The science of teaching reading and English learners: Understanding the issues and advocating for equity

Schools in the U.S. have yet to achieve the goal that every student read at grade level or above by the end of grade 3, a goal first articulated twenty years ago in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. In 2019, a third of fourth graders who took the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scored below the basic proficiency level in reading; only 35% read at the proficient level (U.S. Department of Education, 2020). Of emergent bilinguals who took the 2017 NAEP assessment, 68% of both 4 and 8 graders scored below the basic reading proficiency level, compared to 29% of their 4 and 22% of their 8 grade native English speaking peers (U. S Department of Education, 2018). NAEP results are conducted in English, a language ELs have not yet mastered, so results are likely an underestimate of their actual reading abilities. Nonetheless, the data are concerning because they are essentially the same as the results reported for the 2007 NAEP assessment when 70% of emergent bilinguals performed at or below basic proficiency. Limited progress has been made in closing achievement gaps between ELs taught to read in English and their native English speaking peers. Every few years, concerns about the low reading performance of students in the U.S. give rise to what are popularly referred to as “reading wars.” A battle is currently underway in response to the growing number of states that have passed legislation requiring that teachers demonstrate proficiency in implementing the Science of Teaching Reading (SOTR). Most SOTR laws mandate teaching the “big five” elements of reading–phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. However, at the center of the debate is that policy and law emphasize phonics as the most important element of early reading instruction, raising concern that other essential elements of reading instruction will be minimized. State education agencies (SEAs) are developing compliance documents to guide implementation of SOTR principles as delineated in their respective legislation. Some guidance documents require that SOTR principles be used with all students, based on the assumption that the principles can be applied the same way whether students are native English speakers or emergent bilinguals who are learning to read in a language other than English or in English as a second language. Other documents focus on instruction for native English speakers, but “infuse” content related to emergent bilinguals. Few specifically address how to teach reading to emergent bilinguals in the native language, when and how to introduce English reading, or how to teach reading using English as a Second Language/ English Language Development (ESL/ ELD) approaches.