Date of Award
1-1-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D. in Second Language Studies
First Advisor
Felice Coles
Second Advisor
Stephen Fafulas
Third Advisor
Michael Raines
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
The Mississippi Department of Education adopted the Mississippi Seal of Biliteracy in 2019 changing our state’s educational language policy from English-only to English-plus another world language, elevating Spanish and other world languages to a status closer to English in the districts that the seal has been adopted. This study documents the perspectives held by Mississippi educators on the benefits, new practices, challenges, and policy perception of the Mississippi Seal of Biliteracy at a high school that has adopted the seal and one that has not. Due to the difference in sample sizes between schools, this study is a generalization of the perspectives of educators in a small adopting school and a large non-adopting school, instead of a comparison. The study employs a qualitative method of data collection with open- and closed-response questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to answer the research questions. The participants’ groups for each school are made up of high school administrators, teachers, and school counselors. The findings show that educators in both schools perceive the Mississippi Seal of Biliteracy as a beneficial policy for the education of Mississippi students, but for different reasons. The Mississippi Seal of Biliteracy provides educational benefits, career opportunities, recognizes bilingualism, and values home language. Some of the challenges are shared by both schools, such as current course sequence, lack of awareness, perceived lack of student language proficiency, while others are unique to each school, such as insufficient personnel, delay of assessments, lack of community support and it not on the state’s accountability model. Finally, the answers to the research questions provided by educators are analyzed through the lens of Ruiz’s (1984) Orientations for Language Planning.
Recommended Citation
Rutland, Rosalynn Vásquez, "Listening to the Voices of Educators in the Implementation of the Mississippi Seal of Biliteracy" (2024). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2868.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/2868
Accessibility Status
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