Students who receive English Learner (EL) services at Forest Oak Elementary School in Newark, Delaware, do so through a pull-out model of instruction. They meet with an EL coach in a separate setting for instruction on reading, writing, speaking, and listening in English. A first-grade teacher at Forest Oak Elementary School participated in this…

Will participation in a Dual-Immersion program increase students English language literacy compared to their mainstream classroom peers? Literacy scores on the DIBELS and WIDA Access were assessed over two years for 144 students to see if English Language Learners (ELL) are having more success in English literacy acquisition than their mainstream…

We explore the potential of a computer-adaptive decoding game in Spanish to increase the decoding skills and oral reading fluency in Spanish and English of bilingual students. Participants were 78 first-grade Spanish-speaking students attending bilingual programs in five classrooms in Texas. Classrooms were randomly assigned to the treatment…

We explore the potential of a computer-adaptive decoding game in Spanish to increase the decoding skills and oral reading fluency in Spanish and English of bilingual students. Participants were 78 first-grade Spanish-speaking students attending bilingual programs in five classrooms in Texas. Classrooms were randomly assigned to the treatment…

Over 11 million students enter school speaking a language other than English. Due to their emerging English proficiency, many English Learners (ELs) struggle with English literacy, which impacts their overall achievement in school. However, there is evidence that ELs who have solid skills in their native language are able to apply their…

This study examined beginning English literacy-skill development and achievement among Spanish-speaking children enrolled in state-mandated English-only classrooms. The children possessed Spanish skill at or above age-appropriate level, yet minimal English skill, and came from a Spanish-speaking community adjacent to the U.S.-Mexico border. Under…

The process of learning to read is difficult for many children, and this is especially true for students with learning disabilities (LD). Reading in English becomes even more difficult when a student's home language is not English. For English language learner (ELL) students with LD, acquiring the necessary skills to read fluently is an even…

Schools have become more diverse; the number of English Language Learners has increased from two million in 1993-94 to over four million in 2006 (Echevarria, Vogt, and Short, 2001). Most English Language Learners in U.S. schools are of Latino descent. Recent national tests of reading and writing (i.e., the National Assessment of Educational…

This study explored the predictive effects of within- and cross-language early literacy indicators with regard to second language (L2) reading achievement in a Grade 3 entry-point French immersion (FI) program. Kindergarten students (N = 83) in a regular English program were administered English early literacy measures. Three years later, once…

Reading proficiency is the goal of many local and national reading initiatives. A key component of these initiatives is accurate and reliable reading assessment. In this high-stakes testing arena, the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) has emerged as a preferred measure for identification of students at risk for reading…

The current study analyzed existing data, collected under a previous U.S. Department of Education Reading First grant, to investigate the strength of the relationship between scores on the first- through third-grade Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills-Oral Reading Fluency (DIBELS-ORF) test and scores on a reading comprehension test…