Leveraging the Science of Reading for Multilingual Learners: Supporting Equity in Literacy Instruction

With approximately 10% of U.S. public school students identifying as multilingual learners (MLLs), our classrooms are going through a transformation. The shift is an enriching one, giving rise to a new, linguistically diverse educational landscape and uncovering unique opportunities for growth and learning. To keep up with these changes, district leaders need to provide support to educators in crafting targeted, culturally responsive teaching strategies. When district leaders and educators build a coherent system to address the needs of MLLs across the curriculum, language development, professional learning, assessment, and implementation—academic engagement and performance improve.

Meeting this moment calls for a framework grounded in both research and respect. Structured Literacy approaches, rooted in the science of reading, offer systematic instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, while practices like translanguaging affirm students’ home languages as valuable assets rather than obstacles to overcome. Together, these approaches replace a deficit lens with one that recognizes MLLs’ existing linguistic and cultural strengths as a foundation for literacy growth. For district leaders, this also means navigating funding, compliance, and data requirements alongside instructional strategy—ensuring every decision supports both equity and measurable outcomes.

In the face of such evolution, this comprehensive Education Insight, Leveraging the Science of Reading for Multilingual Learners: Supporting Equity in Literacy Instruction, serves as a compass for district leaders. It offers a fresh perspective on how asset-based instruction and the science of reading intersect to drive stronger outcomes for MLLs across a district’s schools. Join in on a transformative mission to redefine how we support multilingual learners—paving the way to a future of inclusive and effective literacy instruction.