This study explores the role that socioeconomic status (SES), home and school language and literacy practices, and oral vocabulary play in the development of English reading skills in Latino English language learners (ELLs) and how these factors contribute differentially to English reading outcomes for children of different ages and in different…

This investigation is an initial examination of possible enhancement of executive function through a dual-language (50:50) education model. The ethnically diverse, low-income sample of 120 children from Grades K, 2, and 4 consisted of approximately equal numbers of children enrolled in dual-language and traditional classrooms. Dual-language…

This study investigated Spanish-speaking kindergarten students' participation in mathematical discourse as they solved and discussed a range of word problems. Specifically, we draw upon sociocultural perspectives on mathematics learning to frame mathematical discourse and to examine specific teacher and student actions that seemed to support the…

Young children who are English language learners (ELLs) face major challenges in learning to read English. This study examined whether computer-assisted instruction (CAI) can be beneficial to ELL kindergartners enrolled in bilingual classes. The CAI programs provided systematic and structured exercises in developing phonological awareness and…

Using a low-inference observational instrument, the authors empirically described and compared pedagogical behaviors in bilingual and structured English-immersion programs serving Spanish-speaking English language learners in a large urban school district in Southeast Texas. The two programs included both intervention/control of each type during…

Using data from a random sample of Latino students in California, tracked throughout their elementary and middle school years, this paper examines ways in which outcomes vary for students of similar language and socioeconomic background who are initially instructed in their native language in transitional bilingual programs. As the students made…

This study examines the short-term effects of a two-way bilingual education program on the literacy development of students in kindergarten and first grade. This study compared the literacy development of two groups of children who received different proportions of instruction in English and Spanish. Both the experimental and control groups…

This article describes the usage of linguistic units and instructional strategies that facilitate word recognition for Latino kindergarten students who are beginning to read in Spanish. This case study was based on coding videotaped reading and language arts instruction of two bilingual kindergarten teachers at the beginning, middle, and end of…

This study examined the effectiveness of a transitional Spanish-English bilingual program, Academic Language Acquisition (ALA), in enhancing K-5 students' English-language proficiency, as well as their English performance in academic subject areas, in comparison with the Structured English Immersion (SEI) process. An existing reading program,…