Screen multilingual students in multiple languages where possible, choosing screener languages informed by students' instructional contexts and home language use¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 1 study (1 associational), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

As the state prepares to approve screeners in languages other than English for 2026/27, the brief recommends reinforcing guidance to screen multilingual students in multiple languages where possible, particularly in the earliest grades. It advises that "Students should be screened only in languages that make sense for their context," meaning languages students use at home or at school in a DLBE program, and that choices about screener languages and frequency should be informed by students' instructional contexts, taking testing time into account.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Decision-makers must understand which screeners are currently approved in which languages to align practices with state requirements

Constraints¶

• Screening in multiple languages entails significantly more testing for English learners than for monolingual English-speaking students
• It may be less helpful to screen grades 2 or 3 students in their native language if they have not been instructed in or are not developing that language for use in school

Target Learners¶

• English learners and multilingual students in grades K–3

Target Learning Goals¶

• Accurate identification of risk of reading difficulty across languages

Affordances¶

• Five Cluster El Screening Practice Typology

Claims¶

• Screening language practices are related to English language education program type: SEI students were mostly screened in English while DLBE students were more often screened in Spanish or alternately [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Use students' home language (Marshallese) to supplement English instruction in entry-level ELA courses
• Schools and districts should choose screener benchmarks that match their goals and resources for defining and serving at-risk students

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Soo Ping Chow, A., Faulkner-Bond, M., Lemke, M., LeBeau, B., & Quesen, S. (2025). How English learners are screened for risk of reading difficulty: Use of English- and Spanish-language screeners in the 2023/24 school year. WestEd. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED677598