Dual Language Education Policy Gentrification Trends on Latinx Parents' Access and Educational Placement Decisions

• In Event: Gentrification 2.0 in Dual-Language Bilingual Education: New Ways of Peeling the Layers From Districts to Schools

Abstract

Purposes & Background
When educational policy initiatives are introduced, such as dual language education (DL), the beneficiaries of these policies, including who gains access, can have serious educational equity implications. Scholars have documented the strong gentrification forces at work in Utah’s state-led DL policy that strongly market towards those with white racial privilege, wealth and English privilege using global human capital reasons for language education (Authors 2016, 2017). Latinx parents represent a language community significantly affected by the gentrification of bilingual education in this state (Authors, 2017). Thus, this study looks at: How do gentrification trends in DL policy shape Utah Latinx parents’ DL access and educational decision-making?

Theoretical Framework
Using a critical discourse analysis lens (Fairclough, 2014), we examined the power dynamics and ideologies that are embedded within the policy discourses on and around Latinx parents’ access to DL programs and well as the material effects of these policies on Latinx families’ educational choices for their children, including their decisions related to enrollment in DL.

Methods & Data Sources
This qualitative study is grounded in a narrative inquiry methodology (Clandinin, 2013) to capture Utah Latinx families’ lived experiences about their educational decisions in the era of DL expansion. Data included Latinx parent survey responses and follow-up interviews. To explore the relationships between these experiences and the gentrification of DL trends, critical policy analysis (Tollefson, 2006) was employed to analyze district/school data and websites on DL program information and recruitment, selection, and enrollment policies. The focus of analysis was on: relevance to Latinx communities, Latinx parents’ elementary school placement decision-making process (including consideration of DL), and rationales for these decisions.

Findings
The findings illustrate the effects of the gentrification of DL on micro language policy implementation in two districts. Analysis of district/school DL policies offer context for these narratives revealing limited public information on DL programs on school websites, including contact information or how to apply. This was especially evident in neighborhood schools with high concentrations of Latinx families. District recruitment policies were largely invisible with many Latinx parents surveyed finding out about the DL program through teacher referral or word of mouth. However, even for Latinx parents that did connect with a DL program, logistical barriers led some to prioritize neighborhood schools over schools with DL programs found in more privileged neighborhoods. Like previous studies (e.g., Gerena, 2011; Shannon & Milian, 2002), our findings confirm that global human capital discourses were prevalently offered as rationales for Latinx parents’ placement choices alongside heritage discourses. Overall, findings reveal DL policies that hindered Latinx equitable access.

Scholarly Significance
Implications and recommendations for DL policymakers, programs and Latinx parent advocates will be offered in this session. In particular, we call on scholars and practitioners to prioritize equity/heritage concerns in micro language policy implementation as a means of expanding the recruitment, enrollment, and engagement of immigrant families into DL programs.

Authors

• Veronica E. Valdez, University of Utah

• Koeun Park, University of Utah