Foreign language education in Louisiana: A cluster analysis

Louisiana is currently the only state in the United States that requires foreign language (FL) study for some, but not all of their high school students, and these requirements are undergoing seismic changes. Considering that geographic, economic, and integration factors contribute to whether a school can provide FL at all—and biased counseling dissuades minoritized students from taking FL—this study asks: has FL education been equitably accessible to all Louisiana high school students who want to pursue it, regardless of race or economic background? To address this question, this paper presents results from two analyses. First, program-internal equity variables (e.g., [dis]similarity between school-wide and FL student demographics) were clustered to produce “profiles” of FL programs. Next, a multinomial logistic regression using program-external factors (e.g., federal funding status, desegregation orders) was conducted to isolate the factors impacting equity. Federal funding and rurality were both found to be significant, with schools receiving federal Title I funds and rural schools being much more likely to exhibit inequitable access to FL courses. In (a) identifying schools with enrollment inequities and (b) the outside factors associated with greater inequity, this paper aims to provide policymakers with empirically based tools to address (in)equity in Louisiana high school FL education. These findings can be especially helpful in light of the state's recent (2023-2024 school year) expansion of FL requirements to accept computer science courses.