The Association of Two-Way & Dual Language Education (ATDLE) was formed into a national organization in 2013. It had previously existed as Two-Way CABE for over ten years. The Board of Directors found it necessary to move from a state organization to a national organization to mitigate the development of programs throughout the U.S.A. In 2017, there are over 1800 Dual Language and Two-Way Bilingual Immersion programs in the country in five different languages: Spanish, Mandarin, Korean, Spanish and Japanese.

As the leading organization in Two-Way Bilingual Immersion Education, we work closely with other organizations and agencies that share a common vision and mission for this work. These agencies form the National Dual Language Consortium to support the development and continued implementation of Two-Way & Dual Language programs throughout the United States. The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL), Dual Language Education New Mexico and others work to provide quality training and support as programs develop in their respective communities.

The ATDLE team provides focused and relevant professional training opportunities for new and existing programs! Our commitment to excellence in education through second and third language education is unwavering. We believe strongly in quality implementation and the full implementation of research-based practices. We lead the charge by utilizing the amazing expertise of some of the most experienced programmatic experts in TWBI/DL and know that we can be of great service to teachers, administrators and program development leads wanting to start their programs or improve their practice!

The world is changing. Shared successes, and catastrophes, require communication links between countries. Common language skills are indispensable to successful global relationships.

In a Two-Way Bilingual Immersion program, children prepare for a global future. They achieve comprehensive fluency and literacy in two languages. Their bilingualism allows them to communicate with ease in multiple countries.

Two-Way Bilingual Immersion blends two language education models: an immersion program for English-only speakers and a bilingual maintenance model for English learners. Students from the two language groups attend class together, learning from one another and supporting each other’s second language acquisition. Both groups of students develop linguistic and academic competence in two languages: their native language and one more.

The result is superior academic performance, in two languages. Bilingualism not only enhances cognitive development, it also increases multicultural understanding and expands educational and professional prospects. Whether students choose to engage in global opportunities or contribute to their own communities closer to home, all will benefit from the bilingualism, biliteracy and expanded multicultural perspectives that Two-Way programs provide.

Transformational Multilingual Education Cultivating Global Leaders

ATDLE’s mission is to:
REIMAGINE multilingual education through inspired and strategic leadership; CREATE AND SUPPORT powerful programs and services designed to promote multilingualism, multiculturalism, academic success, and global readiness as defining features of transformative education; and ADVOCATE for policies that move our vision to action and that engage our clients, partners, and communities as active participants and leaders.

Multilingualism and Global Competency
Multilingualism and global competency are individual, community, national, and global assets. Research confirms that when students can achieve proficiency in two or more languages, not only do students themselves benefit in multiple powerful and lifechanging ways, but their families and communities benefit as well. Those benefits also accrue to our society and our world, transforming the way that human beings relate to each other across all the differences that make a difference.

Equity
Students and their communities have differential access to learning opportunities and even when those opportunities are present, often have differential outcomes that align with language, race/ethnicity, and class. In such circumstances, equity for all our students, schools, and communities as reflected in outcomes and opportunities becomes an essential driving force behind our actions and services.

Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Learning
Culturally and linguistically responsive educators embrace the sociocultural and sociopolitical realities and histories of students through what and how they teach. Both educators and students negotiate classroom and school cultures that reflect and value the communities where students develop and grow. Students are supported in accessing and developing the knowledge, skills, capacities, and social capital required to successfully navigate their multiple worlds and to use their new learning to create new knowledge and take action that positively impact those worlds.

Identity
Each of us has multiple identities that include cultural and linguistic ones. These identities both define us and liberate us, make us unique and connect us to a larger world. We support each other, our partners, our audiences, and our communities in fully developing these identities as essential to our development as powerful human beings empowered to successfully navigate the world before them.

Community Engagement
Community engagement and educational excellence are inextricably linked. We cannot exist outside of the communities that we inhabit. The experiences, cultural creations, and “we-stories” of our communities are the inspiration and motivation for our professional efforts. As educators, we share our creative power to help grow the linguistic, creative ,and social power of our communities.

Professional Engagement, Creativity, & Leadership
Professional engagement and linguistic/cultural excellence are inextricably linked. As professional dual language educators and leaders, we are creative, innovative, and intentional in applying existing knowledge and skills to improve language/cultural learning, achievement, and performance. We understand that we cannot authentically exist outside of the communities that we inhabit and serve, so the experiences, cultural creations, and “we-stories” of our students, colleagues, and communities are the inspiration and motivation for our professional growth. We intentionally and intensely engage diverse students, colleagues, and communities to inform, inspire, ignite, question, and continuously re-fuel our professional practice and advocacy and perfect our craft.

Relationship
Our power comes from the connectedness and relationships that we have with each other as human beings. Our work seeks to build, grow, and strengthen these relationships and to help people find human connections, especially as these are expressed through language and culture. Language and culture become passports that allow us to navigate multiple worlds and perspectives, strengthening relationships across and within communities. This is the crux of our work.

Struggle in Action
Each of us lives, expresses, and struggles within the varied and infinitely complex political, cultural, linguistic, and personal landscapes of our lives. Education and struggle in action are two sides of the same coin, as they both require the ability to imagine new possibilities and then create what does not yet exist. Both operate in the “in-between”. We engage our clients and partners as witnesses of linguistic and cultural experiences tied to their humanity, and in this way, we endeavor to simultaneously awaken their sense of themselves as leaders and social change agents.

Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington DC
National Dual Language Immersion Research Association
American Councils for International Education
Dual Language Education New Mexico
Illinois Regional Center
CARLA
Dual Language Parents Association
VIF/:Participate
Californian’s Together
Various State Bilingual Organizations

ATDLE is a non-profit organization with a mission and vision that strives to promote global readiness as a defining feature of transformative education.

ATDLE board members are fiduciaries who abide by sound, ethical, and legal governance and financial management policies in order to make sure the organization has adequate resources to advance its mission.

In order to advance its mission, ATDLE strategically includes board members to represent regional programs throughout California with inclusion of members serving diverse language programs at multi-level positions.

Each board member has experience and expertise related to the development, implementation, evaluation and the policies that support dual language programs.

The ATDLE Board is committed to advancing and supporting new and existing Two-Way & Dual Language Programs throughout the nation.

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