The SYLLABLE Act: Supporting Equitable Access to Dual Language Immersion Schools

Last month, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) introduced legislation to expand access to dual language immersion (DLI) programs for children from families with low incomes, children who are English learners (ELs), and students of color. DLI programs engross students in language-rich environments where content knowledge develops alongside bilingualism and biliteracy. These programs bolster the academic success of all students, especially those in groups historically under-served by traditional schools, including English learners (ELs) and Latinx students. Bilingualism increases students’ likelihood of high school completion, provides employment opportunities in our increasingly global economy, and can lead to greater overall lifetime earnings.

Despite the many benefits of language immersion, access remains uneven due to a shortage of programs and bilingual teachers, and limited capacity to offer programs in the myriad of languages spoken by our nation’s EL students. At the same time, anecdotal evidence suggests that DLI programs are increasingly serving wealthier, native English speaking families at the expense of ELs and students from families with low incomes.

The Supporting Young Language Learners’ Access to Bilingual Education Act of 2020 (SYLLABLE Act) proposes a series of five grants, allocated over five years from the Department of Education, to initiate DLI programs in under-resourced communities. To participate in the pilot program, a three-part entity of at least one early childhood education program, such as a Head Start or state pre-K program, one technical assistance organization, which could be a national body like the National Association for Bilingual Education, and one local education agency, such as a public school district or a charter school, must first be established.

Eligibility requires documentation that programs are designing culturally and linguistically appropriate instruction, program evaluation and information dissemination strategies, and methods to engage with families. The technical assistance organization must have demonstrable expertise in implementing and evaluating high-quality dual language programs, and the collaborative must have qualified personnel to “develop, administer, evaluate, and implement the program.”

Benchmarks of a high-quality DLI program in the proposed bill include a student-centered curriculum that bolsters bilingualism, aligned instruction through the early elementary grades, and a rigorous assessment system. Quality programs, as described in the bill, would include a data collection strategy using a variety of measures of student progress. Staff would receive professional development aligned across the early and elementary education spectrum, with a focus on language and content acquisition, as well as assessment.

The pilot program is funded at $15 million for fiscal year 2021. Funding levels for the subsequent four years of the grant cycle were left undefined, but may presumably be lower, as programs have already purchased and produced bilingual resources and recruited and trained an initial cohort of teachers. For example, initial costs to start a DLI program in New Mexico are estimated to be between $30,000 and $60,000 per school for the first three years, while the costs to sustain the programs are similar to the cost of operating mainstream schools.

The bill does not clarify the number of students who might be served by this one-time $15 million investment, so reviewing other states’ spending may provide some insights. According to data from the DC Language Immersion Project, “Delaware’s program budgets $1.9M per year over 10 years to implement immersion programs for 10,000 students. Utah budgets $2.4M per year to serve 25,000 students in dual language programs – less than $100 per student.” Theoretically, this grant initiative may enable tens of thousands of students from families with low incomes to participate in DLI programs for the first time.

Among its strengths, the act promotes cooperation between entities serving children that are too often siloed, and intentionally connects learning across the early and elementary spectrum. These types of partnerships can ease transitions for children, encourage developmentally appropriate, play-based practices through the elementary grades, and reduce redundancies through more coherent instruction. They can also have a positive impact on student learning. For example, participation in the Early Kindergarten Transition Program in Portland, Oregon, a collaborative pre-K program prioritizing ELs, students of color, and students from families with low incomes, was shown to increase attendance in the early elementary grades, improve literacy scores, and reduce students’ need for literacy intervention. The bill also calls for greater professional development in assessment and establishes a system of assessment and data collection, addressing particularly pressing issues in equity for young children learning English.

While the act does encourage that programs “recruit, train, and continuously develop staff” to implement the programs, it does not address the immediate challenge of finding well-qualified bilingual teachers nor the long-term sustainability of DLI staffing. The demand for well-prepared, bilingual educators is outpacing supply across the United States, including multilingual regions of states like California and Texas, where nearly half of ELs are educated.

The bill also does not offer guidance about which model of DLI program to implement, or how the partner language will be selected if the school serves a community in which many languages are spoken.

Finally, while investing in the early and elementary grades is essential, DLI should be available throughout children’s preK-12 education. Questions arise around whether the intended gains of this bill can be fully accomplished if language learning is not sustained through subsequent, high-quality, DLI education in secondary schools.

The SYLLABLE Act takes an important first step in broadening linguistic opportunities for children who may not otherwise have access. Representative Grijalva previously introduced the legislation as the Providing Resources to Improve Dual Language Education Act (PRIDE Act), but it gained no traction. Its current iteration, brought before the House Education and Labor Committee in early February, has bipartisan co-sponsorship from nine representatives thus far.