SRI Education is committed to helping educators, administrators and policymakers promote equitable educational opportunities and outcomes for multilingual learners, from birth through college and into the workforce. We recognize the assets that culturally and linguistically diverse learners bring and the systemic inequities they face.
SRI Education offers rigorous research, evaluation, technical assistance and strategic planning services to help educators and policymakers eliminate barriers and transform the quality of multilingual learners’ educational experiences. We identify equitable policies at the district, school and classroom levels that shape the day-to-day experiences of multilingual learners, their families and their teachers. We also promote effective, culturally responsive teaching practices that ensure access to high-quality instruction and learning opportunities.
Visit Multilinguallearner.org.
About the multilingual learners program
SRI Education’s multilingual learners program provides rigorous research, evaluation and technical assistance to help address the inequities in education for multilingual learners. Recognizing multilingualism as an asset and centering equity, we work with our partners to identify best practices and implement viable solutions to eradicate barriers and increase equitable opportunities.
SRI Education’s team has led studies funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education, among others. Our research has focused on:
- High-quality math instruction for multilingual learners
- Factors associated with postsecondary success of multilingual learners with disabilities
- Dual language instructional models in K–8 classrooms
- Teacher preparation programs designed to increase the bilingual educator pipeline
- Effective teaching for migrant students who are multilingual learners
Our work
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Bilingual Education Research: How to connect in a culturally relevant way with Spanish speaking families
SRI Education researcher Katherine Necochea Tinco provides insight on how to connect with Spanish-speaking families in a culturally relevant manner.
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![A move towards multilingual: why this term is better than others [for now]](https://www.sri.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/A-move-towards-Multilingual-newsletter-300x123.png)
A move towards multilingual: why this term is better than others [for now]
The language we use affects the way we perceive our world. Language can help create new understandings and expand our view of what exists and what is possible, and it also can limit our understanding. The terms we use to describe students who speak two or more languages or speak a language other than English at home, for example, impacts how we envision and develop programs and policies for those students.
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Valuing and evaluating an único bilingual professional development program – BBILY
SRI Education is leading an external evaluation of bilingual professional development created by faculty from Santa Clara University and San Jose State University: BBILY – Bilingual/Biliterate Instruction for Bilingual Youth. BBILY strives to equip teachers with mindsets, theories, and instructional practices that can support bilingual students’ learning and leverage their linguistic and cultural identities.
Young multilingual learners
Many early learning settings include children with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Educators must create equitable access to educative experiences for all children in these settings, including for multilingual and multicultural learners and children with disabilities, as well as for their families.
SRI Education works with partners to ensure that all children learning in multiple languages have full access to and participation in daily classroom activities. We focus on building educators’ capacity to effectively incorporate children’s home-life experiences, cultural backgrounds, home languages, interests and strengths into instruction. For example, we provide educators with skills and strategies to build on students’ home languages, even if the educators do not speak the languages.
Learn more about SRI Education’s projects on young multilingual learners
Intersection of language learning and disability
There is an ongoing need to improve the process of identifying disabilities among multilingual learners. In some cases, multilingual learners are overrepresented in special education; in other cases, they are underrepresented. Educators can best serve multilingual learners formally identified with disabilities by building expertise to meet learners individual needs and by providing access to rigorous grade-level content, English language development and appropriate special education services.
SRI Education brings our combined expertise in multilingual learners and disability in early childhood, K–12 and postsecondary education to help our partners identify practices or strategies to meet their needs. For example, we have provided resources for determining special education eligibility of multilingual learners and conducted a study examining the factors associated with successful transition from high school to college for multilingual learners with disabilities.
Learn more about SRI Education’s projects on the intersection of language learning and disability
High-quality instruction and teacher development
Education leaders, policymakers and teachers need to understand what makes K–12 instruction effective for multilingual learners and how policies can ensure that all multilingual learners have access to high-quality instruction. Recent policy efforts have focused on integrating technology into instruction to better support multilingual learners and on recruiting, developing and retaining qualified teachers.
SRI Education provides information and tools to help our partners transform learning experiences and optimize opportunities for multilingual learners. For example, we have highlighted how different states promote local Grow Your Own programs to address shortages of teachers for multilingual learners. We have also developed a report for the U.S. Department of Education on the first national survey of how teachers use technology when teaching their multilingual students. We are also evaluating a professional development program for teachers and caregivers that focuses on bi-literacy in language arts and math.
Learn more about SRI Education’s projects on high-quality instruction and teacher development
Our experts
Associated publications
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Sparking Connections: Evaluations of Mobile Messaging on Responsive Caregiving
Mobile messaging programs are a low-cost, scalable approach to building parents’ knowledge and capacity to support their children’s development. These programs directly deliver simple and straightforward information, tips, and activities that parents can incorporate into daily routines.
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Bilingual Education Across the United States
In this brief, the authors define some of the key terms in bilingual education and then provide an overview of the different state policies for the provision of bilingual education to English learners.
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Addressing the Bilingual Teacher Shortage
In this brief, the authors share strategies that can help mitigate bilingual teacher shortages and provide considerations for state and district leaders who are interested in addressing these shortages.
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Leveraging Flexible Teacher Certification Policies to Address the Bilingual Teacher Shortage
In this brief, the authors share strategies that state education agencies may use to provide more flexibility in teacher certification policies and thereby mitigate bilingual teacher shortages.
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Developing Early Reading Profiles for Latinx Kindergarten Students Using Typical Universal Screeners
The purpose of the current study was to determine students’ early reading profiles at the beginning and end of kindergarten using existing school-based measures with a sample of Spanish speaking, Latinx students.
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Teachers’ perceptions of students’ executive functions: Disparities by gender, ethnicity, and ELL status
We assessed whether students’ gender, ethnicity, and English language learner (ELL) status predicted teachers’ reports of students’ EFs, beyond what would be expected based on direct assessment of EFs.
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Many languages, one classroom: Supporting children in superdiverse settings
Here, we offer strategies from an approach we call personalized oral language learning (POLL). Teachers who have tried them find these strategies especially useful for supporting the learning and development of children in classrooms with a range of languages.
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Individualized Education Programs for English Learners With Significant Cognitive Disabilities
Educators and family members who participate in IEP meetings for English learners with significant cognitive disabilities can use this brief to plan for quality meetings and successful school experiences for their students and children.
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Evaluation of education connections: Supporting teachers with standards-based instruction for English learners in mainstream classrooms
The Center for Applied Linguistics developed an online site, Education Connections, to train and support teachers in integrating English language proficiency standards with content standards.