This study explored the viability of using kindergarten measures of phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and orthographic knowledge, administered in English, to predict first grade reading achievement of Spanish-speaking English language learners. The primary research question was: Do kindergarten measures of early literacy skills in English predict first grade reading achievement for Spanish-speaking students as effectively as they do for English speakers? Participants were 3,448 economically disadvantaged students (50% spoke Spanish at home) from 243 schools. Regression analyses demonstrated that kindergarten variables accounted for similar percentages of variance in first grade reading for both Spanish speakers (43% in fall, 46% in spring) and non-Spanish speakers (49% in fall, 46% in spring) and that fall and spring variables were equally effective in predicting later achievement for both groups.