University Honors

Multilingual education opportunities in California are on the rise and have given way toestablish more dual language immersion (DLI) programs. In the Inland Empire, being Spanish-English bilingual with the ability to read, write and communicate at an academic level isadvantageous, culturally, and economically. Prior research has established that teacher trainingneeds revision to allow space and time in developing the necessary skills for instruction(Capdevila-Gutierrez et al., 2020). Teachers have been found to encounter challenges inimplementing DLI instruction strategically while creating a communal classroom climate.Teachers may benefit from: feeling identified with the student population, having experiencewith bilingualism, and incorporating active learning. Teacher preparation has been crucial infacilitating student adaptation and performance inside and outside the classroom (Capdevila-Gutierrez et al., 2020). The study reviews Spanish-English DLI teachers' perceptions of theirpreparation and how they assist the student needs in the Inland Empire K-6 classrooms. Data wascollected from various DLI programs in the Inland Empire through teacher surveys, interviews,and instructional materials. The data was analyzed and coded for themes in the areas such asteacher preparation, teacher identity, student instructional needs, and student-teacherrelationships. Findings indicate teachers’ guidance on lesson planning, translanguaging, andreinforcement of a student's circle of support can facilitate a better teaching experience. In bestpreparing teachers, it takes investment from pre-service and in-service programs, and thecommunity to develop a support system for teachers and students in DLI classrooms.