Strategic By Design Part I

Part One: Designing Multilingual Systems That Work

Part One of Strategic by Design focuses on what many multilingual programs struggle with most—the system itself. Rather than relying on isolated strategies or individual heroics, this section provides a coherent framework for designing multilingual programs that are intentional, aligned, and sustainable.

Using six essential pillars, Part One helps district and campus leaders examine how policies, structures, and practices either create access or barriers for multilingual learners. When these pillars are aligned, programs move from reactive to strategic—ensuring students are supported by design, not by chance.

The Six Pillars

Compliance
Compliance is the foundation. This pillar clarifies federal and state requirements and reframes compliance as a tool for equity—ensuring students receive the services, access, and protections they are entitled to.

Curriculum & Instruction
Effective multilingual programs are built on intentional instructional design. This pillar focuses on language development, instructional clarity, and aligned curriculum that makes grade-level content accessible while accelerating language growth.

Staffing
Staffing decisions shape program quality. This pillar addresses hiring, placement, and role clarity to ensure educators are strategically assigned, supported, and leveraged to meet student needs.

Professional Development
Strong systems invest in people. This pillar emphasizes purposeful, ongoing professional learning that builds collective capacity rather than relying on one-time trainings.

Family & Community Engagement
Families are partners, not add-ons. This pillar focuses on designing structures that foster trust, communication, and meaningful engagement with multilingual families and community stakeholders.

Pathway to Graduation
The goal is not just access—it’s outcomes. This pillar centers on designing flexible, informed pathways that support multilingual learners in progressing toward graduation, postsecondary opportunities, and long-term success.

Why Part One Matters

Part One lays the groundwork for everything that follows. When multilingual programs are strategically designed across these six pillars, schools move beyond compliance and good intentions toward coherent systems that consistently support student success.

Strategic By Design Part II

Part Two: From Systems to Students

While Part One of Strategic by Design focuses on building strong multilingual systems, Part Two shifts the lens to the student experience within those systems. This section centers on the acculturation process—what multilingual learners need to successfully navigate a new academic, cultural, and social environment.

Part Two is designed around a state-approved acculturation course model and is organized into three interconnected parts. Together, they provide a structured pathway that helps students move from initial orientation to long-term success, without sacrificing identity, dignity, or opportunity.

The Three Parts

Academic Orientation
Students cannot succeed in a system they do not understand. This part focuses on explicitly teaching how school works—academic expectations, routines, grading, assessment, and classroom norms—so students can access learning with confidence and clarity.

Cultural Development
Acculturation is not assimilation. This part supports students in developing a bicultural identity by understanding cultural norms, navigating differences, and valuing their home language and culture while learning how to function within a new school and community context.

Personal Success
Success looks different for every student. This part helps students identify goals, build agency, and develop the skills needed to navigate pathways toward graduation, postsecondary options, and life beyond school.

Why Part Two Matters

Strong systems alone are not enough. Part Two ensures those systems translate into meaningful student experiences by providing intentional structures that support belonging, identity development, and long-term success for multilingual learners.