From Screens to Classrooms: How DLBE Teachers Sustained Language and Learning Through the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated educational inequities for emergent bilingual students, yet research on how dual language bilingual education (DLBE) teachers adapted instruction is limited. Framed by Translanguaging and LatCrit, this qualitative study examine how nine U.S.-Mexico border DLBE teachers adapted pedagogy post-pandemic. Data revealed four adaptations: translanguaging for comprehension/identity, hybrid biliteracy, teacher agency against subtractive curricula, and sustained tech/translanguaging shifts. Teachers leveraged cultural assets to foster engagement. Implications stress supporting translanguaging via professional learning, investing in biliteracy materials, and enabling teacher flexibility within DLBE programs, offering a crisis-response model.