Early literacy proficiency is a crucial predictor of later reading success, but research in this area often overlooks the unique challenges faced by English Learners (EL). This study addressed a significant gap in the literature by investigating the relationships between Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) scores, English…

Achieving proficiency in core foundational oral language (OL), reading, and writing skills remains difficult for students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) and foundational OL difficulty (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2022). Despite evidence linking OL skills in grammar (morphosyntax, syntax) and vocabulary (semantics) to…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine whether there is a correlation between English language proficiency level (ELP) and growth in reading for English learners (ELs) in first, second, and third grade in suburban Virginia. In order to develop language skills, it is important to take the four language domains into consideration,…

South Carolina's public education system is broken. For the past several years, the State of South Carolina and the nation have somehow managed to do the nearly impossible. Both have produced more English Language Learning (ELL) students to be proficient in English Language Arts (ELA) (i.e., reading, writing, and usage) than native English…

The purpose of this study is to explore the statistical nature of the linguistic interdependence hypothesis (Cummins, 1976, 2017) in the spring of 2nd grade of students in foreign language immersion programs. Specifically, the interdependent relationship between L2 language proficiency levels and L1 reading academic performance in an environment…

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2000) emphasizes the importance of communication in mathematics and mathematics education. Effective mathematical communication is essential in mathematics instruction, as it is a collaborative and social activity between teachers and students (Moschkovich, 2002; Khairunnisa et al., 2020). This…

Clinicians, educators, and researchers alike continue to struggle without adequate and functional tools to measure language proficiency in bilingual populations. Language proficiency refers to the ability of an individual to use a language. However, the ways in which proficiency is classified are inconsistent and potentially invalid. Proficiency…

The purpose of this study was to investigate Spanish-speaking multilingual learner (MLL) students' long-term academic outcomes after participation in an early childhood education (ECE) program with English instruction. The study included 359 Spanish-speaking MLLs who qualified for Free and Reduced Lunch from Grade 1 to Grade 6. Participants…

Schools in the United States are witnessing a rich ethnic and linguistic diversity in their student corpus. Languages spoken by these children vary from state to state; however, Spanish is the second language most spoken after English (Office of English Language Acquisition, 2015). As a nation, there is a tremendous potential for these students to…

Despite nearly forty years of research on the summer reading loss phenomenon, defined as the backsliding in reading achievement that may occur during the summer when students were not enrolled in school, consensus remains elusive regarding the most effective way to mitigate reading regression. This quantitative, non-experimental research study…

The United States faces high demand for science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) professionals and a scarce supply of individuals who pursue STEM careers, especially minority populations in the U.S with proficiency in a language other than English. The primary goal of this research was to determine the impact of use of Spanish in…

This study sought to expand the evidence base for the effectiveness of Spanish literacy interventions by examining the effectiveness of Leamos para Avanzar: Un programa de lectura para niños (Let's Read to Advance: A reading program for children; LPA). Participants included three students (2 females, 1 male) who (a) were classified as English…

The purpose of this dissertation is to contextualize the measurement of the HLE for Spanish-speaking Latino families. This goal will be accomplished by using a series of HLE items to characterize the potential heterogeneity in the HLE of Spanish-speaking families as well as to examine differences in the HLE based on caregiver's language…

The present research examines the role of morphological awareness in reading comprehension of high school emergent bilinguals. As an increasing number of research studies contribute to our understanding of morphological awareness, i.e. the ability to reflect on and manipulate morphologically complex derived words, we are better able to appreciate…

This study examined the relationship between Spanish oral reading fluency (ORF) at the end of second grade and students' performance on the third grade ISAT reading test. The major research question guiding this study was: What is the direction and strength of the relationship between performance on the 2nd grade IDEL FLO, a Spanish language ORF…