By Elizabeth M. Uzzell & Jennifer B. Ayscue (click here for the PDF)
Although it has been more than 65 years since Brown v. Board of Education declared segregated schools to be inherently unequal, the goal of racial integration has not yet been fulfilled in the United States. Rather than implementing integration on equal terms, Brown eventually led to many Black schools closing and students of color attending White schools. Even before Brown, Mendez v. Westminster (1947) asserted the rights of students of Mexican descent to attend white schools—the implication being that students of color would be better served in white settings. While it is true that white schools typically had more resources available and offered a desegregated educational experience, the effect was weakened in cases where schools did not provide a culturally inclusive experience for students of color. The idea that white schools are better, and that children of color should be the ones who are “bused,” persist to this day because white supremacy, which justified school segregation, still influences the education system. Black and brown students continue to feel its effects, and not only because of race. Today, Latinx emergent bilinguals are among the most segregated students in the U.S., often experiencing separation based not only on race and poverty but also language (Gándara, 2010).
Desegregation reached a peak in 1988, and many schools have since resegregated (Frankenberg et al., 2019). True integration, which involves equal status interactions, is beneficial for both students of color and white students, and has resulted in documented academic, interpersonal, and long-term positive effects (Allport, 1954; Linn & Welner, 2007; Mickelson & Nkomo, 2012). Students of color who attend integrated schools have improved academic performance, lower dropout rates, and higher graduation rates (Balfanz & Legters, 2004; Mickelson et al., 2013; Mickelson et al., 2020; Swanson, 2004). Students who attend integrated schools tend to have reduced prejudice and more friendships across racial lines, making them more capable of succeeding in a diverse society (Tropp & Saxena, 2018). They experience increased educational and occupational attainment, greater economic returns, health benefits, and less adult poverty (Johnson, 2011, 2019). However, without attention to true integration, the experiences of students of color in desegregated schools have been varied. Students of color, Black students in particular, are more subject to disparities in discipline, lower-level academic tracking, and overidentification for special education (Losen & Martinez, 2020; Mickelson, 2001; Oakes, 2005; Sullivan & Bal, 2013); while students of color who enter school speaking a different language than English have historically been encouraged to replace that language with English (Gándara & Orfield, 2010).
A growing movement to support bilingualism rather than only English acquisition may have helpful implications for students of color and racial integration. While dual language immersion programs allow emergent bilingual students to nurture their first language as they learn English, two-way immersion (TWI) programs in particular offer one avenue for true racial integration. Unlike one-way immersion, TWI aims for a 50/50 balance of native and non-native speakers; therefore, a Spanish TWI program would have a balance of Spanish speakers and Spanish learners. These programs have proved successful for language acquisition by promoting bilingualism and biliteracy, and have additional academic and social benefits (Lindholm-Leary et al., 2007; Thomas & Collier, 2014; Valentino & Reardon, 2015). However, they have rarely been viewed as a means for voluntary integration. Given the academic, social, and long-term benefits of integration, and the negative impacts of worsening segregation for students of color, the possibility of TWI programs to facilitate desegregation and integration must be investigated.
For our study, we asked the question: How does TWI facilitate true racial integration? We chose a qualitative approach because true integration indicates that students are in a racially diverse environment and that their experiences in those classrooms are equitable. Specifically, students of color and white students collaborate as equals in mutually beneficial environments.
In order to discover if TWI provides this mutually beneficial environment, we collected data at one rural elementary school in the Southeast. The school district in which the school resides had experienced increased Latinx enrollment in years prior and decided to implement TWI in six of its schools to support Spanish-speaking students instead of solely relying on English as a second language (ESL) services. TWI in this school began in kindergarten and had students rotate on a daily basis between an English-speaking classroom and a Spanish-speaking classroom, rather than remain in one classroom where both languages are spoken. We observed in eight classrooms, both Spanish and English, and interviewed 12 of the 14 TWI teachers, the principal, and the guidance counselor.
Based on our observations, these classrooms were not only racially desegregated but also had the hallmarks of true integration. We used open coding of interview transcripts to generate four themes describing the nature of integration in this TWI program, and triangulated our data with observations and documents from the school website and school board meeting minutes. We found that TWI at this school facilitates integration by promoting equal status, bilingualism, biculturalism, and an environment where all students could be successful.
Teachers reported that because all students were emergent bilingual, they interacted as equals, with one teacher saying, “They’re [Spanish speakers] going to learn how to speak in English from the English speakers, as well as the English speakers to learn from them. So they respect each other. They know that they are facing the same difficulties even if they are from different backgrounds.” Students were encouraged, both formally and informally, to work together through cooperative learning. We observed students collaborating to understand difficult mathematics concepts, practice vocabulary, and discuss their reading in English and Spanish. We also saw that in less structured environments like recess, students of different racial and linguistic backgrounds chose to play together. One participant, who also had a son in the program, explained that TWI helped students develop close, long-lasting relationships: “I don’t know that [my son] would have been best friends with a Hispanic child or learned anything about their culture if he hadn’t been involved in this program.”
The goals of bilingualism and biculturalism stand in contrast to assimilation through English acquisition and the hidden curriculum. Bilingualism, or even multilingualism, effectively rejects the preference for English monolingualism, as the principal observed, “It used to be that Hispanic parents would [say], ‘No, I want him to learn English and then delete that native language,’ and now they see the value in, ‘Let’s continue to learn Spanish, continue to improve the skills in your native language, and learn English as well.’”
Biculturalism offers an alternative to the ethnocentric view of the world often presented in U.S .schools and challenges the perceived inferiority of non-US countries. As one Spanish TWI teacher shared, “The students that are not Hispanic can embrace our culture and can be exposed to our culture, our language. And we as teachers, we share that part of us with them.” By celebrating their own countries of origin, TWI teachers helped expand the worldviews of their rural students.
Importantly, TWI had the goal of providing this mutually beneficial environment for all students; bilingualism, biliteracy, and biculturalism were goals for all students, not a select few. Teachers also reported that they found the TWI curriculum more rigorous, particularly because of the difficulties associated with language immersion, which helped students learn the skill of perseverance. Furthermore, these skills would serve students well for life. As one teacher expressed, “One of the things that I am always telling them is that they have, they always have advantages. They have one step ahead of other students that’s around them because that will open a lot of doors for them.” Learning to work and communicate with students from different linguistic and racial backgrounds is a skill that students need to thrive in a diverse society.
Several participants expressed interest in expanding TWI. One participant explicitly stated, “It should be everywhere.”
Although the program had experienced some challenges with enrollment and implementation, the overall picture of integration through TWI at this school was a positive one. Not only are Spanish speakers pulled out of linguistic isolation and supported to become bilingual, but benefits also accrue for Spanish learners.
Students who participate in TWI have been found to outperform non-TWI peers on standardized tests (Lindholm-Leary et al., 2007), are more likely to have positive relationships across cultures (Block, 2011), and have increased earning potential due to their bilingualism (Rumbaut, 2014). Similarly, students who attend integrated schools have increased academic, social, interpersonal, economic, and long-term benefits (Johnson, 2011, 2019; Linn & Welner, 2007; Mickelson & Nkomo, 2012). Though the focus has historically been on getting students of color into white schools, where there are more readily available resources, white students also fare better in desegregated schools and are later able to succeed in a diverse workplace (Siegel-Hawley, 2012). With the potential for better learning outcomes and long-term success for all students, TWI can be a helpful tool for integration.
As such, we recommend thoughtful implementation of TWI in communities experiencing segregation, with a focus on equity. The program should be tailored to the local context, offer a partner language that meets the needs of emergent bilinguals, and be accessible to low-income families. Enrollment should be monitored to ensure that the programs are facilitating desegregation. These programs can further promote equity by assessing student learning in both languages rather than solely measuring English proficiency and creating incentives for bilingual teachers (Gándara, 2020). Along with promotion in the local context, TWI can be used as a driver for integration at the state and federal levels. The federal government could amend Title III of the Every Student Succeeds Act to include TWI as a form of bilingual education and provide grants to support implementation. These initial steps may help accomplish the goals of integration and bilingualism.
Many TWI programs are found in elementary schools; therefore, future research should include a longitudinal study of students who have been in TWI from kindergarten through high school, compared to those who were only in elementary programs, to determine the long-term effects of participation and whether expansion of TWI into secondary schools would be beneficial. It would be important to prioritize collaboration with state and federal entities to create a database of TWI programs that includes racial enrollment information to analyze the extent to which they are actually desegregated. Finally, TWI programs have been found to be particularly beneficial for Black students (Thomas & Collier, 2014), yet Black students tend to be underrepresented in language immersion. If these programs are to facilitate racial integration, it is essential that Black students are included. Therefore, future research should explore TWI programs that enroll larger shares of Black students.▀
Elizabeth M. Uzzell (emuzzell@ncsu.edu) is a Ph.D. candidate and graduate research assistant in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis at North Carolina State University.
Jennifer B. Ayscue (jayscue@ncsu.edu) is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Human Development at North Carolina State University.
A version of this study was published in Education Policy Analysis Archives.
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