Can Bilingual Education Generate Meaningful School Integration? A Case-Study of Los Angeles

Can Bilingual Education Generate Meaningful School Integration? A Case Study of Los Angeles

Date: November 14th, 2025, 11:30 - 12:30

Event: CRIS & LIEPP Seminar with Lucrecia Santibañez (UCLA)

Organized by: Jointly by LIEPP - Educational Policies Research Group

Seventy years after Brown v. Board of Education, urban schools in the United States remain segregated by race, income, and language, with low-income students predominantly placed in under-resourced schools. Recent growth of vouchers, charter schools, and homeschooling challenges decades of integration work.

Bilingual Education, or [translate:«Dual-language immersion (DLI) programs»] in the U.S., offers a promising approach. These programs provide instruction in both English and a target language, supporting academic excellence, bilingualism, biculturalism, and cross-cultural skills.

DLI is the fastest-growing education model in many U.S. states. Since language, race, and economic background are strongly linked, targeting families with different home languages allows DLI schools to unite students from diverse socio-economic and cultural environments.

This seminar will present findings from a recent research project on DLI in Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest public school district. It will explore how and where DLI programs develop, their effects on segregation, student learning, language outcomes, and recruitment strategies for diverse families.

"Bilingual Education, or ‘Dual-language immersion (DLI) programs’ as they are known in the United States present a potential solution by providing instruction in English and a target language while promoting academic rigor, bilingualism/biculturalism, and cross-cultural competence."

"DLI schools bring together students from vastly different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds."

Author's summary: Dual-language immersion programs in Los Angeles offer a growing, research-backed way to reduce school segregation by integrating linguistically and culturally diverse students while supporting academic success.

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Sciences Po Sciences Po — 2025-11-06

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