Duolingo for Schools Guide for Administrators

Are you an administrator who is wondering if Duolingo for Schools is right for your school’s language program? Read on for more information.

duolingo for schools

meet the teacher

Dr. Jory Neff began teaching secondary Spanish in 2013, following the completion of his degree in Spanish Education.

While in the classroom, he continued his studies and was awarded a PhD in 2021. Dr. Neff teaches at a small, rural school in Texas.

He has built a curriculum around student interest topics, in order to motivate his students to advance their language studies.

THE PROBLEM

Dr. Neff values the effectiveness of metacognition as an instructional strategy. Because of this, he sought out learning experiences that would cater to the level of his students and offer them real-time feedback.

THE SOLUTION

Once a week, Dr. Neff hosts “Duolingo Day” in his classroom, where he provides time for his students to work on Duolingo for Schools and circulates the room, to offer coaching and additional instruction.

BENEFITS

Increasing Student Engagement

“Screens are a comfort zone for many of my students,” reports Dr. Neff. “Implementing a program that puts them behind screens productively raises classroom engagement.”

Giving Time Back to Teachers and Students
"My students are picking up on glue words from Duolingo,” says Dr. Neff, “which means I’m not having to take time explicitly teaching them, and can otherwise prioritize my time.”

what is duolingo for schools?

Duolingo for Schools is an extension of the original, research-based Duolingo platform that augments classroom instruction with high-quality, personalized lessons for students to engage in, both inside and outside the classroom. Duolingo for Schools uses fun, gamified activities to motivate students to learn while providing a robust teacher dashboard that provides access to key learner insights.

Administrator Fact Sheet

Duolingo for Schools is an app designed to partner with teachers to deepen their students’ language learning. While we at Duolingo know that there is no substitute for good teachers, we aim to create an interactive, self-paced experience for students that complements the curriculum schools are already implementing in their classrooms.

• Duolingo allows teachers to create classrooms, in which they can assign students a number of Lessons to complete or an amount of time to devote to practice.

• While Duolingo does require an active Internet connection, the app can be accessed on any smart device, as well as through a web browser.

• Duolingo has multiple teacher-enacted privacy settings to allow schools to determine what content is appropriate for students to engage with.

• More than 100,000 teachers use Duolingo for Schools to enhance their students’ language-learning experiences.

duolingo for schools

meet the teacher

Leah Stewart is a high-school Spanish teacher in rural Pennsylvania, who began her career teaching public school after teaching English in South Korea.

She is in her twelfth year of teaching, and her second in the same school district.

Leah is passionate about the Spanish language and loves that she can continue to grow her skills while helping students grow theirs.

THE PROBLEM

Ms. Stewart was looking for an option to offer her students to practice their Spanish skills in and out of the classroom. After hearing her niece talk about using Duolingo to learn languages, she began exploring its benefits for her classroom.

THE SOLUTION

Leah offers Duolingo for Schools as an option for additional practice in her classroom. Some even take their practice home! "Every now and then a student will breeze through something we haven't covered yet, and when I ask what made the lesson so easy, they'll tell me they already learned the content on Duolingo!"

BENEFITS

Increasing Skills Through Spiral Review

"Students sometimes forget things that we've gone over," says Ms. Stewart. "But Duolingo brings that back! It helps them cycle back in the information that we already went over."

Adding Competition to the Mix

"I am loving the Leaderboards," reports Ms. Stewart. "My students are extremely competitive. The second you put something like a leaderboard up there, they'll all be doing more just to place in the top spot!"

what is duolingo for schools?

What privacy settings are in place to protect my students?

Duolingo has four primary settings that can be turned on or off to allow teachers to adapt their students’ experience.

1. Discussion Forum

Select whether students can participate in discussions with other Duolingo users outside of their classroom.

2. Events Page

Duolingo requires that all minors who wish to participate in community events be escorted by an adult. Select whether or not your students may participate in such events.

3. Friend Requests and Leagues

Select whether students can make or accept friend requests that allow them to share progress, comment on friends’ activities, and react to their leaderboard status, as well as participate in leagues.

4. Mature Content and the Duolingo Podcast

Select whether or not students can access lessons that include words like “beer” and the Duolingo podcast.

Visit our Help Center for more information about the privacy and security settings we utilize to maintain student safety.

duolingo for schools

meet the teacher

Evelyn Belcher found a passion for language learning in high school French. When her school wouldn't allow her to learn a second language, she took matters into her own hands and used Duolingo to begin learning Spanish.

She began her career as a teacher and recognized a need for additional services for the migrant workers who had made a home in her community. After getting her TESOL certification, she began managing all services for multilingual learners in her district.

THE PROBLEM

Ms. Belcher was looking for a program that would allow students to practice language at their "just right level." She also wanted families to be able to access the language practice. She typed "Duolingo, but for teachers" into the search bar of her computer, and found Duolingo for Schools.

THE SOLUTION

Once she found out about Duolingo for Schools, Ms. Belcher began recommending Duolingo for Schools as an independent practice tool for students and families to use to supplement their classroom learning. "Oh my gosh! It existed this whole time. I was so irritated that I hadn't known about it already," reported Ms. Belcher.

BENEFITS

Delivering Individualized Practice

As a teacher who works with students of different ages at once, Ms. Belcher says that she "loves being able to group students in a class based on learning needs and then review their progress."

Learning in a Diverse Range of Languages

"I have students who know some English, and some who don't even read Spanish because their native language is an indigenous language. Duolingo lets me assign work in different languages to be able to reach them all!"

what is duolingo for schools?

How can I communicate to students’ families about Duolingo for Schools?

Great question! We love that you’re already thinking of ways to involve your students’ families in their language-learning efforts. Feel free to use or adapt the letter below to allow your teachers to communicate to their students’ parents about the work they are doing on Duolingo for Schools.

Hello Families!

This year, we will be using a tool called Duolingo for Schools. Duolingo is a free app designed to help students learn languages. Because Duolingo can be downloaded to any smartphone, and even used on a web browser on computers, it means that students will have access to additional practice in their language at their fingertips!

On my end, Duolingo for Schools allows me to track the work that the students are doing, to ensure I can give them the most help throughout their learning journey. Additionally, I can create assignments that are tailored specifically to what will best meet the needs of each student. This means that every minute your students spend on Duolingo will be spent working at their “just-right” level, rather than on a classwide assignment.

Duolingo’s platform is set up with certain restrictions to ensure student safety. For example, I am able to control whether the students are allowed to engage with mature vocabulary or have profiles that can be seen by other users. I encourage you to take some time to explore the app with your child–their login information is attached to this letter.

Please consider supporting your child at home by encouraging them to spend time with Duolingo. Encourage them to maintain their Streak by ensuring that they log time daily, if only just fifteen minutes! Together, we can ensure that they maximize their learning, both inside and outside of the classroom.

Yours in Partnership,

duolingo for schools

meet the teacher

Jonathan fell in love with languages through his high school French class.

A former English and communications teacher, he later became an elementary administrator and is now the Director of Federal Programs and Gifted Services at State College.

He is currently conducting doctoral research on improving gifted universal screening processes to support English Learners and disproportionality in gifted identification while balancing his 1000+ Spanish streak on Duolingo.

THE PROBLEM

When Jonathan began working in his current role, families came to him to share their concerns regarding a lack of language enrichment opportunities for multilingual learners. Although he works in a district with a high population of multilingual learners, language opportunities for elementary learners needed to be improved.

THE SOLUTION

Looking to increase language access in the district, Jonathan used ARP ESSR funds to create a summer enrichment program for upper-elementary students to begin honing their language-learning skills. With the support of an innovative teacher, Garett Rickelman, State College’s students began a self-paced weekly language course using Duolingo for Schools.

BENEFITS

Boosting Engagement with Gamification

“The program used Duolingo’s content and added games to give students more practice,” said Jonathan. “The students played games like Duck, Duck, Goose but with colors in the language they were learning.”

Encouraging Practice Time at Home

To really push toward fluency, students would need to practice more outside of the classroom. "Things changed when students realized that they could take their practice home with them! Then it really got competitive!"

what is duolingo for schools?