Dual Language Education Challenges & Opportunities

A new report highlights why more bilingual teachers are needed and how to build such a pipeline.

Arizona Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Horne discusses his lawsuit to block dual language education programs and his decision to claw back $70M of COVID relief money to fund a statewide tutoring program.

Educators can do more to understand how bilingual children from immigrant backgrounds learn

Literacy is the key to success, and multilingual learners deserve access to the opportunities and support they need to become confident readers. This is why equitable literacy instruction is imperative.Real literacy is anchored in middle and high school as students rummage through history, biology, algebra, chemistry, geometry, business, literature, career training courses, and other subjects. This means that multilingual learners’ (MLs’) best chance to become strong readers and writers lies in the hands of their core content teachers. “Students can’t develop content knowledge if they can’t read the material in history and civics classes” (Pimentel, 2023). While instructional standards for

Two years ago, we (Dual Language Education of New Mexico’s professional development coordinators) outlined a framework for high-quality dual language education that incorporated recent research, best practices, and the guidance found in the third edition of the Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education (2018). The framework consists of three instructional spaces—the partner language space, most commonly Spanish, the English language space, and the “bringing the two languages together” (formally called the cross-linguistic) space. All three instructional spaces rest on the fourth, which is the foundation of a culturally and linguistically responsive environment. A detailed description of each of these

LEP? ELL? ML? What’s in a Name? Popular belief has held and continues to hold the image of the teacher of English language learners/multilingual learners (abbreviated to MLs henceforth) being the sole holder of knowledge about ELL instruction. If you ask anyone to describe the needs of an ML in most schools, you will likely be directed to the English as a new language (ENL) teacher or the bilingual teacher. So what role, if any, do school administrators have in not only ensuring all teachers acknowledge themselves as teachers of MLs but also see themselves as true leaders of MLs?

While elementary school programs are a “great experience,” kids are left unsupported once they graduate.

Federally funded research aims to find ways to increase English learners' access to rigorous courses for high school completion.

‘Borrowed translations’ using English words in Spanish forms make for speech that sounds slightly off to outsiders, study says

The misguided belief that students must be English proficient to engage in rigorous grade-level learning leaves too many English learners behind in STEM-related subjects.

Most dual language programs across the country have felt the increased focus and attention on the teaching of reading. What should the learning environment look like in classrooms that put the science into practice? How should teachers allocate instructional minutes to reflect the science? What instructional resources and practices should be considered if the science is to shape how all students are granted access to reading instruction with evidence of yielding results? The increased focus has been a long-overdue conversation with huge implications and potential for all stakeholders. However, many conversations aimed at answering these questions are still largely dominated

Dr. José Medina discusses the monolinguistic nature of the U.S. education system and how he is creating positive disruption.

The first-of-its-kind Conference on Rural English Learner Education and Research (CREER) convened scholars and educators from across the country to identify the state of educational programs, policies and practices for rural multilingual learners and families. The conference also aimed to create a collaborative plan and a national research agenda for this population.

Manuel Da Luz Gonçalves received corporal punishment in the 1960s for speaking his mother tongue at a Catholic seminary in what was then called Cape Verde.

Twenty-five years into this century, it’s clear that much of what was labeled “twenty-first-century learning”—various education technologies, a range of

Alina moved to the US from Irpin, Ukraine, when she was eleven years old. The Russian invasion resulted in Alina witnessing the destruction of her city and the death of family members. She arrived in the US with her mother and younger brother, and they now live with distant relatives. At enrollment, we learn that Alina has never been exposed to English and has missed about six months of school.Take a moment to consider Alina and the type of language assistance program that you believe would be the most effective. During the past few decades, I have been providing policy

Schools are bound by federal civil rights guidelines and education laws to provide free and effective translation to families where English is not the primary language. Revolución Educativa wants families to know they're entitled to a trained interpreter who is proficient in both English and the first language spoken in the home.

Superintendent Tom Horne has threatened to withhold funding from schools that use the instructional model to teach English Language Learner students.

"These children are coming from a lot of trauma, and the first thing cannot be academics," said Sol Camano, a bilingual Chicago educator.

Photo Courtesy Tom Horne: State Schools Superintendent Tom Horne says schools teaching in Spanish violate state law. Violation of voter-approved English immersion law Contributed Article/Courtesy Arizona Department of Education PHOENIX …

The honors college wanted to create a program for high-achieving bilingual high school students who were uncertain about college — because they were recent immigrants, had low standardized test scores or weren’t sure what opportunities were available to them in US higher education.

A panel of experts told EdSource on Wednesday that for English Language learners, it’s important to balance phonics and other reading skills all students need with opportunities to grow students’ understanding of the language they are learning.

On March 30, the BOOM Experience held their first in-person event for nearly 400 BSD students. The all-day event took place at Bellevue College, welcoming students in grades 7-12.