Leveraging Language and Content Integration to Support Multilingual Newcomers

• In Event: Beyond Dreaming: Realizing the Promise of Educational Equity for Immigrant Youth

Abstract

Objectives

This empirical study examines Internationals Academies (IAs), small learning communities embedded within U.S. public secondary schools that are specifically designed to serve newcomer English Learners (ELs). Aligned with the conference’s focus on remedy and repair, this work highlights how IAs strive to subvert aspects of traditional education systems that perpetuate inequities for immigrant ELs (Clark-Gareca et al., 2020; García & Sylvan, 2011; Valenzuela, 1999).

Perspectives
We focus specifically on the IA practice of integrating English language instruction with rigorous content instruction to improve opportunities and outcomes for multilingual newcomers. Traditional U.S. public schools often track ELs into remedial classes focused predominantly on English language acquisition, limiting access to credit-bearing coursework until they reach a certain level of English proficiency (Callahan, 2013; García & Kleifgen, 2018). However, withholding academic content from ELs harms their educational opportunities and long-term academic attainment (Callahan, 2013; Lee, 2012). Language and content integration (LCI) offers an alternative approach suited to multilingual newcomers.

Methods & Data
This three-year multi-sited case study draws on qualitative data collected from eight IAs across four regions of the U.S. Data sources include thirty 60-minute semi-structured interviews with school and district leaders; eighteen 45-minute focus groups with IA teachers; 20 staff meeting observations; and 94 school-based artifacts. Using deductive and inductive coding, our research team developed a codebook with seven parent codes and 32 subcodes. After assessing inter-rater reliability, we systematically coded the corpus of data in an online qualitative analysis platform. Next, we examined patterns in the data and identified subcodes to further analyze. The data informing this paper draw from analytic memos based on second-round coding of outputs related to LCI.

Findings
We found that IA instructors strived to tangibly connect language to content areas, rather than teach language in abstracted ways, so that students could develop their English while learning subject-relevant content. Educators reported LCI ideally involving project-based learning (PBL), collaboration, heterogeneous grouping, and cross-disciplinary alignment. According to IA administrators, PBL functioned as a “vessel” for effective LCI because it provided authentic settings for functional language use and allowed students to take on specialized roles and leverage their diverse strengths while collaborating in heterogeneous teams. Prior literature has noted challenges with implementing LCI, including limits on teacher knowledge and capacity. However, IAs are structured to support this approach through ongoing professional development and by prioritizing time for interdisciplinary teacher team meetings and individual planning, enabling teachers to align language goals across subjects and design their own curriculum and materials.

Significance
Remedying immigrant ELs’ disparate opportunities will not involve their relegation to remedial classes, which has too often been the norm. Instead, repairing these inequities needs to entail structures and strategies that synergistically support students’ access to rigorous coursework while effectively developing their English language proficiency in culturally sustaining ways. Understanding and implementing replicable approaches designed to support immigrant ELs is critical given these students’ consistent growth in the U.S. (NCES, 2023) and the continued failure of public schools to meet their unique needs (Ruiz-de-Velasco et al., 2000).

Authors

• Kelley Riffenburgh, University of California - Irvine

• Adriana Villavicencio, New York University