Can Bilingual Education Generate Meaningful School Integration? A Case-Study of Los Angeles
CRIS & LIEPP Seminar with Lucrecia Santibañez (UCLA), November 14th, 2025
Event Details
- Date and Time: November 14, 2025, 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
- Organizers: Jointly organized with LIEPP - Educational Policies Research Group
Context and Challenges
Seventy years after Brown v. Board of Education, urban schools in the United States remain highly segregated by race, income, and language. Low-income students are often concentrated in under-resourced schools. Recent growth of vouchers, charter schools, and homeschooling threatens decades of integration progress.
The Role of Bilingual Education
Bilingual Education, or [translate:“Dual-language immersion (DLI) programs”] as called in the U.S., offers a promising approach by providing instruction in English and a target language. These programs promote academic rigor, bilingualism, biculturalism, and cross-cultural competence. DLI is now the fastest-growing educational model in many states.
Since language, race, and economic status are closely linked, DLI schools, by targeting families with different home languages, attract students from diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.
Research Focus
This seminar will present findings from a recent research program examining DLI in Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest public school district. It will cover how and where these programs develop, their effects on segregation and academic and linguistic outcomes, and strategies for recruiting families from diverse backgrounds.
"Seventy years after Brown v. Board of Education, urban schools in the United States are increasingly segregated by race, income, and language, with low-income students concentrated in under-resourced schools."
"DLI schools bring together students from vastly different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds."
Author's summary: Bilingual Dual-language immersion programs may reduce segregation and improve learning by integrating students from different cultural and economic backgrounds in urban schools.