Supporting multilingual students from policy to practice: Systemic initiatives to create equitable career and technical education

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the need to provide systems of support for multilingual students in career and technical education (CTE) programs. The paucity of research on multilingual students’ access to, participation in, and outcomes from CTE and lack of attention to issues of language in CTE teacher preparation has left CTE educators and administrators with little basis for imagining meaningful, research-based initiatives to support multilingual students. In this paper, I describe an ongoing equity-focused PD initiative undertaken by a large regional CTE center to address the needs of multilingal students and advance equity in CTE programs. The program foregrounded professional development opportunities for teachers and administrators to ensure that equity is pursued on a systemic level.