DESCUBRIENDO LA LECTURA

Descubriendo la Lectura

What

Descubriendo la Lectura (DLL) is a highly effective short-term intervention of one-to-one tutoring for Spanish-speaking first graders.

Who

DLL serves the lowest-achieving Spanish-speaking first graders—the students who struggle with the complexity of reading and writing in their regular classroom instruction.

Reading Recovery & DLL Book List

How

Students receive a half-hour lesson each school day for 12 to 20 weeks, one-on-one with a specially trained teacher so they can catch up with their peers.

The goal of Descubriendo la Lectura (DLL) is to dramatically reduce the number of bilingual first-grade students who have extreme difficulty learning to read and write in bilingual classrooms and to reduce the cost of these learners to educational systems.

Sus cambios han sido drásticos ya que a ella hoy le gusta mas leer y estudiar y ser más responsable en la escuela. Ella en el pasado era muy nerviosa y siempre tenía mucho miedo y hoy en día se le quitaron esos temores.

– Parent of Fort Bend, Texas student

There are two positive outcomes for DLL students: 

  1. Outcomes are comparable to outcomes for Reading Recovery students. Approximately 75% of students with a complete DLL intervention reach grade-level expectations.
  2. The few students who are still having difficulty after a complete DLL intervention are referred for further evaluation. They may be candidates for longer-term interventions.

Professional development is an essential part of Descubriendo la Lectura. Teachers and teacher leaders must be certified bilingual educators with experience in a primary bilingual education classroom. Although the theoretical principles that underlie Reading Recovery are the same for DLL, procedural and training issues differ because English and Spanish function differently as languages. Therefore, if candidates initially are trained in Reading Recovery in English, they must receive an additional year of training to serve Spanish-speaking students. If the teachers or teacher leaders are initially trained in Spanish, they must receive an additional year of training to serve English-speaking students.

Documented Results of Descubriendo la Lectura

What Works Clearinghouse Reviews AIR’s Descubriendo la Lectura Trial
First-year results from the American Institutes for Research’s national randomized controlled trial of Descubriendo La Lectura have been reviewed by WWC.

Addressing Literacy Needs of Struggling Spanish-Speaking First Graders: First-Year Results From a National Randomized Controlled Trial of Descubriendo la Lectura

A Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effectiveness of Descubriendo la Lectura

For School Administrators

For Parents

Intervention Topics