Supt. Reykdal Wins National Bilingual Education Leadership Award

State Superintendent Chris Reykdal has received an award from a national organization in honor of his work to promote dual language education across Washington.

OLYMPIA — March 2, 2023 — At their 52nd annual conference held in Portland, OR, last week, the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) presented State Superintendent Chris Reykdal with their Leadership Award.

NABE is a nonprofit organization that represents and advocates for bilingual students and education professionals, and the Leadership Award is given each year to an individual who promotes equity and academic excellence in the field of bilingual education.

“It’s an incredible honor to be recognized for this award,” Reykdal said. “We know that young people are better served when they have access to dual language education programs, and the lifelong value of multilingualism can’t be overstated. As Washington’s students graduate and enter the workforce, providing them with the opportunity to develop multilingual skills from a young age will help them secure fulfilling careers in an increasingly competitive global economy.”

In Washington’s dual language education programs, classroom content is taught partly in English and partly in a partner language that is selected at the local level. Decades of research show that dual language education is the only program model that prevents and closes opportunity gaps for multilingual/English learners and other student groups that have been historically underserved.

In the 2015–16 school year, the Legislature began providing grant funding to school districts and state-tribal education compact (STEC) schools to grow capacity for dual language education programs across Washington. Under Reykdal’s leadership, Washington has more than doubled the number of school districts that offer a two-way dual language program. Currently, 48 school districts and STEC schools operate dual language programs serving approximately 35,000 students across Washington.

Expanding student access to dual language education has long been one of Reykdal’s top priorities for Washington’s schools, and he has advocated for the Legislature to grow these effective programs, and build out the bilingual educator workforce, since taking office in 2017. Reykdal’s goal is to reach statewide implementation — where every young learner in Washington has access to dual language learning in elementary school — by 2040. Reaching this goal will require continued legislative investments.

As part of honoring Reykdal’s receipt of the Leadership Award, NABE invited him to speak at their conference. In his remarks, Reykdal thanked the educators who are the heart and soul of student learning. He also thanked lawmakers from Washington state who have partnered with him to make dual language access a priority in public policy and in their budget priorities.