UCLA

Dual language programs provide content instruction in two languages by leveraging the linguistic assets of English speakers and English learners. By elevating the status of the home language, students develop higher levels of bilingualism, reclassify at higher rates, and have improved self-concept. In this way, dual language has been seen as a tool to provide access to high quality education to language minority students. These programs have grown rapidly in the last two decades, yet there is concern that they are concentrated in predominantly white, English-only, middle-class neighborhoods, and/or in those undergoing significant demographic changes, with little or decreasing access for linguistic minority students. This is attributed to school choice which may push school and district decision-makers to use dual language to attract student populations they feel might increase enrollment, leading to exclusionary behaviors of linguistic minorities. However, most studies on this topic are limited to single school or district cases, and few have explored the notion of school choice and program expansion using longitudinal administrative data from multiple districts.In this mixed-methods study, I examine the growth of dual language schools in the context of school competition across 80 public school districts in Los Angeles County between 2000 and 2022. To do this, I use publicly available school and neighborhood-level data in combination with in-depth interviews with principals and district leaders (local policy makers). I examine how school and neighborhood characteristic trend data across time and explore which of these factors are correlated, if at all, with schools founding programs. Using the notion of market-based competition and social constructions of target populations, I then explore how competition impacts principals and other leaders’ decision to open dual language programs, how target populations are defined and what this can tell us about linguistic minority population access to these programs. Finally, I explore the use of dual language as a competitive strategy and explore program founding on subsequent Kindergarten enrollment.