© 2025 Vista Higher Learning Vista’s Bridges: A Study of Reading Growth in MLs 4 Middle school readers who are acquiring English face a steep climb. NAEP Progress data from 2022 reveal a 39-point gap for eighth-grade MLs compared to their non-ML peers. Barnes et al. (2024) conducted a multisite randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing tutor-delivered versus computer-delivered inferencing instruction for 486 students in grades 6–8 with persistent comprehension deficits. Both versions produced modest but significant gains on standardized inference measures (d≈0.23), with no added benefit for human tutoring. At the school level, Stevens, Murray, Scammacca, Haager, and Vaughn (2022) tested a year-long professional development (PD) model across six US middle schools. Students in PD schools outperformed controls on main-idea writing (ES=0.29), but not on broad comprehension. Content-area interventions seek to integrate comprehension with subject learning. The Swanson et al. (2017) randomized study of an implementation of the Promoting Adolescents’ Comprehension of Text (PACT) routine with 78 eighth grade social studies classes reported strong improvements in content knowledge (d=0.35) and content-specific comprehension (d=0.59), though standardized comprehension gains were negligible (d=0.10). Middle School MLs Middle school readers who are acquiring English face a steep climb. National Association of Education Progress (NAEP) data from 2022 reveal a 39-point gap for eighth-grade MLs compared to their non-ML peers. In a two-year, multisite RCT of 340 students in grades 6–7, Capin et al. (2024) found that using an extensive decoding and fluency program for MLs, treated students outperformed controls on word-reading accuracy (Hedges g≈0.32), but showed no differential gains on standardized comprehension measures. Students entering the study at the lowest vocabulary quartile derived minimal benefit. These findings underscore that vocabulary breadth is a strong gatekeeper for ML adolescents. Lesaux, Kieffer, Kelley, and Harris (2014) studied 2,082 sixth graders over 20 weeks using an academic vocabulary curriculum. Students in the intervention classrooms made strong gains in word knowledge and modest improvements in comprehension. Similarly, Cho, Kim, and Jeong (2021) reviewed 38 studies of multilingual learners and found that basic reading skills instruction produced meaningful effects, especially in small-and mediumsized groups (students). Pull-out phonics blocks alone showed weaker results, and few studies focused specifically on grades 6–8.
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