A Review and Analysis of State Dual-Language Education Policies

• In Event: Equity for Bilingual and Dual-Language Education Policy: Considerations for Teacher Preparation and Student Access to Opportunity

Abstract

In this policy review and analysis, I first collected the state laws and policies on dual language (DL) program design and structure from all 50 states. I then developed and applied a basic rubric to those DL policies. States with more “high leverage” DL policies scored better than states without such policies. The top-scoring states were Utah followed by California, Colorado, Delaware, Indiana, North Carolina, and Texas. The lowest-scoring states were states with English-only laws or that prohibit languages other than English to be used for classroom instruction (i.e., Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and West Virginia).

Author

• Kara Sutton-Jones, Texas A&M University