ABSTRACT This mixed-methods study investigates the access of multilingual learners with disabilities (MLwDs) to bilingual education programs in New York City. Despite local policies that establish bilingual education as a right for all multilingual learners, only a small minority of MLwDs are enrolled in bilingual special education programs in city schools, and their access to dual language bilingual education is particularly limited. We found that program placement varies by district and is influenced by district leadership. When bilingual education is available for MLwDs, transitional bilingual education is the favored program model. Qualitative findings reveal that special education compliance often overrides bilingual education mandates, effectively excluding MLwDs from bilingual education. We argue the exclusion stems from policies, programming, practices, and beliefs that are rooted in ableism, and constitutes a form of bilingual education gentrification that marginalizes these students.

ABSTRACT Emergent Bilinguals (EBs) are the fastest-growing group in the U.S. K-12 system, offering opportunities to enrich mathematics classrooms and highlighting the need for pre-service teachers (PSTs) to adopt culturally responsive pedagogies. Despite progress in valuing EBs’ linguistic and cultural strengths, many PSTs still graduate with deficit-oriented beliefs that hinder effective mathematics instruction. This study explores the intersection of PSTs’ beliefs about mathematics and EB education, using survey data from 84 PSTs. Results reveal belief clusters, including traditionalist perspectives paired with moderate equity views and constructivist beliefs linked to stronger equity support. Findings can inform teacher preparation programs to foster inclusive, language-responsive mathematics pedagogy.

ABSTRACT Dual Language (DL) programs prioritize the intertwined development of linguistic and cultural competencies, emphasizing bilingualism/biliteracy, academic success, and sociocultural competence. However, existing scholarship highlights ambiguities surrounding the definition of sociocultural competence and its practical application, particularly how educators’ conceptualizations of language and culture influence their efforts to cultivate this competence. This study analyzes the narratives of two DL teachers, examining their perceptions of linguistic and cultural dynamics within educational contexts. Employing critical discourse analysis, findings reveal how participants’ understandings of the role of language and culture inform their pedagogical practices, contributing valuable insights for advancing sociocultural competence in DL programs.

ABSTRACT The current study explores the relationship between metalinguistic awareness – specifically phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and orthographic knowledge – and vocabulary knowledge within and across two languages, German (L1) and Arabic (L2), in bilingual children in Germany (N = 58). Phonological awareness emerged as a predictor of vocabulary knowledge in both languages, though its influence varied by language, with a stronger correlation in German. Arabic orthographic knowledge contributed significantly to vocabulary knowledge beyond phonological awareness in both languages. In contrast, German orthographic knowledge predicted vocabulary knowledge only in German. Morphological awareness did not significantly predict vocabulary knowledge in either language. These findings are discussed in terms of orthographic depth, morphological structure, and cross-linguistic variations between Arabic and German.

ABSTRACT This case study investigates how multilingual middle school students engage in collaborative computing practices by leveraging translanguaging. Drawing on sociocultural learning and translanguaging frameworks, we analyzed multilingual discourse during the implementation of an integrated mathematics and computer programming curriculum in an after-school context. Data sources included video and monitor recordings of group interactions and students’ work. Findings reveal that translanguaging facilitated the navigation of disciplinary concepts, enabling students to express ideas, collaborate, integrate personal interests, articulate programming constructs, debug code, and refine their work. Implications emphasize the need to broaden multilingual students’ participation by fostering translanguaging practices in STEM education.

ABSTRACT Given the persistent marginalization of Asian communities in U.S. K-12 schools and the complex nature of children’s literature as sociopolitical artifacts that can both disrupt and reinforce dominant racial ideologies in society, teachers’ role as “critical curators” of children’s literature is significant. In this study, we focus on five Asian American and Asian migrant elementary teachers in New York City public schools, each teaching large numbers of students of Asian descent, to examine their pedagogical selection and use of children’s literature in classrooms. The findings of the study demonstrated that the teachers used various Asian and Asian American-authored, race-conscious, and culturally and linguistically diverse children’s literature to affirm students’ ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds and their transnational and intergenerational connections. Teachers also utilized children’s literature as instructional avenues to promote anti-racist and transformative learning for young students by inviting the students to unpack their own experiences of racism, stereotypical portrayals of Asian communities, as well as the history of institutional racism and activist movements within Asian American communities. This study contributes to the growing research on teachers’ use of children’s literature and offer both practical and empirical implications.

ABSTRACT This qualitative collective case study delved into three Latina teachers’ lived experiences and language-embodied histories and ideologies as bilingual persons and teachers. It aimed to explore how these beliefs could impact their approach to biliteracy instruction for emergent bilingual students (EBs) in dual language (DL) classrooms. Using Critical Race Nepantlera Methodology and Testimonios, this study identified sources of knowledge and empowerment within teachers, encouraging the creation of spaces for reflection and transformation of inequitable biliteracy teaching practices. The results are summarized in three themes: (1) embodied, (2) articulated, and (3) practiced language ideologies, each one affected by personal and professional experiences, evidencing that language ideologies are not static. The results highlight the need for pre-service and in-service teacher education programs to include a critical perspective on biliteracy instruction that allows teachers to reflect on their beliefs and instruction as they advocate for practices that genuinely leverage EBs bilingualism.

ABSTRACT Family engagement in multilingual learner education offers benefits associated with improved academic performance, stronger parent-teacher communication, and more inclusivity of cultural and linguistic diversity. Responding to calls for professional development that enables teachers to meaningfully involve families, this paper draws from surveys and course assignments to examine how teachers expanded their perceptions about the incorporation of multilingual learner families in a graduate program. We conclude by discussing implications for teacher professional development with specific attention to how teachers can integrate multilingual learner families.

ABSTRACT Dr. Lucinda Lee Katz was born and raised in North Beach, San Francisco, CA adjacent to Chinatown proper, where she spent her K-12 years attending San Francisco’s public schools. Throughout her K-12 education, her peers were primarily Chinese, but she never had a Chinese teacher. She attended Chinese school every day after school and on Saturdays through her senior year in high school, yielding a higher level of Cantonese proficiency. As a member of the National Teacher Corps (1965–1968), she earned a Master’s degree in teaching while also serving as a teaching intern at a public elementary school. Stationed at Jean Parker Elementary in San Francisco’s Chinatown for her first teaching assignment, she was thrust into running parent-teacher conferences that semester as her master teacher was ill. She met Mrs. Lau, the mother of Kinney Kimmon Lau, who was the main plaintiff in Lau v. Nichols (1974). At the time, the language of instruction at the school was English only. Throughout this interview, Lucinda illuminates how the advocacy of Mrs. Lau led her to be transformed by the justice orientation of a bilingual education model.