Participatory reading research: Development and application of the bilingual reading intervention targeting tool

Abstract

Proficient reading is critical to support overall educational performance and is associated with higher graduation and employment rates and lifetime earnings, underscoring the need to ensure every student has access to quality reading instruction. Yet reading research, both basic empirical research as well as applied assessment and intervention research, has historically been largely monolingual and Anglocentric. There is little guidance for educators supporting young bilingual learners' reading skill development across diverse languages and cultures. Consequently, inaccurate perceptions of bilingualism as a deficit and limited access to appropriate biliteracy assessment and intervention contribute to poor reading outcomes for bilingual learners in U.S. schools. This conceptual paper aims to upend typical research processes with bilingual learners by embedding early reading assessment and intervention research within the language learning context of schools, allowing for the exploration of culturally and linguistically relevant questions via participatory action research in partnership with educators. To do so, the history of marginalization of bilingual learners in U.S. schools is explored. Next, literacy and biliteracy research from diverse fields of study is reviewed. Finally, a decision-making tool based on this interdisciplinary research base is proposed for linking reading assessment to reading intervention for early bilingual learners, with specification of steps to apply the tool within participatory action research partnerships. The purpose of disseminating the tool is to facilitate access to the complex field of biliteracy and to rapidly move research and evidence-based practices forward, centering bilingual learners and driven by educators who already work in bilingual contexts to overcome the typical limitations of research with bilingual learners.