Biliteracy Foundations: Filling a Professional Learning Gap in Dual Language Programs
Literacy Isn’t Natural
Reading and writing aren’t natural - they’re human inventions. This means the human brain is not waiting to become literate. The National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) 2024 data reveals systemic failures in the U.S. educational system in teaching English literacy to all learners but especially our multilingual and multicultural learners.
Below Basic Scores:
33% of non English Learners
50% of Hispanic students
67% of English Learners
The Biliteracy Gap
Foundational Skills Matter:
Research suggests that the source of this literacy crisis is our approach to teaching literacy. According to the EAB Reports - Narrowing the Third Grade Reading Gap, “95% of elementary students, regardless of background, are cognitively capable of learning to read when they receive sufficient direct instruction on the foundational skills of reading.”
There is a national push to address this failure to teach English literacy effectively in monolingual programs (Science of Reading movement). TBE and DL programs must confront the fact that reading and writing are not naturally occurring language domains.
Learning oral language does not guarantee students will learn to read and write proficiently.
Learning to read and write in Spanish does not guarantee students will learn to read and write proficiently in English.
Teachers in bilingual programs need professional development that addresses this complexity and prepares them to provide systematic, explicit, direct instruction in foundational skills that is strategically aligned to biliteracy. Over the past several years while working with bilingual educators nationwide, I’ve realized there is a universal hunger for PD that addresses the instructional realities of teaching two alphabetic codes with significant overlap.
Everywhere I go, teachers ask the same questions:
Why do our students hit a wall in 3rd grade?
How do we teach literacy in both languages?
How do we vertically align for biliteracy?
When students struggle, how do we know if the source of the struggle is language acquisition or literacy development?
PD that Bridges the Biliteracy Gap
Educators are interested in professional development that applies key Science of Reading (SOR) principles to English-Spanish dual-language instruction. They’re looking for ways to:
Optimize phonemic awareness & decoding instruction
Accelerate transfer using cross-linguistic connections
Strategically teach both alphabetic codes through contrastive analysis
This type of PD provides research-backed frameworks to strengthen foundational skills for biliteracy and advance equity in dual language settings.
Red Flags in Your Program:
🚩 Students struggle when transitioning to English literacy—despite strong Spanish foundations
🚩 Persistent and significant Tier 2/Tier 3 needs
🚩 Teachers feel unprepared to address foundational skill gaps across both languages.
🚩 Rising long-term EL status due to literacy transfer struggles
These aren’t failures—they’re signals. Biliteracy isn’t automatic; it requires intentional, systematic, linguistically informed instruction. These patterns aren’t inevitable. Ask yourself:
Are we systematically teaching foundational skills in both languages?
Do teachers have tools to diagnose literacy vs. language barriers?
How might long-term EL status be tied to unresolved literacy gaps and how can we address them proactively?
If not, let’s bridge the gap together...
