Early reading strategies for first-grade Spanish-speaking students attending a bilingual Spanish/English education program

Research on mainstream students beginning reading instruction reveals a clearer and deeper understanding of the abilities that lead to success with reading and writing in English. There is a gap however, in the research related to the instruction of language-minority children. The purpose of this paper is to describe strategies used in early reading intervention for Spanish-speaking students attending Grade 1 in a bilingual Spanish/English education program. A research design that combined quantitative and qualitative methods revealed varying levels of achievement for each area tested. Although many elements known to prevent reading difficulties among monolingual students have much in common with the cognitive development of language-minority children, many factors intersect to aid in the development of reading comprehension and literacy development for this population of students. The use of the native language, the inclusion of family and culture, high teacher expectations and the use of culturally relevant texts all serve to facilitate children's literacy development.