The author examines some of the critical issues raised by Baker-Bell (2020a) about language education in the United States. The challenges associated with linguistic justice are related to a history of linguistic discrimination in the United States, which many sources have documented and affected many different linguistic backgrounds and peoples.…

A paradox marks bilingual education in the United States. On the one hand, many states encourage high school students to learn a second language by awarding them seals of biliteracy on their diplomas. On the other, young children who come to school with skills in languages other than English are not encouraged to retain these skills and are even…

Decades of research, reports, and political mobilization on rights to quality education for linguistically diverse students attest to our rumination on this problem and suggest that what has been studied, peer-reviewed, and published ought to result in real change. Nonetheless, challenges remain in converging robust strategies with critical…

Since many bilingual students do not have access to bilingual education, this article illustrates how to collaborate with families and create instructional innovations to support biliteracy for all young bilinguals. The authors implemented a Biliteracy Jumpstart for 6 weeks at the beginning of school year culminating in Family Biliteracy Day with…

California has one of the largest populations of multilingual learners (MLs) in the United States (California Department of Education [CDE], 2020; 2021). These MLs have unique strengths and needs, which require school psychologists to have specialized training (Gonzalez et al., 2022; Harris et al., 2021). However, few school psychology training…

The aim of the current systematic review and meta-analysis is to comprehensively synthesize the effectiveness of language promotion interventions in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings on L1 and L2 development of dual language learners (DLLs). We will use the PICOC-Strategy (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Context)…

In the U.S., programming for students classified as English Learners must adhere to the framework outlined in "Castañeda v. Pickard" (1981), which demands a basis in "legitimate educational theory," implementation with "adequate techniques," and regular evaluation (p. 1010), while remaining explicitly agnostic about…

Educators consider guided reading one of the most powerful instructional tools in a reading teacher's arsenal. Yet, when it comes to emergent bilinguals in both monolingual English and bilingual settings, guided reading is implemented monolingually, or in one language at a time. As the field of reading instruction has moved toward a more…

English proficiency cannot be seen as a prerequisite to meaningful participation in classrooms. Instead, language must be viewed as something that is developed in the process of learning when students are supported and have access to the richest curriculum.

In 2016, California voters approved state Proposition 58, repealing an almost 20-year ban on bilingual education for English Learners (ELs), who represent nearly 20% of the state's public school students. The state's reversal on bilingual education reflects a national trend of promoting bilingualism and expanding bilingual (also referred to as…

We begin this article with a brief look at opportunities to learn for the nation's growing numbers of Emerging Bilingual children. We briefly present the research literature that supports the use of children's languages other in English (LOTEs) in literacy instruction whether the children are participating in bilingual/dual language programs or…

In December 2020, the WIDA Consortium released the "WIDA English Language Development Standards Framework, 2020 Edition." In the coming years, the 2020 Edition will be implemented across 36 states, the District of Columbia, and four territories and agencies in the US. The 2020 Edition also arrives at a time when the field of TESOL is…

Nationally, there is a rise in students who are dually classified as emergent bilinguals and students with disabilities. While conversations around disproportionality and the over-representation of emergent bilinguals in special education are important, that discourse does not address the needs of students currently classified. Overwhelmingly,…

The aim of this essay is to reflect on an alternative pedagogical model, family workshops, and see how they can serve as an unconventional approach to family engagement, as well as provide a practical recount of the work developed by the LISELL-B Project. This alternative and innovative model may serve as a practical guide for educators,…

Assessment can provide information about student learning and the effectiveness of classroom strategies, but what are the special considerations when used with English learners? To better understand the research about how schools and systems can support multilingual learners through assessment, Elizabeth Foster spoke with Margo Gottlieb, an expert…