Cultivating a Positive Culture of Bilingualism: Introducing a Home Language Arts Curriculum for Students With Interrupted Formal Education

• In Event: Critical Explorations of Languaging in Dual-Language and Multilingual K–12 Classrooms

Abstract

A pilot Home Language Arts (HLA) curriculum for Spanish was developed and introduced during the Fall 2019 school year that was specifically designed for Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFE). This is a culturally relevant program that focuses on texts from the students’ own cultures. The focus of this evaluation was to examine whether the HLA curriculum improved teacher practice in terms of increased use of gradual release and curriculum-prescribed language structures along with improved student learning. Overall, the teachers reacted positively to the curriculum. Teacher and student practice improved across the evaluation in several areas and student engagement and home language writing also improved.

Authors

• Lisa Auslander, Research Foundation - CUNY

• Magdalen Ann Beiting-Parrish, CUNY Graduate Center