Community Enactment of Dual-Language Education in the U.S. Midwest: How Does Context Matter?

• In Event: Vice-Presidential Session: St. Louis at the Crossroads of Race, Empire, and Place in Urban Education Reform in the United States

Abstract

Across the U.S. in cities like St. Louis – places perceived as predominantly Black/white and monolingual – there are few state resources and expertise driving the new growth of dual language bilingual education (DLBE), that is, policies and programs that aim to develop students’ bilingualism and biculturalism from an early age. Moreover, research rarely explores how such language education develops within particular racial and political contexts, despite their use to explicitly integrate youth from diverse backgrounds. This study focuses on the specific context of St Louis city to examine how policies for dual language bilingual education are enacted within particular localities, especially for racialized children from immigrant and multilingual families. Framed by theories of policy enactment, this analysis is part of multi-year research/education partnerships focused on language education in St. Louis and two nearby school districts. We found the enactment of DLBE in each school system was shaped by community histories, changing demographics, and local education policies focused on racial desegregation and school choice. Implications will consider the importance of place-based research that carefully considers the unique factors shaping urban education reform, especially as more and more school systems develop multilingual education in localities increasingly diverse by race and language, while also increasingly fearful of such change.

Authors

• Lisa M. Dorner, University of Missouri
  Presenting Author

• Claudia G. Cervantes-Soon, Arizona State University
  Presenting Author