Sixth International Conference on Immersion and Dual Language Education: Connecting Research and Practice Across Contexts

Paper/Best Practice Session (1 hour)

Spanish

Two-Way Bilingual Immersion

Using a mixed-methods approach, this study focuses on the efforts of one medium-sized school district in Southern California as it tries to improve its elementary and middle school Spanish dual language immersion program and expand into high school.

Research on dual-language immersion (DLI) programs (DLIP) continues to show significant benefits for both English language learners and native English speakers (Steele et al., 2015; Valentino & Reardon, 2015). Consequently, DLI programs are proliferating around the nation. This rapid growth poses challenges for school districts as they strive to meet demand. This study focuses on the efforts of one medium-sized school district in Southern California as it tries to improve its elementary and middle school Spanish DLI program and expand into high school.

This paper seeks to understand whether the Spanish DLI program, currently offered at two elementary and one middle school, is meeting the district's goals of bilingualism and bi-literacy, academic excellence, and multicultural understanding. In addition, it seeks to understand parental engagement and parental perceptions of program strengths and weaknesses. Lastly, the study seeks to explore whether teacher pipeline issues could pose challenges for program expansion. To do this, the study focuses on three research questions:

1. Which students are more likely to enroll in Spanish DLI and what are their outcomes? (Including progression through the program, academic, and EL reclassification)
2. What are teacher qualifications for DLI, and what can be said about the teacher pipeline for recruitment and retention into Spanish DLI?
3. What are parent perceptions and expectations around the program, its outcomes and characteristics?

To answer these questions researchers will collect data from student and teacher administrative records, and conduct teacher and administrator interviews, student surveys, and parent surveys and focus groups. The study will employ a mixed-methods approach. Results from this study can help other school districts as they seek to improve and expand their own DLI offerings beyond elementary and middle school.