Two-Way Bilingual Education Program Research Articles

“Now it’s all upper-class parents who are checking out schools”: gentrification as coloniality in the enactment of two-way bilingual education policies

Bilingual education as a whole has been gentrifying, as more privileged students replace Transnational Language Learners (TLLs) in bilingual education spaces and policies (Valdez et al. in Educ Policy 30(6):849–883, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904814556750 ). We argue this is an extension of coloniality (Mignolo in Local histories/global designs: coloniality, subaltern knowledges, and border thinking, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2000/2012): as two-way bilingual education (TWBE) policies are enacted, they are shaped by globalizing, neoliberal, and monoglossic discourses that have a history of dispossessing and erasing minoritized peoples and languages. Taking a critical constructivist grounded theory approach, this study brings together three unique data sets from the US Midwest, Southeast, and Texas to question: How does gentrification manifest in TWBE across policy scales and contexts? And how are stakeholders responding to or resisting gentrification and its underlying coloniality? Regardless of the varying state policy and local contexts, each TWBE program in our study experienced gentrification. Specifically, TLLs and their Spanish language(s) were replaced or diminished as TWBE policy enactment intersected with district and state policies, particularly those shaping enrollment, transportation, course scheduling, and teacher and student recruitment. While the analysis focuses on gentrification processes through policy enactment, we also detail spaces of consciousness where stakeholders recognized and resisted them and conclude with a discussion on how coloniality is both manifested and can be challenged in language policy enactment.

“Two schools within a school”: Elitism, divisiveness, and intra-racial gentrification in a dual language strand

ABSTRACT With most elementary dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs being implemented as strands within schools, tensions related to inequities, unequal distribution of resources, and academic quality and demographic differences often arise. Based on a longitudinal ethnographic study and two interview phases with DLBE and mainstream teachers, this study analyzes teachers’ perceptions and discourses regarding tensions related to the Spanish-English two-way bilingual education program at their urban elementary school. Findings from a thematic analysis approach pointed to teachers’ discourses of elitism and divisiveness in relation to the DLBE strand based on racial tensions and school inequities, including what we call intra-racial DLBE gentrification. These findings are based on how educators experienced tensions regarding this bilingual program related to (a) the composition of the student body in terms of perceived quality and quantity, (b) cognitive and academic benefits, (c) resources provided by a university partnership, and (d) parental involvement. Implications for administrators and teacher preparation programs toward equity and school integration with DLBE strands are discussed.

Two-way bilingual education programs and sense of belonging: perspectives from middle school students

ABSTRACT This exploratory study examined the experiences of middle school students in an urban two-way bilingual education (TWBE) program. Through the lens of students’ sense of belonging, the study examined how middle school students described their experiences being enrolled in a TWBE program at the primary and secondary level. Data sources included a survey (n = 68) and six small group interviews with twenty middle school students. Using four dimensions of belonging (relationships, place, agency, and inclusion) to analyze the data, the study found that students experienced a sense of belonging through a culture of care, peer relationships, and community-building activities. Translanguaging practices supported students’ identities as bilinguals and were a way to include students whose language proficiency was still in the emerging stages. Strong TWBE program cohesion appeared to positively mediate the transition from primary to secondary school. However, students experienced monolingual attitudes and ideologies outside the program, undermining their sense of belonging in school. The study concludes that TWBE programs are uniquely situated to engage in practices that support students’ sense of belonging and, through these practices, create, open up, and sustain identity options for bilingual learners in middle school.

“It Was Like a Magnet to Bring People In”: School Administrators’ Responses to the Gentrification of a Two-Way Bilingual Education (TWBE) Program in Central Texas

This critical ethnographic study investigated how gentrification processes shaped an elementary school’s community and two-way bilingual education (TWBE) program in Central Texas. Findings revealed how these gentrification processes impacted the principal and vice principal at the ontological and epistemological levels, as their ways of being and knowing around their TWBE program were altered as a dual gentrification process pushed in new customers thirsting for bilingualism and pushed out Spanish-speaking families due to rapidly rising rents. Implications highlight the urgency for administrators to develop critical consciousness around the original race radical vision of bilingual education.

Strategic codeswitching, interliteracy, and other phenomena of emergent bilingual writing: Lessons from first grade dual language classrooms

This qualitative study investigated the writing processes of eight emergent bilingual children as they composed stories in two languages in a Writing Workshop (WW) context. The research was situated in two grade 1 classrooms in a Spanish/English Two-Way Bilingual Education program in the north-eastern USA. For six months, researchers observed students in Spanish and English WWs, interviewed students about their writing behaviors and understandings, and collected samples from all stages of the writing process. Cross-case analyses of individual bilingual writing profiles revealed similarities and differences in students’ cross-linguistic skills, as well as patterns of transfer. Patterns of bilingual writing related to strategic codeswitching, positive literacy transfer, and interliteracy led to the development of a preliminary model of bilingual writing development for English-dominant and Spanish-dominant bilingual learners.This model presents phenomena unique to bilingual writers, relates these to bilingualism and biliteracy, and proposes anticipated expression of the phenomena for developing Spanish-dominant and English-dominant bilingual writers.

Differential Outcomes of Two Bilingual Education Programs on English Language Learners

This study investigated the effects of two types of bilingual programs (two-way and transitional) on the academic performance and attitudes of fifth-grade students who entered kindergarten or first grade with different levels of English proficiency. A mixed methods design with both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analyses phases was employed. Quantitative data analyses indicated no significant differences in standardized measures of English achievement, although significant differences were found in other measures, including measures of oral language acquisition in English, Spanish-reading ability, students' attitudes, and perceived levels of proficiency in English and Spanish. Qualitative data analysis indicated that the students in two-way bilingual education programs were more likely to express positive attitudes towards bilingualism. Based on the mixed data, it is concluded that despite some similarity in the effects, each of the bilingual programs also has unique effects. Policy decisions should be made on the basis of relative importance, value, and the costs of these unique advantages and disadvantages.

Narrowing the Gap: Effects of a Two-Way Bilingual Education Program on the Literacy Development of At-Risk Primary Students

Children with limited English proficiency are known to be at higher risk of school failure than their peers. Risk starts early, and the achievement lag of these children often widens with age and progression in the educational system. This study attempted to determine the effects of a 2-way bilingual education program on the literacy development of at-risk kindergarten students who had lower English proficiency and were in a higher failure risk bracket than a comparison group who had higher initial English competence and participated in regular education. Students in the experimental group were instructed in English approximately 70% of the time and in Spanish approximately 30% of the time. At the end of the 1st grade, no statistically significant differences were found between the 2 groups on the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) or a combination of 6 other indicators of English literacy development.

Effects of a Two-Way Bilingual Program on the Literacy Development of Students in Kindergarten and First Grade

This study examines the short-term effects of a two-way bilingual education program on the literacy development of students in kindergarten and first grade. This study compared the literacy development of two groups of children who received different proportions of instruction in English and Spanish. Both the experimental and control groups consisted of students who were English language learners (ELLs), as well as students who were not ELLs (i.e., native English speakers and former ELLs who reached proficiency). Students in the experimental group participated in a two-way bilingual program in which instruction was in English approximately 70% of the time and in Spanish approximately 30% of the time. Students in the control group attended the same school but were in mainstream classes and received instruction in English about 90% of the time. Comparison of test scores (on district-developed assessments and the Scholastic Reading Inventory) of the two groups at the end of the school year indicated that in spite of the initially lower pretest scores in some subject areas, the experimental group's achievement was very close to that of the control group. It is concluded that two-way bilingual programs can assist schools in improving ELLs' academic achievement in English language arts.

Effective Bilingual Education: From Theory to Academic Achievement in a Two-Way Bilingual Program

Program evaluation can be used to shift the debate on effective schools for bilingual students from an ideological impasse to a data- driven and research-based discussion. Using the example of the Barbieri Two-Way Bilingual Education Program in Framingham, Massachusetts, this article links theoretical understandings about bilingualism and second language acquisition to program design and implementation, and subsequently to academic outcomes. Disaggregated academic achievement data in English and Spanish show that the Barbieri program meets its academic and linguistic goals for both target groups by fifth grade. Reflections on these academic achievement patterns, in turn, have prompted changes in the program to further increase its effectiveness.

The Second Language Components in a Two-Way Bilingual Education Program

Abstract With the advent of an increasingly linguistic minority student population in the public schools, program development to maximize these students' learning opportunities is essential. One such program appears to be the Two-Way Bilingual Education model that integrates students from two distinct language backgrounds. Since 1989, one school district in Massachusetts has been offering a Two-Way Bilingual Education program to students from its Spanish and English speaking communities. This article provides a critical description of that program using a fourth grade example. Following the district wide curriculum, and recognizing the necessity of bridging linguistic and cultural differences, this two-way model allows students to develop proficiency in a second language and culture while achieving the objectives of the elementary school curriculum. The need for practical information on existing two-way bilingual education program models is borne out of a resistance by many to recognize bilingual programs as vital aspects of the schooling of language minority students.