California's cultural and linguistic diversity are remarkable assets for the state. In particular, bilingualism is linked not only to economic growth, but also to improved health, social empathy, educational attainment, community cohesion, and civic engagement. Harnessing this potential depends upon the educational success of California's more…

Purpose: Situated within a complex social-political and developmental context marked by racialization and identity formation, this research aims to illuminate the nuanced ways Latinx youth navigate their bilingual experience amidst varying educational models and linguistic environments. The overarching goal of this dissertation is to investigate…

In this study, we examined the bilingual language development among Korean American first-graders in two southern California cities and explored the opportunities for language use available to them in various spaces: at school (one dual language immersion school and one traditional English-only public school), at home, and in the community. Data…

In spring 2019, without controversy or fanfare and without violating the voter mandate of Proposition 203, emergent bilinguals in Arizona were once again granted unrestricted access to dual language bilingual education after nearly 20 years. The policy change was accomplished through a seemingly small piece of legislation that reduced the daily…

This article focuses on the reported experiences of three focal students who participated in a Spanish/English dual language program in their southern California school district throughout their elementary and middle school years. All three students identify as Mexican-origin and speak Spanish, English, and the Indigenous language of Zapoteco and…

Scholarship suggests that bilingual students' translanguaging skills -- their multilingual and multimodal communicative competencies -- should be leveraged as a valuable meaning-making resource and that translanguaging pedagogies can disrupt linguistic hierarchies and the ideologies of race, class, and nationhood that constitute them.…

Spanish-speaking parents choose to enroll their children in either an English only or English-Spanish dual immersion program when presented with both choices. This ethnographic study explored parent's perceptions of the purpose, advantages, and disadvantages of learning in school in English only or in a dual English-Spanish. Through focus group…

This study examines the writing skills of students in grades 1 to 5 of an Italian-English two-way immersion program. Narrative writing samples were collected in both languages and scored for content, organization, grammar, mechanics, vocabulary, text length, and overall total score. The results show that writing skills improved as a function of…

This report synthesizes findings from extant empirical research to identify nine key policy areas that state policymakers and stakeholders in California can leverage to improve English learners' (ELs') opportunities and outcomes across the state. Importantly, the report situates these policy areas within the current framework of California state…

A Mandarin/English two-way immersion elementary program is described from its inception and implementation through the fifth grade, the culminating year of the program. All students in all grades were assessed on their oral/listening, reading, and writing performance in Mandarin using program-created assessment measures. Fifth-grade students also…

Forty initially English-dominant Latino students in four 90:10 Spanish two-way dual-immersion programs and 62 of their peers in mainstream English programs were studied to find out if their attitudes toward Spanish and Spanish-dominant individuals differ. Significant differences were found on many variables, with two-way dual-immersion students…

In this article, the authors describe the results of research that explored how Proposition 227--a measure that mandates English immersion instruction for all English language learners--has affected bilingual teachers at varying points in their professional development. The perspectives of preservice, novice and veteran bilingual teachers offer…

The information on two-way bilingual programs presented in this volume was gathered as the first phase of a study for the National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning. Two-way bilingual programs integrate language minority and language majority students and provide instruction in and through two languages. This…

The experiences of five California school districts in implementing English immersion instruction for all limited-English-speaking students are described and compared. The districts range from populous urban settings to small, isolated rural communities. The first part of the report profiles the five districts, and the second part sets forth three…

Three successful school program models designed to help language minority students conserve the language skills acquired in their homes and continue normal native language development are described. The programs were developed to counteract a trend toward wasting valuable existing language skills and resources. The programs include: (1) an…