The United States has been the global leader resettling refugees since the 1970s; its resettlement program is the largest in the world. The state of Texas has a high number of admissions and longstanding refugee programs which makes it a strategic site for research. This article reports findings of a reflective case study within an open enrollment…

Although students who have ever been identified as English learners (ever-ELs) during K-12 comprise a significant and growing share of the population, the transient nature of K-12 EL status and services makes it difficult for researchers to follow ever-ELs throughout their educational pipeline and into college. We use longitudinal state…

Newcomer schools inherently frame students in terms of what they "lack"--namely, fluency in the English language. The purpose of this study, drawing on a six-month ethnography of 14 tenth grade students from Mexico, is to counter this deficit framing by exploring, using the additive framework of "community cultural wealth,"…

This study introduces a novel Connectivist model for professional development (PD) aimed at enhancing AI literacy among bilingual/ESL teachers in K-12 education. As AI technologies rapidly reshape educational landscapes, effective PD programs are essential to equip educators with the skills to integrate AI responsibly and equitably. Grounded in…

The U.S. population has become more racially and ethnically diverse over time. The Latinx population growth makes Spanish the most common language encountered in non-native English-speaking populations such as Texas. The research objective of this study was to examine if implementing a One-Way Dual Language Education (DLE) Program could result in…

The role of educators in mitigating the negative experiences faced by marginalised students has garnered increasing attention. This study highlights the key attributes of teachers who create a supportive environment for these learners, particularly in English Language Arts classrooms. Through an integration of Positioning Theory, Critical…

As Two-Way Dual Language Programs continue in their nascent stages in the United States, some teachers, administrators, and researchers have reported issues of interest convergence. This construct refers to a Critical Theory principle that proposes alignment between the interests of whites and marginalized groups for a perceived common benefit,…

This scholarly inquiry examines three affirmative action challenges encountered by school leaders and teachers as they endeavor to provide a meaningful education to Emergent Bilingual (EB) students as mandated by the landmark Supreme Court decision in "Lau v. Nichols." Each affirmative action challenge is written within an EB student's…

The extent to which differences were present in the Texas state-mandated Reading assessment for Emergent Bilingual students by their special education status (i.e., Not Special Education, Special Education) for five school years was addressed. Data were collected from the Texas Education Agency Public Education Information Management System for…

This article examines 17 Latina/o bilingual teacher candidates' experiences with ideologies conflating racialized bodies with linguistic deficiency: raciolinguistic ideologies. Drawing on data from a one-year critical ethnography conducted at a Hispanic-serving institution in Southwest Texas, this article analyzes these teacher candidates'…

In this paper, the White listening subject takes the form of a standardized high-stakes reading test, the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR). Although the test does not actually listen, it 'hears' and evaluates children's responses to its questions. I present the results of the 2017 Grade 8 reading exams, from the March, May,…

Research Findings: Shared book reading is important for children's early literacy development. Although there is an increasing number of dual language learners, few studies have examined families' shared book reading practices in their two languages. The current study examined Hispanic parents' beliefs and practices during shared reading in…

Project R.A.I.C.E.S. ("Reaching All Individuals and Communities to Establish Success in Language Learning") is a National Professional Development grant initiative operating at Stephen F. Austin State University. Grant objectives were designed to enhance school readiness, English acquisition, and literacy outcomes for emergent bilinguals…

This study investigated the Advanced Placement (AP) college readiness indicator among gifted secondary students in Texas during 2019-2021 as related to COVID-19. Utilizing publicly available administrative data from the Texas Education Agency and a hierarchical linear model, the paper identifies changes in Texas school districts' college readiness…

To address the gap in students' exposure to and knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) content, Young Academic Music (YAM) was designed to integrate music, math, and computational thinking in a way that teachers can implement as a supplemental curriculum in their kindergarten classrooms to meet the needs of their students.…