A narrative autobiographical exploration of language-in-education policy roles in a youth reengagement program

This qualitative case study explored how district-level leaders’ experiences with race and language shaped the interpretation and implementation of language policies for Emergent Bilingual (EB) students in a Texas school district operating under a bilingual exception and ESL waiver. Guided by a critical lens grounded in Raciolinguistics and LangCrit, the study examined how three bilingual/ESL leaders navigated the intersections of personal identity, policy constraints, and institutional expectations in their roles. Data were collected through a demographic questionnaire, two rounds of semi-structured interviews with each participant, and a review of publicly available district policy documents. A thematic analysis approach was employed to identify patterns of meaning across participants' experiences, with attention to how racialized and linguistic identities influenced their decision-making and advocacy for multilingual learners. Five key themes emerged from the data: (1) Personal Linguistic Histories Shape Professional Practice, (2) Ideological Negotiations in Language Policy Implementation, (3) Countering Deficit Thinking in Leadership for Emergent Bilinguals, (4) Policy Implementation as Tension—Between Compliance and Resistance, and (5) Emotional Labor and the Cost of Racial-Linguistic Advocacy. Together, these findings highlight the complex and often invisible labor district-level EB leaders undertake to sustain equity-minded practices within restrictive policy environments. This study contributes to the limited body of research on district-level EB leadership by centering the lived experiences of those navigating policy implementation through the lens of racialized language identities. Implications for policy design, district leadership preparation, and culturally responsive language programming are discussed.

6 A Longitudinal Study of Emergent Bilinguals among Chinese Pupils at a Japanese Public School: A Focus on Language Policies and Inclusion was published in Migration, Multilingualism and Education on page 93.

This study explored the interplay between early learning and development standards (ELDS) and emergent bilingual learners (EBLs) in PreK classrooms in Boston, Massachusetts. The study explored how preschool teachers and policy experts understand ELDS, and how teachers integrate ELDS with their practice generally, and specifically with regard to EBLs. To do so, it sought to understand the ways in which EBLs are positioned in Massachusetts’ ELDS; how ELDS are understood, perceived, and enacted in general education, sheltered English immersion (SEI), and dual language PreK classrooms; and how state and district level education policy experts perceive the relationships between Massachusetts language policy, ELDS, and the needs of young EBLs. The study contextualized ELDS within a sociocultural framework in order to provide an understanding of the role of standards in the early education of EBLs. Employing qualitative interviews and a review of ELDS documents, the study was situated within the context of the Massachusetts 2002 Question 2 legislation, which banned bilingual education and instead instituted SEI classrooms. The researcher found that Vygotsky and Rogoff’s sociocultural theories of learning were helpful in framing understandings of ELDS in their development and in practice. Using this lens allowed for depth in understanding the power dynamics in the development of ELDS, including reflecting on the dominant benchmarks considered in the writing of standards. As part of a systemic approach to educational equity, ELDS should be carefully reviewed within the context of a Eurocentric orientation in order to influence their nature. Using a sociocultural theoretical lens also allowed for depth in understanding ELDS implementation, including how children’s native languages and cultures are impacted by perceptions of EBL ability and achievement. The study offers suggestions including: reviewing and consolidating standards; changes to education and professional development (pre-service and in-service); policy changes in entry procedures for EBLs; more nuanced understandings of the inherent biases that undergird serving this population equitably; a heteroglossic view of dual language assessments; increasing workforce diversity; supporting paraprofessionals; improved communication with families; increased monitoring and feedback of ELDS; reconciling state and district early childhood work expectations; and an increased policy focus on EBLs.

This article presents English-medium instruction (EMI) in higher education (HE) from a language policy and planning (LPP) perspective. Based on a review of EMI policy research in diverse higher education contexts, we address several key contemporary policy tensions in EMI such as English native-speakerism, English monolingualism, and language education with attention to corpus, status and acquisition planning as well as the role of individual policy actors. In light of this review, we argue for an orientation to policymaking for EMI-HE institutions that acknowledges the value of individuals as policy arbiters and aligns institutional goals with “on the ground” needs and practices. We also point to areas of future research that would benefit all EMI stakeholders, in particular critical engagement with the nature of language competence in EMI settings and the enhanced development of evidence-based EMI learning outcomes. Finally, we propose an ecological framework for EMI-HE policy development that could be employed as a heuristic to guide universities in designing concrete EMI policies for their local contexts. As an extension, we also offer an inventory of reflective questions to guide key university stakeholders in effectively engaging in EMI policy processes.

The use of English as lingua franca in mainland Europe’s higher education and research sectors has rapidly expanded over the past several decades. Despite these expansions, critics claim that there is a conspicuous absence of European Union (EU) language policy concerned with the use of English as a “contact” language in education and research contexts. This study attempts to assess these claims by conducting a comparative analysis of English as a lingua franca discourse in the policy declarations and communications of two EU actors with remits for higher education and research – the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and the European Research Area (ERA). Using methods that draw on critical discourse analysis and corpus linguistics, I compiled specialised corpora consisting of the policy documents published by the EHEA and the ERA over the past twenty years. I then used the corpus analysis tool Sketch Engine and a reference corpus of general EU discourse to assess how often and in what ways language policy was considered. The analysis reveals intra-institutional conflicts in how language is conceptualised between policy actors and across policy portfolios in the EU. The findings also confirm the absence of explicit discourse on the use of English in academic and research contexts over the institutional lifetimes of two actors with remits for these sectors. The study highlights the persistence of a “top-down/bottom-up” conceptual gap at the heart of EU language policymaking regarding English as a lingua franca in European higher education and research.

The linguistic landscape (LL) is an important part of the public space for the formation of the linguistic consciousness of the population. It acquires particular significance in the conditions of natural bilingualism in the national republics of Russia. The correlation of languages in the visual space reflects the realities of the functioning and implementation of the state’s language policy as a whole. In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Yakut language has the status of a state language alongside the Russian language. In order to preserve and develop the languages of the republic, a long-term state programme is being adopted, which, unfortunately, does not reflect the linguistic landscape. The purpose of the study is to analyse the linguistic landscape of the urban-type settlement of Batagai, Verkhoyansky district. The study was conducted within the framework of the Summer Scientific School “Young Researchers of Verkhoyansk” in June-July 2023. In accordance with the purpose of the study, the following tasks were solved: collection of factual material by photographing institutional signs, banners, information materials, analysis of the representation of languages in visual LL, summary of the results. The method of collecting and analysing linguistic material, the statistical method, and the comparative analysis of photographic texts were used. In the first stage of the study, 369 units of LL were collected from two main streets of the village: Lenin and Ammosova. The collected material is grouped as follows: address signs, signboards, signs of operation hours, signs with prohibition or warning signs, information announcements, memorial signs, graffiti, billboards, signs of organisations, advertising posters. In the second stage, material was collected on the internal linguistic landscape of 16 buildings and amounted to 465 units. The internal linguistic landscape consists of information boards, announcements, advertisements, navigational information, etc.

State and federal policymakers considering introduction of a health insurance "public option" can learn from Washington State, which established the nation's first public option, with coverage beginning in January 2021. Public option plans were offered voluntarily by private insurers through the Washington Health Benefit Exchange and were subject to state-mandated plan design and payment requirements. We used plan data from the Washington Health Benefit Exchange, linked to data from the US Census Bureau, the American Hospital Association, and InterStudy. We compared geographic availability and premiums of, and enrollment in, public option and non-public option plans, as well as characteristics of counties where the public option was available and counties where the public option was the lowest-premium plan. At least one public option plan was available in 19 of 39 counties and was the lowest-premium option in 9 of the 19 counties where it was available. Five insurers offered public option plans, including one new entrant to the state and one new entrant to the Exchange. While public option availability was more common in counties where the Exchange was bigger and more competitive, public option plans had the lowest premium in smaller, less competitive counties. In the first year, 1% of enrollees selected the public option, in part due to automatic reenrollment of the majority of returning enrollees in their 2020 plan. Public option plans offered a low-premium choice in counties that otherwise had fewer affordable plans, but voluntary participation of insurers and providers and accompanying uncertainty about participation hindered widespread and substantial premium reductions. States should consider tying public option participation by insurers and providers to other state programs and using decision support tools to promote active enrollment. Federal policymakers can support state efforts while considering establishment of a national public option.

UK experience using the ESSURE™ micro-insert for hysteroscopic sterilisation

This paper discusses contemporary societal roles of German in the Baltic states (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania). Speaker and learner statistics and a summary of sociolinguistic research (Linguistic Landscapes, language learning motivation, language policies, international roles of languages) suggest that German has by far fewer speakers and functions than the national languages, English, and Russian, and it is not a dominant language in the contemporary Baltics anymore. However, German is ahead of ‘any other language’ in terms of users and societal roles as a frequent language in education, of economic relations, as a historical lingua franca, and a language of traditional and new minorities. Highly diverse groups of users and language policy actors form a ‘coalition of interested parties’ which creates niches which guarantee German a frequent use. In the light of the abundance of its functions, the paper suggests the concept ‘additional language of society’ for a variety such as German in the Baltics – since there seems to be no adequate alternative labelling which would do justice to all societal roles. The paper argues that this concept may also be used for languages in similar societal situations and, not least, be useful in language marketing and the promotion of multilingualism.

Wolf Feuerhahn : Cher Christian, merci beaucoup d’avoir accepte notre invitation ! Afin de ne pas imposer un cadrage temporel qui serait le notre, nous souhaitons commencer par vous demander comment vous scanderiez et borneriez l’histoire des politiques publiques de l’enseignement superieur et de la recherche, en France, en tant qu’elles ont une incidence sur la situation actuelle ? Christian Topalov : Le recit que vous me demandez de faire est necessairement une prise de position. Il y a, en...

The education equality program is one of the government's efforts to advance education in Indonesia through several policies, one of which is the policy of accepting new students through a zoning system. This zoning system emerged as a form of educational equality and to erase the image of superior schools that has spread in society. With this zoning system, it is hoped that all schools will have the same quality. Minister of Education and Culture Regulation Number 44 of 2019 contains the zoning system policy concerning acceptance of new students from Kindergarten to Senior High School/Vocational High School (SMA/SMK). This policy must be implemented in schools under the auspices of the Regional Government. With this new policy, it cannot be denied that many problems will arise for both the school and the community, namely students. This research aims to reveal the factual conditions of implementing the zoning system policy in accepting new students, especially at SMP Negeri 31 Surabaya, as well as to determine the impact of implementing this policy. This problem was analyzed using policy implementation theory according to George Edward III, namely communication, resources, disposition, and bureaucratic structure. This research method uses a qualitative approach. Data collection methods use interviews, documentation, and observation techniques. The results of this research reveal that communication between policy actors is carried out clearly and consistently, and outreach is carried out to the community. Human and non-human resources have supported all activities in implementing zoning system policies. The disposition in implementing the zoning system policy is excellent, which can be seen from the commitment and attitude of the implementing committee towards the policy. The bureaucratic structure in implementing the zoning system policy is very good, it can be seen from the division of tasks in the PPDB committee, that each committee has the task of accepting new students following standard operational procedures. Meanwhile, from the community or student perspective, different views emerged regarding this zoning policy, namely agreeing and disagreeing.

The commute trip reduction (CTR) program is an employer-based regional transportation demand management (TDM) effort initiated in Washington State in 1991. Through the CTR law, major employers in the nine largest counties are required to develop and implement TDM programs for their employees. As a result of the law, nearly 900 employers have developed programs affecting over 460,000 employees. The CTR statute requires an evaluation and periodic reports to the state legislature. The first formal report on the program's design and implementation was presented to the legislature in December 1995, thus ending the first phase of the program. To date, employers have fully developed and implemented their work-site programs, surveyed for their base year single-occupant vehicle and vehicle miles traveled rates, and completed their first measurement survey, and are assessing their ability to achieve the 1997 and 1999 CTR goals. As employers begin Phase 2 of the CTR program, they are raising concerns about some of the barriers they face in implementing the program. The effect of the CTR program on employers is considered, some of the lessons learned during Phase 1 are outlined, and how to translate these lessons into program improvements for CTR or other employer-based TDM programs is discussed.

Pairing Feeding Content With a Nutrition Education Curriculum: A Comparison of Online and In-Class Delivery

To evaluate the effect of routine anastomotic leak testing (performed to screen for leaks) vs selective testing (performed to evaluate for a suspected leak in a higher-risk or technically difficult anastomosis) on outcomes in colorectal surgery because the value of provocative testing of colorectal anastomoses as a quality improvement metric has yet to be determined. Observational, prospectively designed cohort study. Data from Washington state's Surgical Care and Outcomes Assessment Program (SCOAP). Patients undergoing elective left-sided colon or rectal resections at 40 SCOAP hospitals from October 1, 2005, to December 31, 2009. Use of leak testing, distinguishing procedures that were performed at hospitals where leak testing was selective (<90% use) or routine (≥ 90% use) in a given calendar quarter. Adjusted odds ratio of a composite adverse event (CAE) (unplanned postoperative intervention and/or in-hospital death) at routine testing hospitals. Among 3449 patients (mean [SD] age, 58.8 [14.8] years; 55.0% women), the CAE rate was 5.5%. Provocative leak testing increased (from 56% in the starting quarter to 76% in quarter 16) and overall rates of CAE decreased (from 7.0% in the starting quarter to 4.6% in quarter 16; both P ≤ .01) over time. Among patients at hospitals that performed routine leak testing, we found a reduction of more than 75% in the adjusted risk of CAEs (odds ratio, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.05-0.99). Routine leak testing of left-sided colorectal anastomoses appears to be associated with a reduced rate of CAEs within the SCOAP network and meets many of the criteria of a worthwhile quality improvement metric.

Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) integrates the teaching of basic skills and technical content in order to accelerate basic skills students’ transition into and through a college-level occupational field of study.This innovative program model was developed by the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) in collaboration with the community and technical colleges in the state. At the time of our study, all 34 community and technical colleges in Washington State offered I-BEST programming in at least one workforce area, and there were approximately 150 approved I-BEST programs across the state. The study reported on here represents the final phase of a multi-year evaluation of the I-BEST model that began in 2009, conducted by CCRC in collaboration with the Washington SBCTC. Based on fieldwork undertaken in spring 2011 on 16 I-BEST programs at eight colleges, this report builds on CCRC’s earlier qualitative and quantitative research by seeking to understand those aspects of I-BEST that best support student learning, progression, and completion. In addition, the report considers the I-BEST student experience and evaluates the costs of I-BEST program delivery. The findings and recommendations highlighted below may be useful for funders, policymakers, and practitioners in other states who are considering transition interventions similar to the I-BEST model.