While many research studies have examined the early literacy development and experiences of monolingual children (e.g. Clay 1982, 1991, 2001; Dyson, 1984, 1993, 2003), there are few studies that investigate the early literacy development of young emergent bilingual students (Dworin & Moll, 2006; McCarthey et al., 2004; Moll, Saez, Dworin, 2001). Drawing on sociocultural theory (Rogoff, 1990; Vygotsky, 1978), 1995), critical race theory (Ladson-Billings, 1998; Solorzano & Yosso, 2009; Taylor, 2009; Yosso, Villalpando, Delgado Bernal, & Solórzano, 2001) and ethic of care perspectives (Noddings, 1984), this case study examined emergent bilingual students’ writing development during writing workshop in the context of an “English only” official curriculum. Questions guiding the study were: (1) How do emergent bilingual writers participate in writing events? (2) What social, cultural, and linguistic resources do emergent bilingual writers draw upon when engaged in the composing process? and (3) What impact do these resources have on emergent bilingual writers’ understandings of the writing process? Data sources included teacher, student, and parent interviews; field notes and transcripts of focal students' talk and interactions during the whole class mini-lessons and share sessions, individual writing time, and teacher/student writing conferences, and student writing samples. Constant Comparative approach (Charmaz, 2006; Glaser & Strauss, 1965) was used to analyze the data. Findings from this study indicate that emergent bilingual students draw from rich social, cultural, and linguistic repertoires as they write. Findings also indicate that issues of power and agency play out as student position themselves within the group based on language proficiency. On the basis of this study, teachers can support students as they draw upon their rich resources by supporting talk in multiple languages in the classroom. This study also demonstrates how the politics of language education impact young students as they position themselves in the classroom based on access to linguistic resources. Implications for classroom practice include challenging deficit perspectives that fail to view students’ home language and culture as a resource in learning. Teachers can support students as they draw upon their rich resources by encouraging talk and writing in multiple languages in the classroom. Further questions are reasied about English only policies that deny students opportunities to engage in multilingual practices as they learn to read and write in classroom settings.

This study uses ethnographic tools to document the multiple literacy practices of two Mayan families living in a rural community in Yucatan, Mexico. It explores how young emergent bilingual children make sense of written language through their everyday practices. Data includes field notes from participants observations, video and audio recordings and literacy samples collected during fieldwork. The literacy events extracted from the data were analyzed in terms of the communicative function written language serves, the use of linguistic resources, and particular ways of socialization within literacy events. The findings of this study challenge public discourses which define marginalized children and their families as deficient. Literacy is part of the everyday life activities of minoritiezed families and these experiences provide their children with vast amounts of literacy knowledge. Through the two case studies presented, we document how different language and literacy practices shape children's different pathways to bilingualism and biliteracy.

ABSTRACT Five of the top 16 counties in the United States with the fastest growth in the Latino population from 2000 to 2007 are in Georgia (Pew Hispanic Research Center, 2015). The Georgia metropolitan area where the study occurred has more Latinos than Austin, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, or Tucson (Pew Hispanic Research Center, 2015). Particularly following the New Latino Diaspora (Hamann, Wortham, & Murillo, 2002; Murillo, 2002; and Villenas, 2002) schools in the Southeastern United States have more and more Spanish-speaking students (Pew Hispanic Research Center, 2015). However, most classroom teachers have not received specialized training or professional development relating to these students (Ballantyne, Sanderman, & Levy, 2008; Barrera & Jiménez, 2000; Carrasquillo & Rodríguez, 2002; Dove & Honigsfeld, 2010; Echevarria, Short, & Powers, 2006; Kim, 2010; Walker, Shafer, & Iiams, 2004). My study’s purpose was to explore the interactions between an English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher (myself) and classroom teachers in my school relating to newcomer emergent bilingual students. The main research question guiding this study was: What happens when an ESOL teacher and classroom teachers intentionally gather to focus on newcomer emergent bilingual students? Teachers attended 12 weekly gatherings which were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed. This study exemplifies practitioner research and thematic analysis of the data. Sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978, 1986) and critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970) frame this study and were used as interpretive lenses for data analysis. Five major themes emerged: newcomers, resources, connections with classroom experiences, perceptions, and professional development. Findings related to teachers’ sense of self-efficacy relating to newcomers, their awareness of linguistic and cultural issues, and the importance of the social-emotional climate. A kit for classroom teachers of newcomers was prepared. Recommendations include support for classroom teachers who receive newcomer students—resources for the first days with a newcomer and ongoing interaction with other teachers for discussing strategies and reflecting on classroom experiences. Additional research is needed to increase awareness of the transition for classroom teachers and students when a newcomer arrives.

This study is significant because U.S. schools are continuously being transformed due to the increasing numbers of linguistically and culturally diverse students, in particular Latina/o youths. Therefore, this qualitative dissertation study explored and described ways three Latina Tejana Maestras utilized Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP) during literacy learning as they integrated students’ knowledge about their social and cultural environment, including their native language repertoire, while developing and implementing instruction. This study used sociocultural and borderlands theoretical construct to explore and describe ways the Maestras enacted and sustained CRP during literacy events. The sociocultural perspective is a fitting lens because it takes into account how knowledge is constructed in and through social interaction. Borderlands is also a fitting lens because it takes into account the Tejana Maestras borderlands identity of straddling simultaneous worlds — two languages, two cultures. Sociocultural theory and Borderlands theoretical lenses were complemented by CRP, a teaching approach that not only fits the school culture to the students’ culture, but uses the students’ culture as the basis for students to understand themselves and guiding them to becoming academically successful. The two questions used to guide this dissertation were: What culturally responsive pedagogical knowledge and practices do Tejana Maestras enact in bilingual classrooms? Second: How do Tejana Maestras acquire knowledge about the culture, language, and background experience of their students when planning and implementing instruction? The research revealed three themes, a) the presence of Building a Bilingual Classroom Community (BBCC) that was continuously evolving, and seamlessly functioning, as a system was clearly evident in each of the three classrooms, b) the Tejana Maestras notion of agents of change that guided their pedagogical literacy practices, and c) the notion of centering Mexican American students’ values, beliefs, and norms into the pedagogy and curriculum responsive to emergent bilinguals was recognizable. Six findings developed from the data; a) Tejana Maestras foster cultural awareness, b) embrace Latina/o bilingualism, c) employ a menu of culturally responsive literacy practices, d) learn from their students e) are conscious of their identity, and f) teaching philosophy. Due to U.S. schools being transformed by the increasing numbers of linguistically and culturally diverse students, the study demonstrated that it is important to conduct research about Tejana Maestras to learn the ways they are effectively meeting the needs of bilingual students by using CRP to promote academic success. / text

Teachers face pressures to meet the needs of an ever-changing diverse population of learners while simultaneously attempting to assist students in meeting state standards. There is a body of research that supports emergent bilinguals' growth in reading and writing. However, those practices do not necessarily reflect classroom instruction nor the needs of the students. The purpose of this study was to examine adolescent emergent bilinguals' perceptions about their learning from research-based literacy practices implemented in a classroom designed as a third space. Data were collected using participatory research and photo-elicitation and were analyzed using inductive analysis. The emergent bilinguals provided their insights about class assignments. Findings revealed that research-based literacy practices support emergent bilinguals' perceptions of learning when they are made accessible to them in distinctive yet extensive ways. For students to uncover which literacy activities they value, teachers need to present them with various opportunities to explore their own learning and encourage them to take ownership of their learning. Educators must consider the unique and individual needs of emergent bilinguals when designing the classroom environment and the lessons based on the standards. Recommendations for practitioners, professional development coordinators, and researchers are presented.

Thesis advisor: Lauri Johnson / This qualitative case study examined the perceptions of school and district leaders about fostering teacher leadership, specifically to support emergent bilingual and Latinx students in a public school district in the state of Massachusetts. The most recent model of transformational leadership developed from Leithwood’s research in schools (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2000) served as the conceptual framework. Data collection included 13 individual semi-structured interviews with district, building and teacher leaders as well as field notes and document reviews. Findings indicated that school and district leaders perceived they support formal and informal teacher leadership practices for emergent bilingual and Latinx students. Top-down approaches to collaboration and professional development impacted the development of teachers as leaders, creating barriers and challenges in each of three components of transformational leadership (setting direction, developing people, and redesigning the organization). Recommendations include establishing a collective vision for promoting and developing teacher leadership. Future research could be designed to better understand how teacher leadership is enacted to support issues around equity and social justice, and how we might encourage more teacher leadership among marginalized groups. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

The purpose of this study was to understand how young children bridge belonging and language in a dual language immersion (DLI) setting. I developed a 10-week ethnographic study in a Spanish-English third-grade class in the Northeast of the U.S. where data was collected in the form of field notes, interviews, and artifacts. Here I explored the way language instruction and student participation influenced the development of the teacher and students’ multiple identities. The findings of this study suggest that emergent bilinguals’ identity development derives from the process built through multiple dialogic classroom instruction and practices. The products of this process emphasize the sense of belonging and language practices as main components of students’ hybrid and fluid identities. This research contributes to the field of identity development and DLI studies in terms of knowledge, policy, and practices. In particular, the findings of this study: (a) increase our knowledge of students’ multiple identities development in DLI settings; (b) impact policy implementation in elementary schools; and (c) reveal classroom strategies and successful instructions in elementary education.

abstract: This multilevel, institutional case study used ethnographic methods to explore the intersections of local language policies and emergent bilingual students’ identities in dual language and structured English immersion (SEI) classrooms at one urban elementary school. Using a sociocultural policy approach as means to explore the ways that educational language policies are appropriated and practiced in schools and classrooms and an intersectional literacy identity framework, I engaged in a multilevel qualitative analysis of one school, two fifth-grade classrooms, and four focal emergent bilingual students. At the school and classroom levels, I sought to understand the ways educators practiced and enacted language policies as well as how they conceptualized (bi)literacy for emergent bilingual students. At the student level, I engaged in identity-text writing sessions designed around student interests yet aligned with the opinion/argumentation writing style the students were working on in class at the time of data collection. Additionally, I conducted one-on-one interviews with the participants at each level of analysis (i.e. school-level, classroom-level, and student-level). The primary data analysis sources included participant interviews, classroom observations, and student identity-text artifacts. Findings highlight the dynamic in-school and classroom-level realities of emergent bilingual students in an Arizona educational-language policy context. Specifically, at the school level, there was an ongoing tension between compliance and resistance to state-mandated policies for emergent bilingual students. At the school and classroom levels, there were distinct differences in the ways students across the two classrooms were positioned within the larger school environment as well as variation surrounding how language and culture were positioned as a resource in each classroom context. The role of teachers as language policymakers is also explored through the findings. Analysis of student texts revealed the centrality of intersectional student identities throughout the writing processes. The discussion and conclusions more broadly address implications for educational practice, policy, and future research directions. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2018

Hispanic students make up 12% of the enrollment in Utah elementary and secondary schools but only 3.4% of the enrollment at Utah's colleges and universities, according to Alemán and Rorrer (2006). The intervention Latinos in Action (LIA) seeks to increase high school completion and college graduation rates among emergent bilingual Latinos by involving them as paraprofessional literacy tutors for younger Spanish-speaking students. This dissertation, written in article-ready style, reports on two studies of the program. Study 1, a survey of 128 high school students, found that those involved in the service and literacy program scored higher than their bilingual Latino peers who were not involved on two dimensions of high school engagement: level of education desired and feelings that school contributed to increased self-understanding. Study 2, a coding analysis of 200 LIA student journals, demonstrated a high level of reflectivity across three emerging themes: satisfaction with the tutee's progress, growth in leadership and social skills, and increased drive for school success. Implications for educators and program administrators are discussed. Although intended for separate publication, the studies inform each other in important ways. For example, the qualitative finding in Study 1 that LIA students more than their non-LIA peers view school as important to their self-understanding correlates with the qualitative finding in Study 2 that 80% of LIA journal writers employed self-reflective language to describe experiences in LIA—indicating perhaps that elements of the program prompt the kind of thinking and communication that enhances understanding of self. Similarly, the new confidence and determination to succeed in school expressed by LIA journal writers supports the Study 1 finding that LIA students target higher levels of post-secondary education than do their non-LIA peers. Specific journal entries provide a window into how that growth in ambition comes to be. Within the hybrid dissertation format, Appendix A provides a literature review linking both studies. Appendix B gives detailed coding methods for Study 2. Appendix C combines the findings of both studies in a general discussion.

<p>  </p> <p>This dissertation explores the healthcare status, concerns and access of Spanish-speaking, immigrant Latinos who live and work in and around Clinton County, Indiana. The study analyzed the responses of 579 participants who answered questions during 20-minute, door-to-door interviews (80% of which were conducted in Spanish). The study’s sponsor, the Indiana Minority Health Coalition (IMHC), was interested in assessing the health needs of this Latino community because it receives IMHC’s funding for health disparity reduction. IMHC was interested in comparing the results of a previous benchmarking study, conducted a decade earlier, to the 2020 results for the purposes of understanding how successfully programming was being implemented. Between 2010 and 2020, Indiana’s Latino population increased nearly 25%, and the population in Clinton County (where more than half of the school children are now Latino) almost doubled.</p> <p>The study was spearheaded by the Purdue Center for Regional Development in conjunction with the Learning Network of Clinton County, a community-based organization that provides education and training in English and Spanish to adult learners, as well as the Mexican Consulate of Indianapolis that promoted the study among Spanish-speakers and shared the study results. Faculty and staff from the Indiana University School of Medicine at Purdue University served in an advisory capacity with medical students enrolled in West Lafayette’s Latino Concentration Program serving as co-investigators. They were assisted by 10 bilingual (Spanish/English) youth of the community and two adult, bilingual (Spanish/English) Promotores de Salud (community health workers) who were trained and earned their ethical research certifications to participate.</p> <p>The study used a mixed-methods, community-based participatory research approach to survey design, data collection, data analysis, dissemination of results. The findings this study revealed are detailed in the following three journal articles that each concentrate on a component of the project. In addition to its focus on health, the survey asked participants about their education and literacy levels, job satisfaction, and feelings of acceptance in the United States. The study provided insights based on descriptive statistics as well as a set of logistic regression models. </p> <p>Immigrant voices were elevated to build awareness of their healthcare and workforce situation among providers, educators, public policymakers, community organizations, and employers of Latino workers. As this work was both exploratory and comparative in nature, there are implications for healthcare and workplace interventions that could improve equitable outcomes. </p>