Constructing Access, Reproducing Inequity: Equity Traps in Educator and Institutional Discourses in DLBE

• In Event: Gentrification 3.0 in Dual Language Bilingual Education: A Districtwide Analysis of Equity for Emergent Bilinguals

Abstract

Purpose
As Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) programs expand into emerging immigrant gateway states, they are often praised for promoting bilingualism and racial equity, integrating English-dominant and emergent bilingual students (EB). However, scholars caution that such integrative models can also reproduce inequities (Authors, 2016; Valdés, 1997). This study contributes to growing research on DLBE gentrification by investigating how structural (programmatic) and ideological (discursive) forms of gentrification manifest within Crossroads District. Focusing on the discourses of English partner teachers and promotional narratives on school and district websites, we ask: How do English partner teachers’ discourses and school/district websites in DLBE construct language access and opportunities for EBs?

Theoretical Framework
We draw on three interrelated frameworks. First, building on Authors (2024a), we conceptualize gentrification in DLBE as demographic, discursive, and programmatic, often restructuring programs to center privileged families while sidelining EBs. Second, we incorporate McKenzie and Scheurich’s (2004) concept of equity traps, which are defined as entrenched beliefs and behaviors—including deficit views, racial erasure, and avoidance of the gaze—that prevent educators from fostering equity. Third, we apply Kaveh and colleagues’ (2022) critical discourse analysis framework to examine how subjects are discursively positioned as beneficiaries or maleficiaries through material, mental, and existential dimensions. Together, these frameworks illuminate how DLBE programs can reproduce exclusionary practices rooted in race, language, and class.

Methods
Using a multi-site comparative case study design (Yin, 2017) and critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 2003, 2015), we examined DLBE discourses within Crossroads District. Data sources included fieldnotes from school visits, semi-structured interviews with two English DLBE teachers (Suncrest and Castleville), and school/district website texts. Teacher interviews explored their instructional histories, experiences, and ideologies, while website analysis focused on how programs were marketed to families. Data analysis proceeded in three phases: (1) a priori coding for discursive and programmatic gentrification (Authors, 2024a); (2) critical discourse analysis of equity discourse; and (3) use of Kaveh et al.’s (2022) framework to assess how subjects were positioned in relation to access and opportunity.

Results
Websites' language choices and representations reflected a dominant discourse aligned with neoliberal and globalized values, contributing to discursive gentrification. The admissions procedures described by the websites revealed programmatic gentrification through explicit prioritization of majority families over minoritized ones, with placement being reserved for siblings of current students and children of district employees.

English partner teachers reinforced globalized, human capital-oriented views of Spanish (Authors, 2016) and supported student tracking practices (Umansky, 2016). Additionally, these teachers participated demographically in gentrification by enrolling their own children in more prestigious DLBE schools within the district.

Scholarly Significance
Implications of this study point to the need to recraft the textual narrative of DLBE on websites that embody the constituencies within the program, focusing on the local bilingual resources that are already present. For educator professional development, cultivating critical consciousness among educators (Palmer et al., 2014) is crucial to understand the equity trappings of DLBE and how they manifest discursively and programmatically.

Authors

• Santiago Parra Giraldo, Purdue University

• Tirtha Karki, Purdue University

• Dafne Zanelli, Purdue University