Luquin takes over Multilingual Department

PHOTO: Maria Luquin, Director of DJUSD’s Multilingual Department

By Sean Campbell

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

Maria Luquin took over as the Director of Davis Joint Unified School District’s Multilingual Department on Nov. 13.

The Multilingual Department is under DJUSD’s Department of Instructional Services. The department has jurisdiction over English Learner (EL), World Language and Immersion programs throughout the district. Having this position open since the start of the school year has been difficult, according to DJUSD’s Associate Superintendent of Instruction Troy Allen. “Our staff was really stretched,” Allen said. “They had to rely on past practices more than they normally would.”

The interim position was held by former Harper Junior High principal Kerin Kelleher. “(Kelleher) helped us quite a bit so there were not any families in crisis,” Allen said. The previous director, Ricardo Perez, stayed involved in the program despite his new job as an associate superintendent in Woodland Joint Unified School District. “(Perez) is still talking to the team and helping them out,” Allen said. “It has made the transition less bumpy.”

Allen was a part of the tier 2 hiring panel for the director role and said that Luquin stood out over the many candidates. “(Luquin) aligns well with the district’s values, she sees students being multilingual as an asset not as something to fix,” Allen said. “She also has a deep history working with migrant and bilingual families, making her more than qualified.” 

Luquin has bachelor’s degrees in Secondary Education and Spanish Literature from the University of Nevada Reno and her master’s degree in educational leadership from California State University, Sacramento. 

Luquin has taught EL, Spanish Literature and was the EL coordinator in Lake Tahoe Unified School District. For the last 4 years, Luquin served as the EL coordinator in Dixon Unified School District. “I was instrumental in bringing a bilingual program to Dixon because unfortunately they didn’t have one, even though they had a need for it,” Luquin said.

Luquin applied for the role because it was a good fit. “I am passionate about language and helping migrate students, why wouldn’t I apply?” Luquin said. Despite that, it was a difficult decision for Luquin to leave her previous position. “It meant leaving a role with educators I deeply respect in the middle of the school year,” Luquin said. “But it was absolutely the right call.”

The department also serves as a link between EL and the rest of the district. “The multilingual department helps the EL specialists communicate with general education teachers to make the content more accessible for students receiving services,” Allen said.

Another one of Luquin’s responsibilities as the director is leading the process of identifying which students need services. The process begins by evaluating the answers to a language survey given to all new district students. If any of the answers indicate a language other than English is spoken at home the student takes the initial Language Proficiency Assessment Committee (LPAC) test.

This is when the brunt of the work starts according to Luquin. “We make sure all of the amazing resources DJUSD provides are accessible to all of the multilingual students and families,” Luquin said. This includes the language and justice network, which provides translation services to families that do not speak English, so they can be actively involved in their students’ academic life.

To test out of EL, a student has to take the summative LPAC which includes English listening, speaking, reading and writing. The test is not limited to language questions, it often includes history, science and other academic vocabulary, according to Luquin. “It’s a whole district effort for a student to reclassify,” Luquin said. “It is almost impossible to get reclassified out of EL unless all of your other academics are considered grade level.”

According to California’s Department of Education’s School Dashboard, Davis High has low EL progress, with only 66% of students in the program moving towards reclassification. While Luquin is hoping to improve that, she said it is not just a DHS problem. “It is not a-typical if you are looking at high school numbers to see a stagnation in progress,” Luquin said.

The director was not the only opening in the multilingual department to start the year. DHS still does not have a permanent EL teacher. “It is a really huge priority for the multilingual department,” Allen said. “We have gotten a teacher on special assignment in the classroom to make sure the students are not suffering, but we are working on a solution.”