Based on concerns about the increasing numbers of English Language Learners in U.S. schools and the documented academic underperformance of this group, particularly in the domain of literacy, the federal government provided funding for a panel of experts to synthesize the knowledge base in the field and provide recommendations for future research. In 2006, the long awaited and much heralded

Language differences in the United States are largely viewed as problems that schools must remedy. This paradigm has created the pervasive belief that Spanish is a root cause of underachievement for Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs). This article examines teacher beliefs systems with regard to the above paradigm. It also examines informal writing assessments as tools to evaluate children's bilingual writing development. Fourth- and fifth-grade students were given writing prompts in English and Spanish. Teachers at the school read and rated the samples. Findings indicated that children had strengths in writing, particularly in the area of complex ideas. In contrast, teachers’ discussions focused on perceived weaknesses. Findings raise questions about using writing-sample data and teacher judgment to identify ELLs for special education.

Data systems that use monolingual language frameworks to understand the reading achievement of third-grade students provide inadequate information about emerging bilingual (EB) learners. The authors of this research study apply two competing ideologies (parallel monolingualism and holistic bilingualism) to interpret one set of data. Their findings demonstrate that the same set of scores tells an entirely different story depending on the frames of reference and that these differences are statistically significant. Specifically, they use their analyses to problematize the impact of the Colorado Basic Literacy Act (CBLA) on the categorization of third-grade EB learners. Generalizing from the Colorado data, the authors consider the implications of their findings in a national context of increasing numbers of bilingual learners. Finally, they offer suggestions for site-based school district responses and broader state level policy implications by highlighting one school district's response to their findings. KeywordsBilingual, ESL, biliteracy, assessment, diagnosis, at risk, struggling, diversity, minority, SES issues There are two fundamentally divergent paradigms that drive the discussion about how best to assess bilingual students' competencies. The core difference is whether or not a person who lives life regularly through two languages should be compared with monolingual speakers of either language or should be considered a fundamentally

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