Language, Educational Access, and Social Equity in Local Bilingual Schools
May 19 – August 1, 2025
Dr. Ellen Serafini and Dr. Jihye Moon are leading a Summer Team Impact Project with 8 undergraduate research assistants and 1 graduate research assistant. Student researchers will have the opportunity to critically explore the relationship between language, access, and social equity in U.S. public education through carrying out a community-based project in partnership with two local dual language immersion schools in Fairfax County, Laurel Ridge Elementary School (English-Spanish) and Colin Powell Elementary School (English-Korean). Working as a team in each school, students will develop specialized knowledge and skills in research methods design as well as collect and analyze data obtained through a community-based Needs Analysis (NA) to identify local needs and perspectives of educational stakeholders. Through participating in this project, students gain valuable experience in exploring relationships between language and power, disparities in educational outcomes, and ways to increase the effectiveness and educational equity of dual language education in order to meet the needs of all bilingual students. As a final outcome, students will share their findings with the schools and broader Mason community at the OSCAR Celebration of Student Scholarship on August 1, 2025 with future opportunities to present and publish their findings in academic and other venues.
Application Deadline: March 16, 2025
Contact Information
Spanish: Dr. Ellen Serafini at eserafi2@gmu.edu
Korean: Dr. Jihye Moon at jmoon9@gmu.edu
March 07, 2025