ABSTRACT
Recent immigration patterns into the U.S. have raised logistical questions across many social fields. These patterns have impacted educational settings in predictable and unforeseen ways. For example, recent immigration trends have resulted in bifurcated success trends among children of immigrants, with split streams of high-achievement and low-achievement (Suarez-Orozco & SuarezOrozco, 2001). Adding to the complexity of the linguistic and cultural diversity found within today’s schools are powerful policy initiatives, such as the abolishment of bilingual education in several states, accompanied by suites of pedagogical and curricular implications. Embedded within these shifting and multifaceted arenas, linguistically-and culturally-diverse populations are navigating their way through science pedagogy and curriculum. Teachers face the challenges of making their curricular objectives accessible and achievable to students in increasingly high stakes assessment contexts. In these situations, language can and does act as both a potential mediator for access and exclusion.
