When Your Program is Not Really Dual Language
Dual Language (DL) programs are often on the chopping block. Poor data will quickly push those in power to say, “Dual Language doesn’t work.” The closing of DL programs, then, discourages other districts from launching DL programs. However, the research is clear that DL programs do work. So what is the disconnect? One of the…
Simultaneous Bilinguals’ Surprising Language Trajectories
When most people think of Emergent Bilingual students, they usually think of sequential bilinguals. Sequential bilingual learners are those students who have a clear first language (L1) and acquire English as a second (or subsequent) language (L2) at school (or elsewhere). However, across the United States, the majority of our Emergent Bilingual students are simultaneous…
Proud Parent of an “EL” Student
A few years back, a principal vehemently argued with me that a student who had scored “approaching proficient” on her English language screener should not be classified as an English Learner (EL)*. According to this principal, the student, who was at the time entering Kindergarten, spoke English well and did not speak much Spanish. When…
What if our Dual Language Program is Not Working?
We know that, according to national research, a well-executed Dual Language program results in better performance for Emergent Bilinguals than any other form of support. However, Thomas & Collier (2004-2012) share a “warning graph” that demonstrates that calling a program “Dual Language” is not sufficient to get the results we intend for our students. In…
Being a Monolingual Administrator for a Dual Language Program
As this new school year begins, district and school administrators are filled with the typical excitement and anticipation, but additionally, perhaps a novel sense of anxiety. This anxiety may stem from the fact that the start of this school year is characterized nationwide by a record number of teacher vacancies. Perhaps it comes from the…
The Ascription or Denial of Intelligence Based on Race
My friend’s daughter once told me that she figured a relatively new, Asian classmate was intelligent just by looking at her. She then followed the statement with, “I wonder if I made that assumption because of her race,” and proceeded to analyze her thought process. Undoubtedly, as a parent, an educator, and as an equity-minded…
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Social Justice and Education 