Serving ‘Superdiverse’ Dual Language Learners: An Urgent Need for Responsive Education Policies

In the United States, the number of dual language learners (DLLs) has increased by 24 percent since 2000. DLLs are children who are learning the English language as their second language while learning their first home language, growing up in households where at least one parent speaks a language other than English. DLLs currently represent nearly one-third of all young children between the ages of 0 and 8.

Among DLLs, a significant and unique diversity of languages, cultures, identities and backgrounds exist. A recent report from the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) explores this increasing diversity—referred to as “superdiversity”—within the population of DLLs at the national, state, and local level. The report offers policy recommendations for early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs, systems, and K-12 schools.

The report defines superdiversity as the diversification of communities in the United States in terms of certain indicators that include race and ethnicity identities, parental countries of origin, languages spoken at home, socioeconomic status, levels of education, and family migration stories. In addition to exploring the concept of superdiversity as a whole, the report also shines a light on three underrepresented subpopulations of DLLs in specific: Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI), Black immigrants, and young children of refugees.

The authors provide six recommendations for education policymakers:

1. improve data collection of DLLs at the state level;
2. conduct research focused on successfully serving superdiverse DLLs;
3. offer linguistic, cultural skills, and diversity training for the education workforce;
4. develop assessments that consider the learning needs, strengths, and linguistic diversity of DLLs;
5. strengthen family engagement that successfully partners with DLL parents; and
6. increase language-access provisions, such as translation and interpretation services.

Taken together, the recommendations in this report demonstrate the urgent need for education policies that specifically respond to the unique needs of DLLs from all backgrounds.

As the report acknowledges, it is particularly important to consider DLLs’ superdiversity in the equitable design and implementation of instructional programming. For example, research has demonstrated the success of dual language programs when there is a critical mass of students who speak a single non-English language. However, not much has been learned about what is effective in ECEC and K-12 settings when there is a superdiversity of languages and cultures within a community. In these cases, a dual language model is not as feasible to implement.

As a result, dual language programs often end up focusing on the more dominant minority languages. The majority of these dual language programs—when they exist—serve native Spanish speakers, who comprise 71 percent of DLLs.

To be clear, even the vast majority of Spanish speaking children and their families do not have access to dual language programming that enables them to meet their full potential. English-only language services remain the overwhelming status quo. But, DLLs who speak other home languages in significant numbers—such as Chinese, Arabic, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and many others—receive even less attention and access to high-quality dual language education. School districts should encourage native language development as well as English proficiency for all their DLLs.

To ensure that dual language programs are expanded equitably, there is a need for more multilingual teachers from a diversity of language backgrounds. One promising approach is Grow Your Own (GYO) teacher preparation programs. GYOs focus on recruiting and training effective, community-based teachers to teach underserved, linguistically diverse populations. As my New America colleagues Amaya Garcia and Jenny Muñiz have explained, these programs can help diversify the teaching profession to better serve all DLLs.

As linguistic diversity across states and counties continue to change, ECEC programs, systems, and K-12 schools need to develop practical and strategic solutions to respond to DLLs’ superdiversity. The report acknowledges that the formation of education policies is multifaceted, dynamic, and influenced by multiple considerations and compromises. Nonetheless, that reality should not undermine efforts to create education policies that better support DLLs to ensure a more equitable education for all learners.