The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between Initial Word-Reading Ability and Instructional Reading Level growth of young English-language learners (ELLs) over two years. Forty-two ELL first- and second-grade children were followed for two years. At the start of the study, Initial Oral-English Ability and Word-Reading were assessed. Instructional Reading Level was assessed at the beginning, middle, and end of each of two years. Analysis was conducted using hierarchical analyses. The independent variable was Initial Word-Reading Ability, the control variable was Initial Oral-English Ability, and the dependent variable was Instructional Reading Level. The main finding was that Initial Word-Reading Ability was related to Instructional Reading Level growth. Students with lower Initial Word-Reading Ability made less growth in Instructional Reading Level than those with higher Initial Word-Reading Ability.