Sustaining Latinx Bilingualism in New York’s Schools: The CUNY-NYSIEB Project

Abstract

In this report, we describe the work of CUNY-NYSIEB, the City University of New York – New York State Initiative on Emergent Bilinguals, a research and professional development project that aims to improve the educational experiences of those students we refer to as emergent bilinguals across schools in New York State, most of whom are Latinx learners. First, we give an overview of the experiences of Latinx emergent bilinguals in the U.S. in general and New York in particular. Next, we introduce the CUNYNYSIEB project, outlining its theoretical foundations, vision, and on-the-ground work in schools. We then describe this school-based work through three vignettes that demonstrate CUNY-NYSIEB’s commitment to fostering Latinx students’ bilingualism through translanguaging.