Bilingual-Bicultural Education: Opportunity obscured

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article reports on analysis of A Master Plan for Bilingual-Bicultural Education (MP), created after the Lau v. Nichols Supreme Court ruling. Qualitative analyses reveal authors’ intention to: 1) intertwine language and culture; 2) promote richly diverse multilingualism; and 3) systemically embed its implementation among local linguistically marginalized communities. Although the purpose of the MP was to detail a replicable model for new BBE program development across the nation, its rejection reveals the continued dominance of English-only instructional approaches, despite decades of research documenting that dual language bilingual education is the most effective instructional model for multilingual students. It also serves as an invaluable tool and roadmap for the development of future, and revision of existing, bilingual programs in ways that enhance multilingualism and improve inclusivity among minoritized language-speaking students, families, and communities.