Equity for Multilingual Learners: A Global Network Response to the Pandemic - Introduction

Oct 15, 2026

Equity for Multilingual Learners examines how educators adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic to support multilingual learners across hybrid and online learning environments. It argues that when online learning relies only on English, families and students navigating multiple languages can be excluded, and it reframes language as developed through supported learning. The paper highlights a global network response, emphasizing WIDA’s asset-based approach and its transnational collaboration for reciprocal learning on language and equity.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Probletunities in the Coronaverse

The WIDA International School Consortium

A Network Response to the Pandemic

Current Issues in Comparative Education (CICE), Volume 24, Issue 2, Special Issue 2022 Equity for Multilingual Learners: A Global Network Response to the Pandemic Jon Nordmeyer University of Wisconsin-Madison Esther Bettney University of Wisconsin-Madison Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has been complex and challenging for educators, students and families worldwide. One could argue that education has changed as much in the past two years as it has in the past two centuries. By necessity, we have unbolted learning from the physical space of the classroom and accelerated the evolution of education: from Horace Mann’s factory schools of the industrial era to personalized and digitized ecosystems of the twenty-first century. On one hand, this shift has highlighted inequities for multilingual learners and their families. On the other hand, the pandemic has redefined schools as a valuable point of connection for the entire community. At the intersection of innovation and exhaustion, educators worldwide have faced an entirely new reality: how to continue serving diverse school communities while responding to the pandemic. Teachers taught themselves not just new skills but entirely new digital learning platforms, literally overnight, to keep students engaged online. This article explains how, in an increasingly interdependent world, a global network of schools and scholars co-created a powerful community to both learn from and contribute to dialogue about equity for multilingual learners during the pandemic. Probletunities in the Coronaverse As an unexpected catalyst, COVID-19 forced innovation by requiring a shift to hybrid/virtual teaching followed by continual transitions between in-person and online learning. In a prescient pre-pandemic view of technology and education, Collins and Halverson (2018) observed that in order to adapt to a rapidly changing world, schools should leverage learning opportunities offered by new technology. To develop 21st century skills and ensure students are future-ready, Collins and Halverson asserted that learning should be uncoupled from school, allowing a greater variety of input and increased engagement. Over the past two years, the pandemic has both reflected and accelerated some of these trends as classroom experiences have been by necessity hybrid, with students learning in and out of school, community and home environments. School was no longer a place but a process, requiring teachers, students and families to collaborate in new ways. Amid the collective necessity to pivot towards new technologies for teaching and learning during the pandemic, many educators expressed the need to ensure equity for multilingual learners. When online learning relies exclusively on English as the medium of instruction, students and families who navigate school in multiple languages can be excluded. We know that English proficiency “cannot be seen as a prerequisite to meaningful participation in school because this limits engagement”(Nordmeyer et al, 2021, p. 60). Instead, language must be viewed as something that is developed in the process of learning when students are supported and have access to the richest curriculum our © 2022, Current Issues in Comparative Education, Teachers College, Columbia University. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Current Issues in Comparative Education, 24(2), 119-122. Nordmeyer & Bettney schools have to offer (NASEM, 2018). During the pandemic, a focus on the intersection of multilingualism and equity catalyzed connections across the worldwide community of teachers. Over the past two years, global networks such as the WIDA International School Consortium, provided an opportunity for educators to connect with, share, and learn from each other as a community of practice. The WIDA International School Consortium Located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, WIDA supports schools around the world in using WIDA standards and assessments by disseminating research, f

FAQs

Why does the article argue that online learning can exclude multilingual learners?

When online learning relies exclusively on English as the medium of instruction, students and families who navigate school in multiple languages may be excluded from meaningful participation.

What core idea underpins WIDA’s approach to multilingual learners?

WIDA uses an asset-based approach, shifting attention toward what students can do rather than what they cannot do, and using “multilingual learner” to decenter English.

How did the pandemic drive changes in teaching and learning?

COVID-19 forced innovation by requiring hybrid/virtual teaching and continual transitions between in-person and online learning, turning schooling into a collaborative process across teachers, students, and families.

Oct 15, 2026

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