Educators' Perspectives on Complex Issues Related to Supporting Immigrant-Origin Students and Multilingual Learners

Abstract

Diversity in U.S. schools has increased significantly over the last decades. One in four children under 18 live with at least one immigrant parent, and 22% of U.S. residents aged five or older report speaking a language other than English at home (Esterline & Batalova, 2022). The experiences of immigrant-origin students vary depending on contextual factors such as individual school's policies and practices, the community where the school is located, as well as national and state legislation (Portes & Rumbaut, 2014; Golash-Boza & Valdez, 2018). This three-paper dissertation aims to understand the nuances of educating immigrant-origin students from the perspective of educators in distinct contexts. The first paper is a qualitative interview study in a Texas school district near the US/Mexico border. I investigated the language ideologies that underlie educators' perspectives on language separation in Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) classrooms. Educators in this study held complex ideologies about language separation in DL classrooms, informed by their view on the district’s students and families, the dynamic language practices of their border community, professional development, and testing and district policy requirements. The second paper presents a case study of a highly diverse school district in Illinois that established a district-wide ESL endorsement requirement. For this study, I interviewed educators and analyzed district documentation to understand the policy goals that guided the district to create this policy and how educators made sense of it. While policy goals were shared by educators in all roles, there was not enough space for collective sensemaking for teachers, who were critical of how policy implementation affected them. The third paper offers a comparative interview study of two school districts in Texas and Illinois with very different geographical locations, student demographics, and racial/ethnic makeup of their teacher force. This study examines how context shaped educators' attitudes and beliefs toward immigrant-origin students and families. Despite differences, educators from both districts who had experience working with immigrant populations shared similar and positive attitudes regarding immigrant-origin students and families’ assets, needs, and dispositions toward school. These results may help inform district language policy, policy implementation, and hiring decisions.