This study integrated reading and bilingual theories to examine the reading behaviors of second grade Latinx students in a Dual Language program. It explored how the students' differing language backgrounds (simultaneous bilinguals and sequential bilinguals who had developed Spanish as a home language) might influence their early reading…

English learners (ELs) constitute a large--and growing--share of the student body in the United States. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that nearly one-quarter of U.S. children speak a language other than English at home. Furthermore, one-third of children under age 8 have at least one parent who speaks a non-English language--these…

Using multicultural children's books "La Asombrosa Graciela" and "William's Doll" as springboards for discussion surrounding gender roles, this study examines the role of drama-based pedagogy in the developing understanding of gender roles in a second-grade Spanish dual-language classroom. This practitioner inquiry shows…

This article examines how one elementary school was divided into two schools--a primary and an intermediate school--because of how policies were interpreted and enacted with regard to high-stakes testing. The grades in which students took high-stakes tests were privileged in terms of receiving monetary resources and support from staff. An emphasis…

The purpose of this study is to explore the reasons why parents decide to send their children to privately funded primary schools providing a bilingual English language program (BELP) after completion of native language-oriented kindergarten education (i.e. Chinese language). This study was guided by one research question: Why do parents decide to…

This report summarizes Austin Independent School District (AISD) English learner students' (ELs) Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) performance on the 2019 Spring test administration. Student performance is summarized by domain and composite ratings, years in U.S. schools, and yearly progress.

The present study examined the effect of children's enrollment in U.S. dual-language immersion (DLI) programs in first grade on English development across five years, using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2011 (ECLS-K:2011) database. Propensity score matching was used to create comparable groups of DLI and non-DLI…

Indiana dual-language immersion (DLI) programs have grown exponentially in the last 5 years as a result of state policies, related state funding, and increasing pressure for public schools to have a specialized presence amidst school choice provisions. Principals work with their communities to identify the DLI model they will adopt, student…

This article focuses on a teaching-research relationship between a teacher and a university professor who are a married couple. The article highlights how we navigated our relationship during a project with second graders with the hope of opening Third Space for students to engage in collective storytelling in an environment that interrupts…

This study examined Spanish-English dual language (DL) K-6 teachers in collaborative professional development as they worked towards achieving the bicultural goal of DL education, beyond traditional interpretations, and incorporating sociopolitical consciousness as a fourth goal. These two principles are part of the transformational DL educational…

Spanish-English emergent bilingual children's range of sociocultural and linguistic knowledge have typically gone devalued in relation to school literacy curricula. This case study examines how emergent bilingual children in a second grade one-way immersion dual language classroom draw on their prior cultural-experiential knowledge and dynamic…

Assessment "as," "for," and "of" learning complement effective curricular and instructional practices, however, the complexities of assessment for multilingual students are too-often overlooked and misunderstood. What if multilingual learners, teachers, and educational leaders all had opportunities to plan for and use…

Cross-linguistically, monolingual children produce target-like inflected verbs much earlier than they can reliably distinguish between singular and plural subject-verb agreement morphology in comprehension (i.e. Johnson, V., J. de Villiers, and H. Seymour. 2005. "Agreement Without Understanding? The Case of Third Person Singular /s/."…

This study examined the longitudinal prediction of decoding, oral reading fluency (ORF), and bilingual language proficiency (BLP) on student reading comprehension (RC) outcomes in Spanish and in English. Participants were first-grade Latinx students attending bilingual programs. Findings indicated that BLP initial status and gains were significant…

The number of English language learners (ELLs) in early childhood education (ECE) continues to increase, particularly with students whose first language (L1) is Spanish. Recent studies have shown the connection between teachers' self-efficacy and student achievement, but very few specifically address early childhood education teachers'…