ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Latino children from Spanish-speaking homes. An estimated 63% of Spanish-English bilingual families in the U. S. are of Mexican origin, but every Latino group is represented from Central and South America, and the Caribbean. The chapter provides an overview of key contextual factors in interpreting Spanish-English bilingual children's reading development and achievement. It focuses on the processes involved in reading development in English and Spanish, followed by a summary of research on the case of Spanish-English bilingual children's English reading development in the U. S., an area of research that has amassed considerable evidence. The dearth of measures designed for and normed on Spanish-English bilinguals leaves the use of monolingual measures as the standard in bilingual language assessment. Spanish-English bilingual students evidence lower English reading comprehension achievement levels, which compromises their ability to access the curriculum. Literacy refers to an individual's ability to read and write, but comprehending written text involves the orchestration of many skills.
