The State of Dual Language Education in the U.S. in the Context of Equity and Social Justice

Summary

Our effort in this paper is to lay a foundation for the discussion of equity issues in DLI by summarizing some of the more recent research (and identifying some critical gaps) that might inform our understanding of these issues. The intent here is to establish general agreement on common understandings of what we know and what we do not, so that we may engage in creative dialogue on concrete strategies and actions aimed at ensuring social justice in DLI education. Given the current nationwide expansion of DLI programs as well as recent studies on it potential and vulnerabilities with regard to social justice, we consider the time to be ripe for a summary discussion of where we are and where we need to go. 

We focus on three key areas of DLI: 

(1) Academic outcomes; 

(2) Biliteracy and bilingualism; 

(3) Social and behavioral development. 

We end the paper with a report on the results of an unscientific survey of DLI administrators undertaken in September and October 2018. The goal of this survey was to identify issues and areas of concern across school districts that would help guide the equity conversation.