Science of Reading for ELLs and MLs
The New York State Education Department (NYSED) and the Board of Regents are committed to ensuring that every student has access to high-quality literacy instruction grounded in research, cultural responsiveness, and evidence-based practice. Literacy is the cornerstone of academic success and lifelong opportunity.
To advance literacy outcomes across New York State, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) has launched the P–20 Literacy Initiative, designed to provide educators with the knowledge and tools necessary to meet the diverse needs of all learners. In alignment with this effort, and to further strengthen literacy instruction for New York’s expanding multilingual population, the Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages (OBEWL) is pleased to present the Science of Reading for Multilingual Learners Toolkit. By intentionally leveraging the linguistic and cultural assets that students bring from their home languages and communities, educators can cultivate literacy practices that are inclusive, equitable, and transformative for every learner in every classroom.
The Science of Reading for Multilingual Learners Toolkit compiles leading research in teaching literacy to ELLs and MLs, and provides direct guidance on how to put these ideas into practices for teachers or various class environments as well as school administrators.
| Guidance Topic | ||
| Expanding the Scope of Reading to Include Multilingual Learners | Two-page brief | Full article |
| Teaching Reading in Multilingual Classrooms: Moving Beyond a Deficit Perspective | Two-page brief | Full article |
| Literacy Development of Emergent Multilingual Learners in the Early Childhood Classrooms | Two-page brief | Full article |
| The Science of Reading in Dual Language Immersion Classrooms | Full article | |
| The Science of Reading in Multilingual K-12 Classrooms | Two-page brief | Full article |
| What Every Instructional Leader Needs to Know: Recommendations for Advancing Multiliteracy | Two-page brief | Full article |
These tools were created to meet the charge put forth in the Reading League Summit and the National Committee for Effective Literacy's 2033 joint statement, Understanding the Difference: The Science of Reading and Implementation for English Learners/Emergent Bilinguals (ELs/EBs):
“Additional research related to teaching literacy development for ELLs is needed … in both English-medium and bilingual settings. It calls for clear, precise, evidence-aligned guidance from federal and state educational leaders.”
The Science of Reading for Multilingual Learners Toolkit and its resources were created for OBEWL by Dr. Socorro Herrera, professor in the College of Education and director of the Center for Intercultural and Multilingual Advocacy (CIMA) at Kansas State University; Dr. Kathy Escamilla, professor of education in the division of social, bilingual and multicultural foundations at the University of Colorado Boulder, and Dr. Robin Cabral of Kansas State University.