Attaining Advanced proficiency and beyond has been a principal goal for second language learners, practitioners, and researchers. Achieving this level in writing requires producing connected discourse of paragraph-level length and nurturing the ability to arrange various linguistic units to form a unified and cohesive whole. This ability, known as…

This study was a critical ethnography of the educational struggles of emergent bilinguals. Emergent bilingual newcomers who immigrate to the United States and enroll in U.S. schools at the secondary level struggle to meet the necessary requirements to graduate from high school. The focus was on finding what structures, policies, and practices…

National statistics indicate Latinos are a growing demographic across the U.S. Additionally, census data shows Latinos have low college enrollment and completion rates. Bilingual education is a venue through which many Latinos are schooled. Most studies on the impact of bilingual education have focused on elementary grade levels. Those that expand…

This three-article dissertation examined how policy choices in three key policy areas -- initial enrollment, service provision, and reclassification -- impact English learner (EL)-classified students. The first article examined the national landscape of state statutes, regulations, and state education agencies' (SEA) guidance that support…

The Bilingual Education Act of 1968 and the Lau v. Nichols Supreme court case (1974) have changed the way school districts prioritize education for English Learners. With the same intention to prioritize education for English Learners alongside foster youth and low income, former Governor Jerry Brown and the California legislature followed suit by…

Migrant and seasonal farmworkers are the fabric and driving force of the agricultural economy in the U.S. They make it possible for us to thrive on fresh fruits and sustenance on a daily basis. However, there has been a lengthy history of K-12 schools failing to meet the needs of children of migrant farmworkers and youth migrant farmworkers.…

Current literature on dual language programs is focused at the elementary school level, while research at the secondary level remains sparse. Hence, this study addresses the literature gap by considering the impact of school organization and instruction on these programs. Specifically, this collective case study examines the effective features of…

This study examines the educational and societal experiences that lead students to maintain or lose their heritage language to see how these experiences affect the language choices that young Latino/a adults are making after high school. Examining the experiences that lead language learners to lose or maintain their native language is important…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to track, compare, and analyze the college readiness of two cohorts of Hispanic English Language Learners (ELLs) by examining scores on state exit-level and national college entrance exams. One cohort was enrolled in the early-exit Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) program, while the other cohort was…

This study explores the effects of a Two-Way Bilingual Immersion (TWBI) program on language majority and minority students. The fundamental hypothesis was that the process of receiving instruction in two languages (English and Spanish) throughout elementary school (i.e., attendance at a TWBI school) would help the native Spanish-speaking students…

In this design-based study, an eleven-week curricular module in recent American history was developed that departed from both the epistemology and ideology of traditional textbooks. The curriculum instantiated a constructivist epistemology by having students assess multiple historical narratives and sources of evidence. It instantiated a…

This dissertation presents a research study of the perceived level of parent involvement in primarily Hispanic secondary schools within Chicago Public Schools (CPS) with relationship to the type of leadership practices self-identified by that school's principal. Data was collected via a questionnaire which was administered to parents of secondary…

This action research study examined the role of the Migrant Graduation Specialists in public middle schools, junior high schools, and high schools participating in a special project called HOPE (Honing in On Post-secondary Education); and analyzed the viewpoint of migrant students participating in this project in order to determine their…