35 Years of the Continua of Biliteracy: A discussion of what has been, what is, and what is to come

Abstract This issue of the Forum celebrates the 35th anniversary of the seminal publication on the continua of biliteracy (Hornberger, 1989). The issue has brought together scholars who each shed light on the continued need for such conceptual framing, illuminating ways in which “the hope for understanding biliteracy, as well as literacy and bilingualism, seems to lie in the complexity of biliteracy” (Hornberger, 1989, p. 289). Hornberger opens this article with her own journey with the continua of biliteracy, whereas Schissel seeks to illustrate the promise of the continua of biliteracy for multilingual assessment. The papers in this issue include further explorations of what keeps bringing people back to the continua. Antia highlights the decolonizing nature of the continua for minoritized language speakers in schools. The methods he and his colleague used to explore and address the power dimensions of biliteracy on the continua stand out in highlighting the immediate and potential long‐term consequences of marginalization related to the use of minoritized languages. Leung has mapped the disconnect between English language teaching and the continua of biliteracy, and points to more promising spaces for recognizing and expanding biliteracy that, at a minimum, see minoritized languages as a right, if not a resource. García traces the origins of the continua and documents the impact of the continua in shifting views of literacy in bilingual education over the past 35 years. Finally, Arcila describes the continued influence of the continua within preservice teacher education in providing useful, on‐the‐ground tools to support biliteracy.