Writing is the highest developmental skill in the acquisition of literacy skills and a skill that is not easy to teach in the classroom. If students are unable to verbally express an idea, they are even less likely to be able to express it in writing. The pattern of students lacking ability in writing is one that has been tracked through the…

Purpose: Best practices recommend promoting the use of the home language and allowing caregivers to choose the language(s) that they want to use with their child who is deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). We examined whether Spanish-speaking caregivers of children who are DHH receive professional recommendations on oral bilingualism that follow best…

Purpose: There are well-established links between oral language and reading development in monolingual English-speaking children that are associated with literacy outcomes. Oral language, defined relative to lexical quality, provides key support for developing early reading skills. For bilingual children, the connection between oral language and…

Many bilingual preservice teachers in Texas are not able to get certified because of language limitations. Although they have grown up listening and speaking their native language at home, with family and friends, many face challenges when using academic language in a formal setting. There is a mismatch between their language level and their…

Background: Educators and public school districts are bound to the legislative policies crafted by men and women who often have little experience in public education other than once having been a student themselves. As a result, policies are often not effective at creating positive change in Texas public schools. In addition, the role of policy…

This research employs a language ideologies framework to examine the language practices and beliefs of bilingual first grade students in an ESL classroom, in which the teacher valued and encouraged Spanish and translingual talk and writing. Using ethnographic methods of data collection and analysis, the findings pointed to the influence of both…

The Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) has synthesized key data on English learners (ELs) into two-page PDF sheets, by topic, with graphics, plus key contacts. The topics for this report on English Learners (ELs) who are Asian or Pacific Islander include: (1) Top 10 Asian and Pacific Islander Languages Spoken Among ELs: SY 2013-14; (2)…

In Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS) and Response to Intervention (RTI) models, the reading achievement of English Learners (ELs) is assessed multiple times during the school year to monitor students' progress toward meeting grade-level reading standards. Most MTSS/RTI frameworks do not include a comparable system for assessing oral language…

Dual language programs are poised to produce bilingual/biliterate teacher candidates to alleviate bilingual educator shortages. Therefore, in search for ways to support the growing number of Spanish/English dual language programs in Texas, the authors of this paper analyzed the variations of Spanish language and proficiency levels of 9th grade…

This study investigated the relationship between listening comprehension and reading comprehension to determine if environmental factors might be contributing to a possible change in the equalization age for these two comprehension modalities from what was theorized by Thomas Sticht. The study employed a counterbalanced design to measure the…

Recruiting certified bilingual teachers have been difficult since 2010 as new testing policies and exams are implemented. Advanced high levels of writing and speaking language proficiency are required from the bilingual education candidate to perform his or her job. This essay examines the impact of Texas language policy for bilingual education…

In this year-long randomized control trial (RCT), we evaluated the effectiveness of a year-long, intensive, and structured virtual professional development (VPD) accompanying science-integrated English-as-second-language (ESL) instructional intervention on 187 second grade English learners' English language and literacy development in suburban…

With increased demand for improved early childhood education services, it is important to better understand the essential professional development resources that have the greatest impact on both teacher and child outcomes. This study compared the effectiveness of two teacher-training models in bilingual Migrant and Seasonal Head Start and Head…

The English Language and Literacy Acquisition--Validation (ELLA-V) study was a five-year evaluation of a program that provided professional development, coaching, and curricula that targeted English-as-a-second-language (ESL) instruction for teachers of K-3 English learners (ELs). ELLA-V was implemented in 10 school districts in Texas in the…

The English Language and Literacy Acquisition--Validation (ELLA-V) study was a five-year evaluation of a program that provided professional development, coaching, and curricula that targeted English-as-a-second-language (ESL) instruction for teachers of K-3 English learners (ELs). The project was federally funded by a grant from the U.S.…