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Articles

Vol. 7 No. 2 (2021): Journal of Leadership, Equity, and Research

How Are California’s Latina/x/o Students Faring?: Charter Elementary Schools’ Spanish/English Dual Language Programs

Submitted
April 27, 2021
Published
2021-04-27

Abstract

Despite the widespread popularity of both Dual Language Programs (DLP) and charter schools in California, little is known about the intersection of these two school models. In a quantitative study utilizing several statewide databases, researchers explored four questions related to DLP and charter schools: 1) How many Latina/x/o students attend charter DLP? 2) What are the student body characteristics (ethnicity, socioeconomic status, EL status) found in charter DLP vs. neighborhood-based attendance (NBA) DLP? 3) Do Latina/x/o students in charter DLP outperform those in NBA DLP? 4) What are the teacher characteristics (credential status, misassignments) found in charter DLP vs. NBA DLP? Analysis revealed previously unknown basic demographic information about student and staffing characteristics in DLP, as well as significant differences between charter and non-charter DLP in schoolwide mean language arts CAASPP scores and proportional enrollments of Latina/x/o, white, and Asian students.