The phonological loop of the working memory system plays a key role in language learning. This study examined the trajectories between two dual-language learner groups (English Learners [ELs] and Spanish Learners [SLs]) on phonological loop measures in L1 and L2. At Grade 1, children completed a battery of vocabulary and cognitive measures and…

The rhetoric of the reading wars has become more than just an armchair academic debate, but is encoded now in the very laws, house and senate bills, and legislative policies of the majority of the states. In turn, these policies are powered by staggering sums of money such as the 90-million-dollar investment of Fulton County, Georgia in a revamp…

This study was designed to identify a continuum of orthographic features that characterize Spanish spelling development in Grades 1-3. Two research questions guided this work: (1) Is there a hierarchy of orthographic features that affect students' spelling accuracy in Spanish over and above other school-level, student-level, and word-level…

Purpose: Educators often use results from static norm-referenced vocabulary assessments to aid in the diagnosis of school-age children with a language disorder. However, research has indicated that many of these vocabulary assessments yield inaccurate, biased results, especially with culturally and linguistically diverse children. This study…

This paper examines two language practices of students in a predominantly African American bilingual second grade class: language play and identity formation. Prevalent notions about legitimate language knowledge are visible in the school's curriculum, language goals, and assessment requirements. Additionally, discussions about bilingual…

English Language Learner (EL) students in the district's two main bilingual programs (Transitional and Dual Language) are instructed in both English and Spanish. The relative amount of instruction in each language depends on both program and grade level. In the Transitional bilingual program, students receive primary language instruction for…

The main purpose of this study was to validate the curriculum-based measure "Indicadores de Progreso de Aprendizaje en Matemáticas" (IPAM [Indicators of Basic Early Math Skills]) in a local, Spanish-speaking context. This tool has been designed to identify first-grade students at risk for mathematics learning disabilities. The IPAM…

This experimental study aimed to influence reading comprehension skills through the development of one or both components of the Simple View of Reading (decoding and listening comprehension), by using a differentiated instruction approach. Reading comprehension skill gains were compared in an intervention group versus a control, after the delivery…

While many elementary-level children in the United States still do not have access to a second/additional language (L2), an increasing number are educated via Foreign Language Exposure (FLEX) tracks. Our two-semester study examines elementary-level L2 learners' engagement, emerging L2 Spanish vocabulary use, and awareness of the arbitrary nature…

Emergent bilinguals (EBs) with disabilities are in an intersectional gap; that means that on the one hand, they are learning a second language and on the other hand, they have learning challenges resulting from their disability. The implication is that the interaction between their disability and second language learning may impact how they learn…

Background: Over 15% of kindergarten and first grade students in U.S. public schools are English learners (ELs) (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2021). Many classroom teachers, however, have not had specialized training in providing instruction for ELs. The BELLA (Bridging English Language Learning and Academics) professional…

Primary school children develop literacy practices in various domains and situations in everyday life. This study focused on the analysis of literacy practices of children aged 8-12 years from the perspective of their families. 1,843 families participated in the non-experimental explanatory study. The children in these families speak Spanish as a…

Participation in mathematics classrooms has received considerable attention in previous research. Scholars have emphasized researchers' and teachers' perspectives on what it means to participate. I draw on sociocultural theories of learning to explore both students' and a teacher's perspectives on participation. I describe a participatory research…

In the face of immense pressure from Spanish, the national language, a group of educators in Michoacán are committed to prioritising P'urhepecha in two local primary schools where P'urhepecha is the dominant community language. The history of educational initiatives among the P'urhepecha people illustrates the inconsistent and primarily…

This critical classroom study of language oppression draws from the notion of existing inequalities based on power relations in education research, as addressed in a critical ethnography. This critical classroom study explores the cases of two recent immigrant students, "Manuel" and "Malena," on the -U.S.-Mexican border near El…