Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/35.2499

AUTHOR: Kate Mahoney
TITLE: The Assessment of Multilingual Learners
SUBTITLE: Supporting English Language Learners
PUBLISHER: Multilingual Matters
YEAR: 2024

REVIEWER: Emily Cilliler

SUMMARY

Lessons from a Dual Language Bilingual School: Celebrando una década de Dos Puentes Elementary takes a detailed look into the context, challenges, and successes of a bilingual school in Washington Heights, New York. The book features a collection of writings from various stakeholders at Dos Puentes Elementary, such as administrators, teachers, parents and partners, who weave an entertaining and thought-provoking narrative of a school embracing its pluricultural reality. The text is organized into four sections that reflect the main founding principles of the school. These pillars are (1) bilingüismo, biliteracidad y multiculturalismo, (2) las familias son partners, leaders and advocates, (3) investigaciones and hands-on learning, and (4) partnerships with universities, organizations y la comunidad.This edited volume serves as a rich example of how theory and practice can be combined to better serve students and would be a highly beneficial read for pre- and in- service teachers and administrators searching for guidance on how to create successful bilingual programs and communities within their schools. Moreover, it shines as an example of the wealth of knowledge that a school community possesses and the power of gathering those voices into an “equitable community of scholars” as Ofelia Garcia calls them in her powerful foreword.

Alongside the collection of texts highlighting each pillar, the book also offers thoughtful connections to research and theory. Each section is closed with commentary from a university researcher. The researchers collect scientific articles and sources to support the practices that were detailed in each chapter. They also offer discussion and points for future research. These reflections offer a wealth of resources allowing teachers or researchers to expand their knowledge and see how theory has been brought to life in the classroom. Spanish is used throughout the volume in an intentional nod to the efforts made to keep Spanish at the forefront of communication at the school.

The first pillar of bilingüismo, biliteracidad y multiculturalismo is a collection of essays from teachers at the school who share their approach to the bilingual and biliteracy program at Dos Puentes. Chapter 1 is titled “Celebrating Dog Lenguajes” by Jason Horowitz and Armando Lopez. The first chapter emphasizes the celebration of bilingualism through singing, dance, and reading. Chapter 2 is called “Translanguaging: Moving Beyond ‘los dos’ Lenguajes” by Diane Figueroa and Karina Malik. Translanguaging takes center stage as teachers describe how they work to open students’ eyes to the diverse linguistic community that they live in and move away from the perspective of English as the primary language. Chapter 3 is “Building Biliteracy through Educators, Resources, and Curricula” by Lara Ginsberg. Ginsberg addresses English hegemony and urges teachers to intentionally and thoroughly select culturally relevant texts for students. Chapter 4 is called “Bilingual Activism a Través de la Lectoescritura” by Ashley Busone-Rodriguez and Karen Mondol. Activism through literacy is the focus of the fourth chapter in which teachers, through creative outlets, encourage students’ activism on a range of topics from racism to gender inclusivity. The final chapter, “Critical Collaboration to Support the Bilingualism and Biliteracy of Children with Disabilities” by Sabrina Poms and Terestia Prieto, shows how the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is applied to Children with disabilities and how Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) is used at Dos Puentes, while the research commentary highlights how governmental policies and programs fail to meet the needs of students with disabilities.

The second pillar is “las familias son partners, leaders and advocates,” which gives a voice to parents and teachers, many of whom have children enrolled in the school, and discusses the role of families in their children’s education. The sixth chapter, “Families as Educators, Leaders, and Advocates” by Stephanie Ubiera, Adriana Cando, and Ained Casado, is a myriad of memories as told by mothers of Dos Puentes students, including a poignant recollection of the tumultuous time following the 2016 presidential election. The seventh chapter is called “Bridging Home and School” by Sacha Mercier and Amy Withers. The authors give an account of how the school involves parents and students in their education from the time of enrollment with a home visit to student-led conferences, and explains how connecting to a family’s background can foster respect and trust. In Chapter 8, “Family Diversity as a Strength and a Challenge” by Annette Fernandez, another mother delivers a raw and unapologetic message about privilege and explains why she chose Dos Puentes for her daughter. Chapter 9 is called “Building Comunidad” by Elga Castro Ramos. The ninth chapter describes the tradition of “Viernes familiar” (Family Fridays), which is frequently mentioned throughout the book as a shining example of community engagement at the school, as well as other programs designed to bring the Spanish and English speaking families together. The tenth chapter is “Socioemotional Learning and Support” by Irving Mota and Kimberly Bautista. Socioemotional learning is discussed, connecting practices like “Holding Space” and the “peace corner” with prior research into the importance of these types of programs. In the final chapter of this section “Remote Learning through a Pandemic”, Aaron Sidlo, a parent-educator, describes the challenges of remote learning during a pandemic. Sidlo includes a particularly memorable story of a family’s struggle to keep their child engaged in remote coursework while dealing with limited internet service; this experience perfectly highlights the challenges families faced during the pandemic, despite support from government programs.

The third pillar is “investigaciones” and hands-on learning, where pedagogical practices like inquiry-based learning and translanguaging can be illustrated in a practical way. The twelfth chapter, “Exploraciones en Early Childhood” by Elizabeth Menendez and Catherine Velasquez-Leacock, emphasizes the role of play in both language and socioemotional learning. The following chapter called “Transition to Investigations and Inquiry in the Upper Grades’ by Hazel Garcia-Banguele, Michelle Mdera Taveras, and Carmen Morel, expands on the idea of student agency as Dos Puentes teachers give examples of how translanguaging and inquiry-based learning can be applied in upper elementary classrooms. Science takes a leading role in the fourteenth chapter, "Learning Science through Hands-on Experiences and Animals” by Karin De Jesus and Yesenia J. Moreno, as the authors follow a class trip to a reservoir and explain how school pets enable students to connect more deeply with their learning. Chapter 15 is titled “Field Trips as Paseos to Real World Connections” by Peggy McQuaid and Kristen Minno-Bingham. This section demonstrates the beauty of wandering and how being open to students’ interests can lead to growth.

The final pillar, is “partnerships with universities, organizations y la comunidad” and examines the contributions from teachers, community partners, and administrators in the outside organizations with which Dos Puentes has partnered. Chapter 16 is called “University Collaborations: Service and Research Projects” by Wendy Barrales, Partricia Martínez-Álvarez, Maite T. Sánchez, Belinda Arana and Victoria Hunt. It details Dos Puentes’ work with The City University of New York through their New York State Initiative on Emergent Bilinguals and Initiative on Immigration and Education programs, as well as the Varied Ways of Knowing(VWK) afterschool program. This chapter also discusses the role of testimonios in creating authentic partnerships. In the seventeenth chapter, “University Partners: Bilingual Student Teaching” by Rebeca Madrigal, Silvia Peña and Jennifer Aquino Peña, the role of student teachers, their schedules, and their testimonios are shared. Chapter 18 is called “Expanding the Arts through Partnership and Passion” by Clara Bello and Lorene Phillips. The authors highlight the way dance and art are used to shine light on racial injustices and black culture at the same time as it questions the emphasis we place on art education. The role of center-based learning through Facilitated Academic Centers for Inquiry-Based Learning (FACIL) is applied to math and reading in Chapter 19, titled “Center-Based Learning: Partnerships with Staff Developers and Schools” by Queila Cordero and Joyce Veras. The final chapter is called “Connections with the Community and Beyond” by Katherine Higuera-McCoy and Maggie Orzechowski; it includes an interesting look at a non-traditional partnership between the school and the Washington Heights Corner Project (WHCP) which tries to reduce the impact of injectable drug use within the community.

EVALUATION

In the introduction Dos Puentes’ co-founder Tatyana Kleyn and founding principal Victoria Hunt state clearly that the book is not intended to be a step by step guide for how to create a successful bilingual program; nor is it supposed to be a deeply scholarly volume. Instead, it focuses on providing a holistic view of what a successful bilingual school can look like, while connecting the central practices and ideologies to scientific research. Thus the book does not serve as the single resource that a pre- or in-service bilingual teacher needs, but it serves rather as a starting point. It encourages the reader to think critically about their own practices and beliefs, while offering both practical examples and resources where more information can be found. In this way, the editors and authors achieve their goal. The book would be particularly useful for teachers looking to expand their programs or apply more culturally and linguistically aware teaching methods in their classroom. As stated above, the book does not offer a deep examination of the literature; so, as a research tool, it serves primarily as a reference to gather sources from. At the end, an index with all of the terms and researchers’ names, creates a useful way to go back and find information within the intricate framework of the book. This feature is important since the initial table of contents does not give details about the nature of each section or research commentary.

Some points were repeated frequently throughout the volume. For example, the idea of Family Fridays is mentioned several different times and highlighted in one chapter. While it may have been an impactful tradition for multiple authors, it would be interesting to hear more in depth about other events at the school.

The final section of the book had to explain a wide range of programs and collaborations. This was not an easy task, and some chapters seemed to stand out more in their explanation. Chapter 16 gave a basic explanation of the programs, but some, such as the VWK, were described only broadly, without a clear indication of how it differs from the normal curriculum. On the other hand, Chapter 18 gave an eye opening description of how art and dance can foster awareness of culture, injustice, and freedom.

The book offered several examples of how education can intertwine with advocacy. Stephanie Ubiera told about her experience following the 2016 presidential election and how parent advocate Consuelo Villegas connected families with paralegals and held a parent meeting to answer questions and offer hope. In Chapter 20 Katherina Higuera-McCoy and Maggie Orzechowski describe how Dos Puentes welcomed a family that had been caught in the chaos of the Trump administration’s changes to immigration policy. The school community banded together to provide financial support to the family and wrote letters to advocate for them. In the end, the family was allowed to remain in the country.

The success of the Dos Puentes school begs for a deeper and more detailed look into how the school shapes its curriculum. As a teacher, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the lesson ideas and descriptions of how inquiry-based units are developed. For example, a math teacher discussed how center-based learning could be implemented with a similar level of planning as a traditional lesson, while targeting students’ needs more effectively. In such cases, I was left wanting more detail on how to realize this. An example of where this was done very well was Chapter 5, which detailed a writing intervention for bilingual students with disabilities. The lead-in, explanation, and pictures comparing the before and after intervention work were impactful and could be replicated. A future handbook more geared towards implementation, with even more detail and explanation of how to apply the concepts, would be a useful resource for teachers.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Emily Blair Cilliler is a second-year PhD student at the University of Pannonia in the Doctoral School of Multilingualism and private teacher. Her research interests include language acquisition in young learners, online learning, and curriculum development. She has worked as a teacher in private and public schools in Turkey and Hungary and served as a Virtual Educator for English Language Programs through the U.S. State Department. She is currently teaching and working on her dissertation on the topic of informal exposure to English in Young Learners.