linguistic Diversity Speaker Series, developed by Goodnight Distinguished Professor in Educational Equity Maria Coady.

In the future, bilingualism will no longer be just an advantage but a necessity. Language proficiency will extend beyond basic communication. What skills will todays children require to thrive in an ever-evolving world? Shrewsbury International

Local libraries are very instrumental in the education and assimilation process for the English learners in their community. Being hub

Integrating AI tools responsibly with storytelling empowers ELLs to find their voice and share their unique stories with confidence.

Finding ways to incorporate a student’s home language into lessons can also improve their sense of belonging and acceptance.

Walk into any classroom in the US, you’ll likely encounter students who speak a language other than English at home, who might have learned to read in another language before coming to school, or who are learning to read in more than one language in their classroom. Regardless of the language of the teacher, multilingual learners, including 10% students who are categorized as English Learners (Center for Educational Statistics, 2024) come to school every day and bring with them their valuable multilingual experiences and assets. In 2020, the NEA predicted that by 2025, one in four students in American classrooms

A new certificate program offered by the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education aims to increase the number of bilingual and culturally responsive K-12 school psychologists

Bilingualism is a strength Texas is failing to nurture for hundreds of thousands of students EXPLAINERS : Dec. 16, 2024 EDUCATION Nearly one-fourth of all students in Texas public schools are emergent bilingual, meaning their home language is something other than English.

Anyone who has taught in a dual language program knows the struggle of fitting in sufficient instruction in each content area in both languages while complying with the state requirements. With most standardized reading tests only given in English, it is tempting to devote more time to reading instruction in English, while setting aside writing instruction in either language. However, by not teaching and assessing writing in a holistic manner, we are denying our students the opportunity to use their full set of language skills to construct meaning and demonstrate their knowledge and thinking (Ramos and Musanti, 2021). Writing is

Current federal policy says schools are protected areas from immigration enforcement. That may soon change.

https://vimeo.com/1029576804/4ce06ebe89?share=copy Ensuring d/Deaf children become bilingual in sign language and English should be a key priority for policymakers and teachers because this plays an important role in their education, a new study says. Curriculum and

In 2021, California launched a significant change to its early education system, aiming to offer universal pre-K to every 4-year-old by the 2025–26

Imagine stepping into a new school where everything feels unfamiliar—new language, new faces, new rules. For many newcomer students—immigrants or refugees