Research opportunity for Monterey County scholars on dual language programs

Here's an intriguing opportunity for a education enthusiasts in Monterey County, and it comes via the Migration Policy Institute in Washington D.C.

The MPI is soliciting papers about projects that show effective dual language instruction programs. It'd love to work on something like this if I had time, but alas! I'm going to leave it to the experts. We have several well known dual-language schools in Monterey County -- the Dual Language Academy of the Monterery Peninsula, Boronda Meadows, Lincoln Elementary come to mind.

So maybe an intrepid educator/scholar decides to take on a project to evaluate their effectiveness? And share their results with MPI and yours truly?

Here's the call for papers. Have at it!

The National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) is launching an interdisciplinary research initiative to examine policies and practices that effectively promote academic success and healthy socioemotional development in multilingual and superdiverse contexts for young Dual Language Learners (DLLs). The initiative is focusing on superdiversity within early childhood education and care programs, which is an increasingly common phenomenon, but one without a clear definition or a sufficient research base.

In order to build the research base on early childhood education and care in superdiverse contexts, MPI is soliciting papers by scholars working in child development, education, sociology, psychology, psychiatry, anthropology, public policy, migration, and other relevant fields. Complete details on the call for papers, including submission guidelines, can be found here.

Papers supported through this initiative will address:

a superdiverse demographic setting in the United States, in which multiple languages and cultures are represented among children and families; programs that serve young children (including any range of ages from birth through age 8) in any home-, center-, or school-based setting, or the policies that guide such programs; and DLLs, defined as young children who speak a language other than English at home. Papers that have immediate local policy and program design implications or include collaboration with local educational agencies or community-based providers are particularly encouraged. Papers should provide original analysis of an issue drawing on qualitative or quantitative methodology.

Paper proposals should be submitted by February 10, 2017; final drafts of selected papers will be due in October 2017, presented at a private research symposium hosted by MPI in November 2017, and subsequently widely disseminated as MPI publications.

More detailed questions related to this call for papers can be directed to Maki Park at mpark@migrationpolicy.org.