Fifty years after the Lau decision, dual-language programs face critical challenges, particularly a national teacher shortage, especially in bilingual programs representing less commonly taught languages like Mandarin Chinese. This study explores the workplace environments of 13 Mandarin Dual Language Bilingual Education (MDLBE) teachers in a…

This critical literature review employs a novel combination of theoretical perspectives to examine the ways teachers navigate restrictive language policy. Specifically, we examine the documented effects of California's Proposition 227 on pre-service and in-service teachers' language ideologies and classroom practices. In our investigation, we…

While America is becoming increasingly diverse, educational stakeholders seek programs that address varied language and cultural needs, which is reflected by the growing popularity of dual language immersion (DLI) programs in recent decades. The problem is an extensively persistent academic achievement gap between students with native English and…

Parent involvement is often cited as an essential component of effective dual language bilingual education (DLBE), yet we have limited understanding of the ways parents participate in DLBE or how parent experiences differ between Latinx and non-Latinx families, who often have different reasons for enrolling their children in bilingual programs.…

This paper describes the author's personal involvement with issues of policy and implementation that were sparked by the "Lau" decision. Topics included are student assessment, the bilingual education wars, the role of research, the paradigm shift with the advent of standards, and California state policy in the education of English…

The "Lau v. Nichols" ruling shows the importance of tailoring programs for local multilingual learners. We used longitudinal data from one school district in California to assess the relationship between attending a school with a language support program and English language arts (ELA) achievement. We found that students labeled an…

California has witnessed substantial growth in multilingual programs over the past half-century since the foundational "Lau v. Nichols" decision, with one in seven public schools statewide offering such programs for students. Likewise, the rapid rise in California's Asian population, as well as the increase in both overall racial…

Artificial Intelligence technologies are becoming ubiquitous, transforming the workforce by altering or creating jobs and influencing decisions that affect minority communities. The necessity of AI literacy, comprising knowledge and skills for critical interaction with AI, is increasingly important. Multilingual learners, engaging with both every…

Research on the inequities present within dual language (DL) programs demonstrates that these programs are not immune from the racial stratification prevalent in the United States. Despite intentions to center justice for minoritized students in DL programs, unexamined ideologies among educators can inadvertently perpetuate the existing status…

The post-pandemic world has witnessed a surge in linguistic racism; anti-Asian stigma has not only altered bilingual education but also created tensions for immigrant families and teachers from Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. In this conceptual article, Vygotsky's concept of "perezhivanie" is employed to examine…

This case study explored Spanish-speaking educators' perceptions and experiences of dual-language immersion (DLI) professional learning (PL). The study aimed to understand how PL offerings could best support and meet the needs of DLI Spanish teachers' best practices in the target language. The perceptions and experiences of seven Spanish DLI…

California's K-12 funding and instructional policies for English learners (ELs) have changed significantly over the past 2 decades. The major policy shifts held the potential to change student learning outcome patterns for ELs. As a first step in identifying the potential impacts of these policy shifts, this report describes changes over time in…

California's K-12 funding and instructional policies for English learners (ELs) have changed significantly over the past 2 decades, including new requirements for instructional materials specific to ELs statewide and a new school funding system that funds ELs at a higher rate. These major policy shifts held the potential to change student learning…

This study examined how three champion principals of Asian language dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs--Cantonese, Korean, and Mandarin--in California have navigated the oscillating language-in-education policies after the Lau decision. We explored principals' various roles through a lens of agency in a social justice leadership…