Language is the Key to Unlocking Success for Students in Schools

Dr. Tracey Jones is passionate about bilingual education and promoting linguistic diversity. With a career spanning more than 25 years, she cares deeply about creating inclusive educational environments for all students, including those with disabilities. Dr. Jones serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor at Baylor University, where she specializes in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Bilingual Education. Her contributions to the Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities (BCDD) continue to be substantial. As a Faculty Affiliate, she helps lead the Center’s Spanish-language caregiver training series. 

Her desire to learn Spanish as a second language emerged in middle school. She said, “I loved the Spanish language.” The interest led her to earn a Bachelor of Arts from the University of La Verne in California, where she majored in Spanish and English. She studied abroad twice as an undergraduate, both times in different regions of Mexico. Jones then earned three different master’s degrees in education and Spanish literature, followed by a doctorate from New Mexico State University in Bilingual Education/TESOL. Dr. Jones currently teaches methods courses for TESOL and prepares students for certification to teach emergent bilingual (English learners) students. She especially enjoys exploring ways to include university students in their local communities as a way of helping them acquire the Spanish language. In 2024, she won an International Faculty Week award from la Universidad Tecnológico Monterrey in Querétero, México where she taught for a week in Spanish and English on their university campus.

Dr. Jones’s research focuses on how students acquire languages, as well as maintain their heritage language. She offered the example of young children (birth to five years old) coming to school with Spanish as their first language. She is interested in learning how teachers can maintain students’ first language in school, while also incorporating English. Dr. Jones said, “Maintaining their first language is significant for identity and to promote a more multilingual society.” One of Dr. Jones’s favorite experiences in her career was when she was teaching AP Spanish and ESL at a high school. She paired her Spanish ESL students with students in AP Spanish so they could learn from one another. This created partnerships and friendships in and through an interactive language exchange.

Dr. Jones recently led a study that involved having her university Spanish students participate in a lab day with La Vega Primary School’s dual language program. The university students spent an hour every week interacting through literacy activities with native Spanish speakers who were just starting out in school. She described the impact, “It was very humbling for the university students to talk to four-year-olds who have all the Spanish skills the college students are actually seeking to gain at the university level. It gives the university students authentic practice and an understanding of the value of bilingualism.” Students continue to write, years later, to thank her for the program she led because it guided the students in their career choices. She said, “Some students changed their majors to social work or education because they had the opportunity to experience a teaching career and hands-on experience on a school campus. It is rewarding knowing I, as a professor, had such an impact on my students’ lives, and gave them the opportunity to picture themselves as teachers by taking on that role.” 

Dr. Jones’s current study involves graduate and undergraduate student researchers in an interdisciplinary course called Bilingual Language Acquisition and Education in which proficiency in both Spanish and English is measured through various language assessments. The data collected during this project can have implications for practice for teachers and schools, especially for students enrolled in Dual Language programs.

In addition to teaching students about bilingual education, Dr. Jones dedicates her time to supporting the Spanish-language caregiver training series for the BCDD. Dr. Jones said, “This has been meaningful, educational, and eye-opening. The parent outreach has been fantastic and has educated me. At the same time, I have been able to help Spanish-speaking parents ensure they have the information to help their children succeed in school.” According to the Office of Special Education Programs, Hispanic and/or Latino children represent 27% of the student population served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The BCDD works to support students and families from all backgrounds to ensure everyone is receiving the education and resources needed to live a fulfilling life. With Spanish being the second most spoken language among families, the BCDD holds workshops for parents to learn about resources in the community that can help their child with a disability. Each training highlights different topics such as assessment and intervention, school services, and other programs that can benefit their children. 

“It is an honor to work with the BCDD because we're reaching out to parents who need to fully understand their rights and their children's rights. If all it takes is a language switch, then I think that’s something we can easily do, especially as a university.” Dr. Jones advances the BCDD’s strong commitment to ensuring all children, including multilingual children with disabilities and their families, experience inclusivity and receive a high-quality education.