Dual Language Bilingual Education Conference Held in Springfield

Content

L to R: Daniel Toro-González and Marialuisa Di Stefano (College of Education), Rabia Hos (Southern Connecticut State University)

On March 8, 2025, 450 educators, administrators, and advocates dedicated to advancing bilingual and dual-language education attended the Multistate Association for Bilingual Education’s (MABE) Dual Language Bilingual Education Conference at the UMass Center at Springfield, filling the venue to maximum capacity.

The event, co-sponsored by the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education, aims annually to help dual language bilingual education (DLBE) practitioners and advocates develop skills and strategies to support bilingual students and educators. Although the association is based in the five states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, and New Hampshire, attendees to this year’s conference came from all over the country and from Europe.

"There was such diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and language this year,” says Marialuisa Di Stefano, past president of MABE and associate professor at the College of Education. “These 450 educators, these are mi gente—my people—dedicated to not just theory, but the practice of bilingual and biliteracy development.”

As Di Stefano explains, DLBE practitioners understand that English-learning K–12 students are more likely to flourish in their studies when they are allowed to learn in their own language while they are learning English. The DLBE program model advocated for by MABE, where at least fifty percent of instructional time is in a student’s home language, places students at the center of the learning process, rather than any political demands that may come from outside the classroom. “We need to recognize the right of students to be taught in their home language, where they can express themselves better and fully participate in the learning process. That is non-negotiable,” she says.

Di Stefano leads the Western Massachusetts Bilingual Hub, an initiative of the College of Education, which played a pivotal role in planning for the conference this year. This hub— created in 2020 through a partnership between the college, three local school districts, and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education—works to prepare and support effective DLBE practitioners, responding to the 2017 change to Massachusetts law that cleared the way for dual-language K–12 instruction.

“Bilingual education has a long history in the US. The first public school bilingual school was established in New York City in 1837, with classes taught in English and German,” said Gregory J. Kelly, dean of the College of Education, in his address at the event’s opening ceremony. “Then as now, people advocated for bilingualism, recognizing the value of language proficiency, bilingualism, and biculturalism... Let’s center students in our thinking about education.”

A key theme from this year’s conference: the need to get school leaders on board. “We need more advocacy at the school leadership level,” says Di Stefano. “When school principals, school leaders, and district leaders understand bilingual education the same way that we do, they will be able to advocate for a robust, solid implementation of DLBE that ensures equity across our school systems.”

This year’s MABE conference was the first one to be hosted by a higher education institution and also was the largest conference yet by number of attendees.

Associate Professor Marialuisa Di Stefano serves as program coordinator for English as a second language and Bilingual Education Endorsement at the College of Education. In addition to directing the Western Massachusetts Bilingual Hub, Di Stefano currently serves as co-chair of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ English Language Learners/Bilingual Education Advisory Council. Her research focuses on enhancing STEAM identities, disciplinary biliteracy and content knowledge development in bilingual and dual language settings under an equity and social justice lens. She received her doctorate in curriculum and instruction in 2017 from Utah State University.