Conor P. Williams, senior researcher in the Early Education Initiative at the New America Foundation, explores the implications of a new research, published in this month’s issue of the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, about “two-way dual language” program in a first grade Texas classroom and how this becomes a considerably different educational experience for students.

“If there’s any unifying thread in the story of the last several years of education debates, it’s that policy changes are education reform’s first, not final, steps. Given American education’s unwieldy, chaotic governing institutions, legal and regulatory changes are almost always susceptible to being watered down—or even reversed. For instance, while it seemed like a settled victory when the Common Core State Standards were adopted by 46 states, recent implementation (and political) challenges have sapped that effort of much of its substance. Policy design and policy implementation require different skill sets (as does political mobilization). But they all matter, and the education policy community needs to think much harder about what its proposals will look like in the classroom.”

Read more here.