Hi Elisha!
I really appreciate your question about who gets to decide what counts as language in schools. It is something that I have been thinking about a lot this semester, as it seems to be a question that can be tied back to almost any reading or discussion we've engaged with in class. When reading the Dudley-Marling and Lucas article, it was clear that what constituted "quality" language in the study was determined by the researchers Hart and Risley themselves, who were white, upper-SES college professors. Hart and Risley decided that the language of the almost completely white, upper-SES families was "quality" language because it reflected their own values as members of the same group. This question about who is deciding what counts as "quality" language in education extends beyond educational research. As we have been discussing, many standardized tests (WIDA, SAT, ACT, etc.) are created by upper-SES white people with upper-SES white test-takers in mind. These tests are really measuring how similar the test takers' language use is to the language practices of those making the test, not how "intelligent" or "hardworking" a student is. Similarly, educational policies on topics ranging from bilingual education to education for disabled/neurodivergent students are heavily influenced by politicians with goals that do not match with the interests of the communities that the policies most impact. In schools, the language of Black and Brown students is policed by a workforce of mostly white, middle-class teachers. It is so important to think about where these ideas about language are coming from, what language ideologies are influencing these decisions, and who is behind the decision making. There’s an incongruence between who makes these decisions and who is most affected by them. Addressing this gap requires us to not only broaden who makes these decisions, but also transform the values and ideologies that guide them.
I really appreciate your question about who gets to decide what counts as language in schools. It is something that I have been thinking about a lot this semester, as it seems to be a question that can be tied back to almost any reading or discussion we've engaged with in class. When reading the Dudley-Marling and Lucas article, it was clear that what constituted "quality" language in the study was determined by the researchers Hart and Risley themselves, who were white, upper-SES college professors. Hart and Risley decided that the language of the almost completely white, upper-SES families was "quality" language because it reflected their own values as members of the same group. This question about who is deciding what counts as "quality" language in education extends beyond educational research. As we have been discussing, many standardized tests (WIDA, SAT, ACT, etc.) are created by upper-SES white people with upper-SES white test-takers in mind. These tests are really measuring how similar the test takers' language use is to the language practices of those making the test, not how "intelligent" or "hardworking" a student is. Similarly, educational policies on topics ranging from bilingual education to education for disabled/neurodivergent students are heavily influenced by politicians with goals that do not match with the interests of the communities that the policies most impact. In schools, the language of Black and Brown students is policed by a workforce of mostly white, middle-class teachers. It is so important to think about where these ideas about language are coming from, what language ideologies are influencing these decisions, and who is behind the decision making. There’s an incongruence between who makes these decisions and who is most affected by them. Addressing this gap requires us to not only broaden who makes these decisions, but also transform the values and ideologies that guide them.