The "Bilingual Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition" ("BCIRC") program, an adaptation of the "Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition" ("CIRC") program, was designed to help Spanish-speaking students succeed in reading Spanish and then making a successful transition to English reading. In…

This report summarizes Austin ISD's bilingual and English as a second language (ESL) program for students during the 2006-2007 school year. The school district served 13,162 students in a bilingual program, 5,280 students in an ESL program, and 822 students whose parents refused bilingual or ESL programming. Most (77%) students served were in…

For the monolingual population, research has shown that vocabulary knowledge is closely related to reading achievement. However, the role of vocabulary has not been studied as extensively in the bilingual population. It is important to look at vocabulary to better understand reading achievement in the bilingual population in the United States.…

This study examined the reading performance on the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery--Revised (WLPB-R), in Spanish and English, of 183 Spanish-speaking students in kindergarten through grade 2 in 3 schools with 4 instructional programs for English learners: structured English immersion, transitional bilingual, developmental bilingual, and dual…

This study examined whether oral reading fluency in a child's first language (Spanish) as assessed by Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) was related to oral reading fluency in a second language (English) and whether Spanish oral reading fluency probes administered in the fall were predictive of English oral reading fluency outcomes for spring of…

One of the critical issues for schools is how to actively involve Latino parents in the schooling process. Although Latino parents are often marginalized in schools due to race, class, and cultural differences, many school personnel suspect Latino parents of not caring about their children's education. This article highlights how a small group of…

Spanish-speaking children, like children everywhere, are naturally interested in the world around them. If teachers are to encourage their understanding and appreciation of the natural and physical sciences, they should provide them with a wide variety of books they can read and understand. From board books about farm animals to a high-interest…

This article reports a study of parental motivation, attitudes, support, and commitment for the second year of the two-way immersion (TWI) program at an elementary school in San Bernardino, California. Findings include the unique aspects of border communities; similarities and differences between Spanish-language and English-language participants;…

The present exploratory study examined the involvement of 77 Mexican-origin fathers in their school-age (grades 4-6) child's education. Fathers were classified into one of three groups based on their linguistic acculturation status. The three groups were predominantly English-speakers (n = 25), English/Spanish-speakers (n = 27), and predominantly…

Using an extant database, we examined three grade 1 criteria for identifying response to intervention (RTI) in English language learners (ELLs): (a) set benchmark criteria with a standard score above 95 (37th %ile) on both decoding and comprehension measures and a raw score of 40 or more correct words per minute (CWPM) on oral reading fluency; (b)…

Young Spanish?English bilingual children's writing reveals their understanding of the writing process and the relationship between their two languages. After examining more than 100 writing samples of young bilingual children, the researchers found similar developmental patterns to those of monolingual English and monolingual Spanish children.…

Children with limited English proficiency are known to be at higher risk of school failure than their peers. Risk starts early, and the achievement lag of these children often widens with age and progression in the educational system. This study attempted to determine the effects of a 2-way bilingual education program on the literacy development…

This article describes the development of a Spanish-spelling measure designed to assess the progress made by Spanish-English bilingual children from Grade 2 to Grade 5. Different stages of measure development are described, such as the selection of the focus features, the pilot phase of the assessment, and the finalizing of the operational…

This study investigated growth in reading, vocabulary, and memory in children (ages 5 to 10) learning English as a second language identified at risk for reading disabilities (RD). A growth curve analysis showed that RD children were significantly below children not at risk in English and Spanish reading, Spanish short-term memory (STM), Spanish…

In response to the underachievement of its Latino children, one district implemented Parent Partnership for Achieving Literacy (PAL), a program to build cultural bridges between home and school. Professional development (PD) that helped mainstream teachers develop cultural competence to work effectively with Latino children and their families was…