Abstract

KLEN-ALVES, Viviane  and  RAMPAZZO, Laura. Bilingual education in the state of Georgia, United States: considerations on educational policies, implementation, and access. J. Pol. Educ-s [online]. 2023, vol.17, e86865.  Epub Oct 11, 2023. ISSN 1981-1969.  https://doi.org/10.5380/jpe.v17i0.86865.

The educational reforms being implemented in the State of Georgia in the United States include bilingual education as a right for all people. Dual Language Immersion, also known as bilingual or multilingual education (GARCIA 2019), aims to increase students' linguistic and cultural competence so that they can participate in multilingual communities in their countries and the world (ACTFL, 2019). Based on current discussions on the right to quality public education for all, this article presents an analysis of the objectives presented in the national and state's public policies and rationale to expand the teaching of six additional languages in Georgia: Spanish, Chinese, German, Japanese, Korean and French. Through document analysis, this article presents an overview of free bilingual public education implementation in 70 bilingual programs distributed in four different districts. The text also discusses the Georgia Department of Education (GADOE) strategies to promote dual language immersion, highlighting the results achieved by implementing these programs and some necessary steps to offer an equitable education in two languages.

Keywords : Public Education; United States; Multilingual Education; Dual Language Immersion; English Only Policy.

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