About CABTE
A Community of Growth
Our Mission Statement
Research has consistently supported the long-term benefits of bilingual education for emergent bilinguals and dual-language learners. While the field of bilingual education has faced challenges in the past years, recent policy (Proposition 58) has opened more pathways for biliteracy programs in California, including two-way, dual-language immersion programs and developmental bilingual programs with a focus on additive bilingual models. CABTE’s role is to ensure there are bilingual teacher education programs to meet this demand and be responsive to the needs of our students from linguistically and culturally diverse communities.
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Our commitment to bilingual teacher preparation must be sustained to ensure that language policies address the needs of multilingual learners throughout their schooling experiences. To unite our efforts across the state, bilingual teacher preparation faculty must band together to speak as one voice, to share our expertise, and to support each other in both opportune and challenging times. We are further committed to promoting communication and collaboration among bilingual teacher educators and researchers working in public schools, universities, and community education programs through networking and the creation of multiple avenues for
consistent communication and the establishment of alliances and goals between and among membership.
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The goals of the California Association for Bilingual Teacher Education shall be as follows:
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To unify the voice of higher education faculty in Bilingual Teacher Education, Early Childhood Education, Teacher Education, and Special Education in matters related to the education of linguistically and culturally diverse learners;
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To represent the voice of Bilingual Education, Biliteracy and Dual-Language Instruction faculty in higher education in the area of linguistically and culturally diverse students;
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To advocate on behalf of the education of linguistically and culturally diverse children;
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To work for the improvement of Bilingual Education, Biliteracy and Dual Language teacher preparation;
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To generate and apply research in bilingual education, multilingual and cross-cultural education; and
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To generate and apply research in the preparation of all teachers, with specific concerns towards bilingual, multilingual, and cross-cultural education teachers.
4 Pillars of Emphasis We Are Committed to...
Advocacy
CABTE will advocate for language and teacher education policies and practices that address the
needs of multilingual learners in California throughout their schooling experiences. We will strive to unify
and represent the voice of higher education faculty in Bilingual Teacher Education, Early Childhood
Education, Teacher Education, and Special Education in matters related to the education of linguistically
and culturally diverse learners and teachers. We affirm that our advocacy will bring necessary changes to
the field of bilingual teacher education to make teacher education in California more socially, culturally,
and linguistically inclusive.
Strategy
To become effective advocates for our values, CABTE must seek ways to sustain and expand
bilingual teacher preparation in California. We will strive to ensure there are bilingual teacher
education programs to meet the current and future demand for multilingual and multicultural
education in California. We will work with our members, both individual and institutional, to improve
Bilingual Education, Biliteracy, and Dual Language teacher preparation in the state. We will align
ourselves for strategic purposes with other organizations that share our values.
Organization​
CABTE will seek to be a sustainable and expanding organization across the state of California,
looking for ways to expand individual and institutional membership and member participation.
Our organization will aim to provide information and promote activities, to communicate regularly
with our members and aligned organizations. To that end, we will develop a budget for funding
activities and projects. We will maintain a working Board of Directors and a living bylaws
document to guide our activities and organization.
Scholarship
As higher education faculty, CABTE understands the importance of grounding our other actions in
scholarly knowledge and research. We seek to generate and apply research in bilingual education, multilingualism, and cross-cultural education, as well as in the preparation of all teachers, with specific
concern for teachers in bilingual, multilingual, and cross-cultural educational settings. We will seek opportunities to share research and scholarly knowledge with our members. We hope to be seen as an organization that informs its advocacy, strategy, and organization through scholarly knowledge and research.