Bilingual Education Programs Earn National Honor
SDSU is one of four universities named a National Grow Your Own Model of Education site.
San Diego State University has been honored by a Latinx education and policy consortium for its success in meeting community needs for bilingual educators.
The National Latino Education Research and Policy Program (NLERAPP)—a consortium of universities and community-based organizations—selected SDSU as one of four National Grow Your Own Model of education sites. The designation recognizes the work of SDSU’s Department of Dual-Language and English Learner Education (DLE), which has recently grown into the largest bilingual credential program in the nation.
“We’re proud of SDSU’s pioneering legacy and upward trajectory in producing bilingual educators to meet the needs of California’s linguistically diverse classrooms.” said Y. Barry Chung, dean of the College of Education. “This recognition puts us in select company and provides deserved national visibility for our DLE program. I’m excited for the opportunity to partner with NLERAPP in the work of improving educational opportunity for Latinx students.”
Grow Your Own programs are teacher education initiatives that aim to address student-teacher diversity gaps by creating pathways for high school students and paraeducators in diverse communities to become licensed educators.
“For us, it's really a great honor to be part of this very selective group of organizations that are part of the Grow Your Own network,” said Margarita Machado-Casas, professor and chair of DLE. “We want our students to go back to their communities and make a difference in those communities."
Chung and SDSU Provost Salvador Hector Ochoa were also added to NLERAPP’s Dean's Advisory Council.
The University of Colorado, University of New Mexico and the University of Texas-San Antonio were also selected as National Grow Your Own Model of Education sites.
DLE is the only autonomous bilingual teacher preparation program in California—a position of leadership that gained added significance with the 2016 passage of Proposition 58, which lifted restrictions on bilingual education. It is estimated the state will need 6,000 new bilingual teachers over the next 10 years.
