International Baccalaureate Programs in Schools Serving Latino Students: Transforming Language Capital Into College Capital

• In Event: Roundtable Session 21
  In Roundtable Session: International Initiatives in Bilingual Education: Comparative Studies and the International Baccalaureate

Abstract

International Baccalaureate programs offers rigorous curricula for 6th through 12th grade students that requires students to develop skills in two languages and offers students the opportunity to earn a bilingual high school diploma. The purpose of our research is to understand how and why schools serving linguistically diverse students chose to implement IB programs. Our research finds that the language philosophy of the IB program was congruent with the philosophy of school staff. Program staff value the language resources bilingual students bring to the classroom. These teachers utilized the bilingual requirements of the program to maintain the Spanish language skills of students and to develop these students into fully bilingual students who were prepared to apply for college.

Authors

• Anysia P. Mayer, California State University - Stanislaus

• Ursula S. Aldana, University of San Francisco

• Patricia C. Gandara, University of California - Los Angeles