Learning to read is a fundamental skill that is understudied among children who hear more than one language at home. A particular limitation in the extant literature is that the samples are often Spanish-dominant and come from low-income households. This literature has evidence that Spanish skills -- both language-specific (i.e., vocabulary) and…

The study examined 37 language samples of 37 Spanish-English kindergartners and first graders from a larger sample of the Multitudes Project in California. The focus was on investigating how these young English language learners produced narratives in English, what language elements they included, and whether these elements correlated or related…

Without providing effective, evidenced-based instruction during the early elementary years, children who come to school with low initial levels of mathematics and reading skills often continue to fall further behind their peers (Anderson & Nagy, 1992; Hart & Risley, 1995). However, educational interventions show promise for helping…

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of teacher ratings for screening children's language skills. Teacher ratings were measured through the use of two tools, the "Children's Communication Checklist-2" (CCC-2; Bishop, 2006) and the "Teacher Rating of Oral Language and Literacy" (TROLL; Dickinson, McCabe, &…

The acquisition of vocabulary is an important aspect of young children's development that may impact their later literacy skills (National Reading Panel, 2000; Cunningham & Stanovitch, 1997). Deaf children who are American Sign Language users, however, often have smaller vocabularies and lower literacy levels than their hearing peers…

This study examined relationships between pre-tested early literacy skills and post-tested reading achievement in 52 kindergarten and 39 first-grade children. An archival data set was available for statistical analysis. Data analysis was completed in three stages: Participants' entry-level literacy and language scores were compared on two…

This dissertation study examined how mothers participated and scaffolded while watching an educational television program at home with their 3- to 5-year-old children; whether maternal participation and scaffolding predicted children's learning of vocabulary, sight words, and reading skills presented in the program; and reasons (i.e.,…

Research on the impact of the Project Approach on young children with disabilities or children who are at-risk is limited. Mixed methods were used to study the impact of the Project Approach on the social interactions, challenging behaviors, and language development of eight focal children in two inclusive classrooms. Child participants were two…