Earlier acquisition of English is associated with better academic performance for dual language learners (DLLs), but large-scale, prospective, longitudinal studies examining how trajectories for English acquisition relate to school-based outcomes, accounting for relevant covariates, are rare. We explored how the grade in which DLLs (N = 17,548; 47% female; 80% free/reduced-price lunch; 86% Latino, 10% Black, and 4% White/Other) acquire English proficiency, defined by the school district, relates to academic outcomes (grade retention, GPA, reading and math test scores) in 5th grade, controlling for gender, ethnicity, poverty, and school readiness skills at age 4. Earlier acquisition of English, especially before 2nd grade, predicted better performance on each 5th grade outcome. Earlier proficiency in English was even more important for 5th grade outcomes for those with initially high cognitive skills, Latino/Hispanic DLLs (compared to Black DLLs), and those not in poverty. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

较早习得英语与双语学习者 (DLL) 更好的学业成绩相关，但大规模、前瞻性、纵向研究探讨英语习得轨迹与学校成果之间的关系，并考虑相关协变量，却很少。我们探讨了 DLL（ N = 17,548；47% 女性；80% 免费/减价午餐；86% 拉丁裔，10% 黑人和 4% 白人/其他）如何获得由学区定义的英语熟练程度的年级，与 5年级的学业成绩（成绩保留率、GPA、阅读和数学考试成绩）相关，控制了 4 岁时的性别、种族、贫困和入学准备技能。预计较早学习英语，尤其是在二年级之前每个五年级成绩都有更好的表现。对于那些最初认知能力较高的人、拉丁裔/西班牙裔 DLL（与黑人 DLL 相比）和非贫困群体来说，早期的英语熟练程度对于五年级的成绩更为重要。讨论了对实践和研究的影响。