Curriculum Impact on Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Student Language and Literacy Engagement

In the study of focus in this paper, I analyze the curricular experiences of fifth- through eighth-grade culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) Latina learners in their English Language Arts (ELA) dual language gifted and talented education (GATE) program. This research aims to understand the curricular experiences of CLD students participating in DL GATE coursework to comprehend how to support the ELA academic achievement of CLD students in GATE. In this paper, I discuss student experience with the coursework and contemplate how the inclusion of culturally sustaining practices (CSP) might improve CLD student engagement as well as language and literacy in GATE programming.