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Where Have All The Bilingual Programs Gone?!: Why Prepared School Leaders Are Essential For Bilingual Education, Kate Menken, Cristian Solorza

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

Enrollment in bilingual education has declined significantly in New York City in recent years, in spite of state and city policies that support it. To better understand this alarming trend, we interviewed school leaders, particularly principals, who have dismantled their school’s bilingual education programs in recent years. We also interviewed school leaders who have managed to preserve their bilingual education programs within the same time period. We examined these leaders’ knowledge and understandings about bilingual education and their emergent bilingual students, and their rationale for the respective language education policies they have adopted. Our research points to the very important …