Understanding factors that influence reading achievement among bilingual children is considerably more complex than it is for monolingual children. Research on dual language development indicates that bilingual children's oral language abilities are often distributed across languages in varied ways, due to heterogeneity of dual language exposure…

The unprecedented growth of Spanish-English dual language learners (DLLs) in new destination states (e.g., Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina, Tennessee) calls for better understanding of the relation between their bilingual vocabulary skills and English reading achievement. The current study focused on school-age Spanish-English DLLs (N = 60) in…

Socioemotional constructs have been receiving increased attention as contributors to individuals' literacy development. However, in comparison with positive socioemotional constructs, negative socioemotional constructs have been understudied with respect to their role in reading achievement in both emergent bilinguals (EBs) and English…

Socio-emotional constructs have been receiving increased attention as contributors to children's literacy development. However, in comparison to positive socio-emotional constructs, negative socio-emotional constructs have been understudied with respect to their role in reading achievement in both dual language learners (DLLs) and English speakers…

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 promise of access to key 21st-century skills (i.e., bilingualism, biliteracy, and global awareness) has resulted in the rapid gain in popularity of dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs in the United States over the past two decades. Despite their integrative and additive nature, concerns have been raised about lack of equity in…

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 Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing, 2nd Edition (CTOPP-2; Wagner et al., 2013) is commonly used in k-12 public schools to assess basic cognitive processing skills foundational for reading achievement. Psychometric support for its use with dual language learners (DLLs), a group representing over 10% of the school-aged population in…

The Houston Independent School District offers two primary bilingual programs (transitional and dual language) for Spanish-speaking English learners (ELs). The relative amount of instruction in each language depends on both program and grade level. Students in the transitional bilingual program have the option of entering a "pre-exit…

Background: The goal of this study was to examine the effect of cognates on Spanish-English bilingual children's English reading fluency. Because cognates lead to higher levels of non-target language activation, we hypothesised that the presence of cognates would result in reduced reading fluency for bilingual children. Methods: Monolingual…

In an effort to ensure that all students in grades K-12 received the appropriate supports and services to meet their full potential, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) employs the Intervention Assistance Team (IAT) program to document individualized interventions implemented to support the child and provide, if needed, a bridge to…

Given concerns about the reading achievement of Dual Language Learners (DLLs) in comparison to English Monolinguals (EMs), this study examined individual difference variables contributing to English reading comprehension growth in Spanish-speaking DLLs and their EM counterparts in Grades 1-4. The participants, who included 578 DLLs and 412 EMs,…

In the 2017-2018 school year, in an effort to ensure that all students in grades K-12 received the appropriate supports and services to meet their full potential, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) employed the Intervention Assistance Team (IAT) program to document individualized interventions implemented to support the child and…

This report compared the academic achievement of prekindergarten students who were enrolled in Houston Independent School District (HISD) early childhood centers (ECC) during the 2015-2016 school year to their peers who attended school-based programs. Academic achievement was measured on the HISD CIRCLE English and Spanish language, literacy, and…

This evaluation compared mean scores and proficiency levels on the 2016--2017 CIRCLE English and Spanish language, literacy, and mathematics assessments between students enrolled in Early Childhood Centers (EECs) with their School-based Program (SBP) peers. The evaluation helped to determine whether there were observable differences in academic…