Clark professor granted $780K for bilingual education study at Worcester schools

Three women, one with blonde hair, one with pink hair, and one with brown hair, sit in a dark room looking at computer screens.

Photo I Courtesy of Clark University (Left) Alena Esposito will work with Clark undergraduate and Ph.D. students to conduct research at Worcester Dual Language Magnet School.

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By Mica Kanner-Mascolo

A professor at Clark University in Worcester received a $780,000 grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation to study language practices in multilingual and multicultural students at Worcester Public Schools.

Professor Alena Esposito was granted the financing for her four-year longitudinal study examining and measuring which teacher pedagogical practices correlate with best student outcomes within kindergarten through fourth graders at linguistically, racially, and ethnically bilingual schools, according to a Wednesday press release from Clark and the project’s abstract. Specifically, the project will examine whether the use of flexible language modalities are associated with language and academic performance.

The pilot project is aimed at examining developing a better understanding of child language development throughout three interconnected contexts including type of educational program, teacher classroom practices, and child factors, said the abstract.

The current U.S. bilingual education guidelines are based on English/French dual-language programs in Québec, but students in the U.S. are very different from those in the Canadian province, Esposito said in the press release.

“We tend to see two recommendations in public schools: Either you’re completely separating the languages or you’re using all the languages available for the student. Neither recommendation has empirical support beyond a few case studies.” said Esposito. “We are designing our bilingual education programs around one that has never actually been explored experimentally to see if it works.”

In its first phase of research, the study will take place at Worcester Dual Language Magnet School (formerly Chandler Magnet), centering emerging bilingual and emerging multilingual students, including those in bilingual education and sheltered English immersion programs. SEI programs are those in which classroom instruction is almost fully conducted in English with curriculum and presentation specifically created for those learning the language, according to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The study hopes to recruit additional schools after its pilot year.

A former kindergarten teacher herself, Esposito will partner with co-principal investigator and developmental psychologist Jennifer Coffman, who serves as director of the child and family resource center at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, and UMass Lowell psychologist Joseph Gonzales will assist with its data analysis plan. Esposito’s research team will include a project manager along with Clark undergraduate and Ph.D. students.

“Our goal is to find out what those teachers are doing and use that as the basis for empirical work,” Esposito said, “so that policies and practices are based on actual evidence.”

Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.