Rural meets Urban: Advanced Placement Rural High School Students Supporting Urban Dual Language Learners

High School Advanced Placement (AP) Spanish students from a rural school district in Upstate New York translated picture books for second grade students at Urban Primary, where Spanish is primarily spoken at home. Each child received books that were translated, intended to be read in English, Spanish. This gave the students and their parents opportunities to read in both languages. The purpose of the project was to facilitate language development for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds who are learning both Spanish and English in their homes. Children who come from low-income homes are at risk to enter Kindergarten performing below their middle-class peers. Children who are simultaneously learning two languages are at risk for language and literacy deficits in both languages (Wilson, Dickinson, & Rowe, 2013). This project won the American Council on Special Education 2017 Exemplary Program Award in the area of cross-cultural services.