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Equity traps in the deselection of English learners in dual language education: A collective case study of school principals

ABSTRACT Indiana dual-language immersion (DLI) programs have grown exponentially in the last 5 years as a result of state policies, related state funding, and increasing pressure for public schools to have a specialized presence amidst school choice provisions. Principals work with their communities to identify the DLI model they will adopt, student constituencies they will target and how equity is constituted. We define equity as institutional structures, supports, and practices that prioritize and center the needs of historically marginalized groups, namely English Learners (ELs), to ensure that they have opportunities of educational access and outcomes, including their right to preserve and develop their native language. Using a collective case study, we examine the equity discourses among one-way and two-way DLI principals to define the ways in which dual language is understood and how that informs decision-making. Using the conceptual lens of “equity traps,” we identify the overt and subtle mechanisms that propagate or constrain equity for historically marginalized groups, like ELs. Implications suggest the need for a structural examination of the concrete and abstract ways equity is trapped within DLI programming. A matrix is furnished to guide principals and DLI stakeholders in their preparation for DLI programming, centered on equity.