Struggling Reader or Emerging Biliterate Student? Reevaluating the Criteria for Labeling Emerging Bilingual Students as Low Achieving

Abstract

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

A Framework for the Dual Language Assessment of Young Dual Language Learners in the United States

“…Another problem is that current dual language assessments evaluate each language separately (Hopewell & Escamilla, 2014). These assessments often treat the languages of bilinguals as sets of discrete skills that function independently.…”

The Intersection of Cultural Diversity and Special Education in Catalonia: The Subtle Production of Exclusion through Classroom Routines

“…As discussed by Casalta (), teachers’ habitus explains a lot more than teachers’ explicit aims and commitment. For example, as long as the conditions of the possible in teachers’ subjectivities favor a monolingual understanding of language acquisition, most LCSD learners will continue to be eligible for special education services rather than being recognized as proficient readers (Hopewell and Escamilla ). Writing about the case of dyslexia in Spain, Blanco () also points to the institutional habitus of teachers to explain schools' contradictions (e.g., the lack of correspondence between research and practice) and the problems when introducing innovative pedagogies.…”

De la Diversidad a la Construcción de las Necesidades Educativas en las Aulas de Primaria: Un Análisis Interseccional desde el Caso Español

“…ej., Reynolds y Suzuki, 2012;Schellenberg, 2004), lo que muestra la complejidad que envuelve la manera en que las variables etno-culturales interaccionan con las dificultades de aprendizaje individuales (Artiles y Trent, 1994). Así, un estudio reciente alertaba sobre el peligroso efecto de las teorías monolingües persistentes en la escuela en relación al proceso de adquisición de la lectoescritura, bajo las cuales se tiende a ver a los lectores bilingües emergentes como alumnado con dificultades (Hopewell y Escamilla, 2014). Por otro lado, existe una creciente literatura que ha descrito las conceptualizaciones erróneas sobre la discapacidad y el peso de las teorías del déficit en el omnipresente discurso psico-médico de la mayoría de los profesionales (p.…”