A Critical Examination of Language and Literacy Profiles of Rural Latiné Students

Educational outcomes of emergent bilingual (EB) students in the United States are often described within a deficit framework that focuses on achievement gaps and the acquisition of English as a primary goal. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to examine rural Latiné EB students' English language and literacy profiles from a strengths-based perspective that highlights the variability in language proficiency between children, the relationship between performance on common achievement measures, as well as how the intersectional identities of rural Latiné children (e.g., disability, houselessness) are related to their literacy outcomes. Latent class analysis, a person-centered statistical approach, was utilized to identify unique profiles of language proficiency and literacy of 551 EB children in grades one to three in a rural school district. Results highlighted a vast diversity of literacy and language skills among same-grade peers. Two primary profiles of students emerged, a higher proficiency-literacy group and a lower proficiency-literacy group. Critically, many students with emerging English language proficiency had strong literacy skills when compared to same-grade peers. Students with disabilities were almost eight times more likely to belong to the lower literacy -proficiency group. Implications for policy and school-wide intervention will be discussed from a critical perspective.