The Maryland Initiative for Literacy & Equity (MILE)

White Papers

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Building Strong Readers, Writers and Thinkers
Blueprint Implementation and Literacy	Literacy for all: Working toward a comprehensive literacy policy in Maryland

MILE-Endorsed Research Studies 

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Sentence repetition as a potential indicator of broader language difficulty in students with dyslexia: A pilot study

Resources: English

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Culturally Relevant and Sustaining Pedagogy
Third Grade Reading Retention in Maryland: A Caregiver's Guide	A Parent and Caregiver's Guide to Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)

Recursos: Español

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Retención de Lectura en Tercer Grado en Maryland: Guía para cuidadores

Multilingual Learners

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The Science of Reading and Multilingual Learners

COMING SOON: Implementing evidence-based literacy instruction centering the assets and needs of our Maryland multilingual learners by Sandra N. Gutiérrez

Maryland K-12 classrooms educate a growing number of culturally and linguistically diverse learners, including 12% who are designated as multilingual learners because they speak one or more languages other than English at home. These students bring rich linguistic and cultural assets and lived experiences into our classrooms. You have met them! You know how amazing they are! Given the wave of educational reforms based on the Science of Reading (SoR) body of research, school leaders and educators are wondering: “How do we implement the SoR-informed reforms in ways that are culturally and linguistically affirming, relevant and impactful for our multilingual learners?” This question comes up every time I provide professional development or coaching to teachers and leaders, and is the question that inspired this article dedicated to all of us who are trying to figure out how to provide equitable and quality literacy/biliteracy instruction to our multilingual learners. I approach this large question by exploring these three questions:

1. What is the Science of Reading and what it is not? Spoiler: Please don’t let anyone tell you that the SoR comes in a box!
2. What are some SoR-inspired reforms’ blind-spots and implementation issues that are harming multilingual learners?
3. What can we do to ensure SoR-inspired reforms are implemented, considering research on multilingual learners’ literacy and biliteracy, and centering the assets and needs of these students?

As you read this article, keep the multilingual learners in your classrooms in your mind and your heart. My mind-heart goes to Carlitos who speaks Spanish and Mam with his Guatemalan immigrant family and is learning to comprehend and produce both English and Spanish in his first grade bilingual classroom in Prince Georges County; Ali whose refugee family taught him Pashto and is learning English for the first time in his new third grade class in Baltimore; or Bezawit who immigrated from Ethiopia speaking Amharic and a little bit of English and is learning to read and write in her high school content area classes in Montgomery County. To which one of your multilingual learners do you want to dedicate this moment of learning and reflection? Centering our immigrant students’ humanity and cultural, linguistic, and socio-political realities is essential as we study how to best facilitate relevant, affirming, and impactful literacy and biliteracy learning experiences for them. With this in mind, at the end of each section below, I offer questions for you to reflect on, by yourself or in dialogue with colleagues, that allow you to connect this reading to the realities of the multilingual learners and teachers in your school community.

What is the Science of Reading and what is it not?	What are some SoR-inspired reforms’ blind-spots and implementation issues that are harming multilingual learners?
What can we do to ensure SoR-inspired reforms are implemented, considering research on multilingual learners’ literacy and biliteracy, and centering the assets and needs of these students?	References