Literacy Squared

In 2004, researchers at the University of Colorado, colleagues from the Pearson Learning Group and seven school districts in Colorado and Texas began pilot testing a biliteracy intervention program for Spanish/English speaking bilingual elementary school children that would simultaneously accelerate their literacy development in both languages. The first full implementation of Literacy Squared began in the fall of 2005, and Phase I was completed in the spring of 2009. Phase II is being implemented from 2009 through 2012 in 13 schools in Oregon and 3 schools in Colorado. The Literacy Squared intervention is both research-based and research-tested. Its conceptual framework draws on research that posits that a dire need exists for a new theory about literacy instruction for bilingual children, and that second language literacy acquisition is greatly enhanced if learners are literate in their first language.