This research uses a descriptive quantitative statistical design to examine campus-level results from the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR). The focus is on describing the achievement disparities between campuses that implemented Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) programs and those implementing Dual Language (DL)…

Bilingual education as a whole has been gentrifying, as more privileged students replace Transnational Language Learners (TLLs) in bilingual education spaces and policies (Valdez et al. in Educ Policy 30(6):849-883, 2016. https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1177/0895904814556750). We argue this is an extension of coloniality (Mignolo in Local histories/global…

Ideologies regarding what is "good" teaching undergird common teaching practices and pedagogical decisions, which may support and/or run counter to the broader policy environment in which they occur (Gibson, 1998). Drawing from a six-month ethnography of 10th-grade newcomer students from Mexico and their teachers in a Central Texas…

The growth of TWBE programs--mainly due to the surging interest of White English-speaking families--presents the field with myriad challenges and hopeful possibilities. Critical scholars in bilingual education point to an urgency to reissue Guadalupe Valdés's "cautionary note" due to a neoliberal path targeting TWBE programs, posing a…

In this investigation, the relationship between bilingual education program type (i.e., dual language programs or exit programs) and English Language Learner reading and mathematics test scores was examined. Data were obtained on English Language Learners who were enrolled in Grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 in Texas public schools for the 2008-2009,…

Simply put, children with poor English skills are less likely to succeed in school and beyond. What's the best way to teach English to young children who aren't native English speakers? In this article, Lisa Barrow and Lisa Markman-Pithers examine the state of English learner education in the United States and review the evidence behind different…

This article provides an in-depth exploration of the language ecologies of two classrooms attempting to implement a two-way dual language (TWDL) program and its mediating conditions. Drawing on ethnographic methods and a sociocultural understanding of language, we examined both teachers' and students' language ideologies and language practices,…

The policy of strict separation of languages for academic instruction dominates dual language bilingual education programming. This article explores the dynamic bilingual practices of two experienced bilingual teachers in a two-way dual language public school in Texas and contributes to current research problematizing language separation. Data…

It is essential for teachers to provide a setting where student interaction is fostered as a mediational tool for learning, thus expediting the natural transfer of language and knowledge among students (Cummins, 1979). Doing so provides students a way of learning in an additive environment (Soltero, 2004). Could such a classroom have the potential…

The purpose of this article is to discuss the ways in which young transfronterizo students who live between the two worlds of El Paso (USA) and Ciudad Juarez (Mexico) bring their literacy practices and content to the classroom. Drawing on the data gathered during a 3-year ethnographic study, we illustrate how transfronterizo texts and content are…

In the USA there has been widespread growth in Two-Way Immersion (TWI) programmes in all states, including those who have outlawed bilingual education. The model offers language majority students the opportunity to become bilingual alongside their language minority peers. Research has shown TWI programmes to be the most equitable and effective for…

Between 1979 and 2008, the number of school-age children (ages 5-17) in the United States who spoke a language other than English at home increased from 3.8 to 10.9 million, or from 9 to 21 percent of the population in this age range, according to the latest figures from the National Center on Education Statistics (NCES). The NCES also reveals…

This report presents information on the Connecting Worlds/Mundos Unidos Project and provides a general comparison overview of accomplishments during its five years of operation. The Connecting Worlds/Mundos Unidos Project has been operating in the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) for eleven years, but in the present format as a Jacob K.…

Perception of scholastic competence, perception of educational opportunities, motivation, and acculturative stress are student level variables that have been established in the relevant literature as predicting academic achievement. This study examined the degree to which those variables accurately predict student group membership in two districts…

Using a low-inference observational instrument, the authors empirically described and compared pedagogical behaviors in bilingual and structured English-immersion programs serving Spanish-speaking English language learners in a large urban school district in Southeast Texas. The two programs included both intervention/control of each type during…