Background or Context: Dual language education aims to foster the development of bilingualism, biliteracy, sociocultural competence, and academic skills in all school subjects. Early correlational research suggests that participation in dual language education is associated with higher achievement. Recent studies leveraged more comprehensive sets…

The aim of this study is to examine which predictor variables are related to literacy attainment in Irish (Gaelic)-English bilinguals. The participants were in their second (n = 115) and third (n = 125) year of schooling in Ireland and were drawn from both native speaker and new speaker backgrounds. The constructs of phonemic awareness, verbal…

The future success of today's students and our nation depends on how well prepared our students are to contribute to the globalized world of the 21st century. The population of English Language Learners (ELLs) is exploding in the United States. If students are not given the appropriate language scaffolds to learn English, ELLs will struggle…

Articles in this issue examine (1) the primary sources of variability in reading and language achievement among Spanish-speaking English learners (ELs) in the United States, (2) the extent to which poor performance at the end of grade 2 is identifiable in developmental trajectories beginning in kindergarten, (3) the relations among core reading…

The number of students that live in families where a language other than English is spoken has risen relative to the English-only households in the United States over the last 25 years. These students face the dual challenge of mastering English while acquiring academic skills and knowledge. The education of these students has been shaped by…

When literacy instruction is integrated and contextualized in a child's background knowledge and daily experiences, learning is increased. This mixed-methods study describes effective bilingual instruction in second-grade classrooms in the United States where teachers utilize students' linguistic capital and foster home-school connections, two…

For new educators, the obstacles of high-stakes testing, curricular mandates, and their own inexperience and self-doubt can render teaching for justice and equity overwhelming, seemingly impossible ideals. However, as students are increasingly tied to prescriptive curricula and academic performance standards, the goals of social justice and…

Academic growth and personal-social growth of 20 second grade children in the Southeastern New Mexico Bilingual Program at Artesia are compared to 20 second grade children in the standard program. The groups were matched by chronological and mental age, IQ, family income, family situation (both parents, only father, or only mother), number of…

This article describes the experiences of a second grade teacher who teaches in a heterogeneous bilingual classroom in a large district, and his assignment in a graduate class to conduct action research. This teacher was concerned about the academic performance and motivation of two gifted, but underachieving Hispanic boys in his class. Both of…

Seventeen Spanish-speaking children received mathematics instruction in either Spanish or English. Numeric concepts were chosen as the content area so that the results could be understood non-verbally at the outset, the teachers ranked the children's abilities in English and math, and no significant difference between groups was found. However,…

The academic achievement of 144 second, third, and fourth graders in two Tucson elementary school bilingual education programs was measured by pre- and post-test scores on the California Achievement Test (CAT) and California Test of Basic Skills-Spanish (CTBS) in the fall and spring of the 1982-83 school year. The study was undertaken to examine…

The effects of a cooperative learning program, Bilingual Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (BCIRC), on the Spanish and English reading, writing, and language achievement of second and third graders of limited English proficiency in Spanish bilingual programs in El Paso (Texas) were studied. BCIRC was expected to improve student…

This study followed longitudinal achievement data from Hispanic students with limited proficiency in English who participated in a pilot instructional program. The program involved bilingual curriculum content (BCC) in the home language and was initiated in the winter of 1983-84 and continued through the 1986-87 school year. Six elementary schools…

A three-year longitudinal study of bilingual curriculum content (BCC) was initiated in the 1983-84 school year to assess alternative strategies for teaching curriculum content to Limited English Proficient (LEP) students in Dade County (Florida) Public Schools. The BCC strategy (in which content subjects are taught bilingually) was contrasted with…