From the South Texas borderlands to the nation: How PSJA’s dual language program began a transformation in bilingual education

This article analyzes the development and impact of a dual language model launched in 1995 by the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo (PSJA) Independent School District in South Texas. Through oral interviews and document analysis, we explore how Mexican American educators leveraged a federal Title VII grant to implement a homegrown dual language program centered on additive bilingualism, biliteracy, and biculturalism. We analyze how PSJA’s collaboration with the University of Texas Pan American transformed subtractive schooling practices and reshaped language ideologies in a majority-Latinx, Spanish-speaking region by creating one of the first large-scale “one-way” dual language models, preceding the national recognition and naming of such language education approaches.