The Digital Gatekeepers: How Texas District Websites Shape Equitable Access for Emergent Bilinguals.
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| Title: | The Digital Gatekeepers: How Texas District Websites Shape Equitable Access for Emergent Bilinguals. |
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| Authors: | Holtz, Emily1 (AUTHOR) eholtz@utk.edu, Edosomwan, Kristian2 (AUTHOR), Worley, Cristina2 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Journal of Latinos & Education. Nov/Dec2025, Vol. 24 Issue 5, p1124-1146. 23p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Bilingual education, *Content analysis, *Bilingualism, *Educational quality, Equality, Information filtering |
| Geographic Terms: | Austin (Tex.), Texas, Dallas (Tex.), Houston (Tex.), United States |
| Abstract: | All students should have access to quality education in the U.S. This is an agreement protected by law and established by the U.S. Constitution but do emergent bilinguals actually have access to quality education? "Access" is a multifaceted word that, within this context, refers both to knowledge of programming and actual services provided by districts. Using Ruíz's language framework as our lens, we conducted a content analysis to investigate how district websites' features in the most populated districts in Texas (Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Houston) limit or augment access for emergent bilinguals, as well as investigating what kind of public school bilingual and gifted programs are available to students. Our findings suggest that emergent bilinguals face a variety of gatekeepers regarding their educational opportunities, such as barriers that keep them out of gifted programming and language-as-problem/language-as-right orientations evident on district websites. In fact, language-as-problem and/or language-as-right orientations can act as umbrellas that keep students from accessing gifted programming, limiting access when compared with a language-as-resource approach or a tandem of the latter two approaches. We discuss the implications and provide recommendations for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Education Research Complete |
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| Abstract: | All students should have access to quality education in the U.S. This is an agreement protected by law and established by the U.S. Constitution but do emergent bilinguals actually have access to quality education? "Access" is a multifaceted word that, within this context, refers both to knowledge of programming and actual services provided by districts. Using Ruíz's language framework as our lens, we conducted a content analysis to investigate how district websites' features in the most populated districts in Texas (Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Houston) limit or augment access for emergent bilinguals, as well as investigating what kind of public school bilingual and gifted programs are available to students. Our findings suggest that emergent bilinguals face a variety of gatekeepers regarding their educational opportunities, such as barriers that keep them out of gifted programming and language-as-problem/language-as-right orientations evident on district websites. In fact, language-as-problem and/or language-as-right orientations can act as umbrellas that keep students from accessing gifted programming, limiting access when compared with a language-as-resource approach or a tandem of the latter two approaches. We discuss the implications and provide recommendations for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 15348431 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/15348431.2024.2444946 |
