English Language Learners School Issues. Common Terms for ELL English Language Learners (ELL)...

Title VII of Improving America’s School Act (1994)

LEP: has sufficient difficulty speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language and whose difficulties may deny such individual the opportunity to learn successfully in classrooms where the language of instruction is English

Federal definition was often reflected in state definitions as well.

State methods of identifying are found on pages 4-5.

Review Data in School Records

Was child appropriately placed (or not) as LEP?

What is family history/ background? What is child’s educational

background? Has the child progressed while in the

U.S. academically? What might have been overlooked by

the referral team?

LEP Students Differ by…

Variations in degrees of proficiency across both languages.

Sequential versus simultaneous bilingualism– Did they learn both languages at the same

time or did they learn one first and then the other second?

Elective versus circumstantial bilingualism– Did they actively want to learn another

language or did they have to learn a second language in order to survive?

2nd Language Acquisition

BICS: Basic Inter-communication Skills

CALP: Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency

Tip of the Iceberg

Cummins, J. (1979).

Woodcock-Munoz Language Survey, Revised (WMLS-R)

Rating System– 1 = Negligible– 2 = Very Limited– 3 = Limited– 4 = Fluent– 5 = Advanced

Measures the following areas– Oral Language Domain– Reading/ Writing Domain

Tip of the Iceberg

WMLS-R: Level 1

WMLS-R: Level 3

WMLS-R: Level 5

WMLS-R: Language Proficiency Test

BICS

CALP

Case Scenarios

Case 1– Spanish

Oral Lang. = 4 Read/Write = 2

– English Oral Lang. = 3 Read/Write = 1

Case 2– Spanish



Group Project

Case 1– Spanish



Case 2– Spanish



Disproportionality in SPED

Definition: When the percentage of one cultural group placed in special education is not proportional to the percentage of that cultural group in the population.

The worst problems with disproportionality are found in MR,SLD, and SED.

When poverty is removed as a variable, disproportionality based on ethnicity decreases, but it is still apparent.

National Research Council (2002) and Parrish (2002)

African American compared to white– 135%-188% more likely to be dx MR– 59%-92% more likely to be dx ED

Native American compared to white– 24%-50% more likely to be dx SLD– 31% more likely to be dx MR– 12%-24% more likely to be dx ED

Hispanics– 7-17%% more likely to be dx SLD– 13-23%% less likely to be dx MR

Most groups more likely to be dx MR in states with larger diverse populations.

Least Restrictive Environment

Hispanics and African Americans are more likely to be placed in more restrictive environments than whites.

In California (2002)– Native Americans, Hispanics, African

Americans, and Asian/ Pacific Islanders in special education classrooms were placed in self-contained to a greater extent than was warranted based on their disabilities.

– ~8-9% over assignment for each of these groups concerned.

The little guys…

Birth to 2– General Population

18.2% are Hispanic– Children served in sped

14.9% are Hispanic Preschool

– General Population17.2% are Hispanic

– Children served in sped12% are Hispanic

Other end of the spectrum…

Probability of dx gifted compared to whites– Asian/ Pacific Islanders: 34% greater– Native American: 35% less– Hispanics: 52% less– African Americans: 59% less

Factors associated with Disproportionality

Deficit view about culturally diverse students.– Students will rise to the level of expectations

Sociological and economic characteristics of culturally diverse families and communities– SES shows the largest amount of influence

over academic achievement.– However, although SES is a large contributor

to poor school achievement for minority students, ethnicity still significantly influences achievement.


Systemic school bias occurring in instruction, referral, and assessment.– Unequal resources for the school– Bias in who gets referred and in some schools

there is the lack of pre-referral interventions.– Assessments done without adequate training,

using wrong practices, and illegally. Noncompliance w/State & Fed Guidelines.

– How often are students assessed in native language?

– How well are exclusionary clauses addressed?


School accountability requirements– Lack of accountability except through English-

only group administered testing.– Lack of appropriate monitoring to ensure that

laws are being followed. Ambiguity in how different disability categories

are defined and constructed.– This is particularly problematic in the mild disability

areas.– These shift from state to state, reauthorization to

reauthorization, and sometimes from psychologist to psychologist within the same district or school.

What’s the problem?

Historically, special education has too often been a place -- a place to segregate minorities and students with disabilities…. To the extent that minority students are misclassified, segregated, or inadequately served, special education can contribute to a denial of equality of opportunity, with devastating results in communities throughout the nation.

– Civil Rights Project (2000)

Group Project: Solutions to the Problems

As a class, review pages 36-40. Group 1: Discuss systemic-wide changes

that a state might make to improve things. Group 2: Discuss district-wide changes

that a district could do. Group 3: Discuss school-wide changes

that a school might do. Group 4: Discuss classroom specific

changes that a teacher might do.

Informed Parental Consent

Definition of “Consent”: parent be fully informed, in his or her native language (or other mode of communication) of all relevant information for which consent is sought.

Must be:– Knowledgeable: Know what they are

consenting to.– Legally Competent: No judge has said that

they can’t do it.– Voluntary: Cannot be forced or cooerced.

Native Language

Language normally used by the parents of the child, unless this differs from the language normally used by the child.

In all direct contact (including the evaluation) the language should be that normally used in home or learning.

Evaluation Procedures

Selected and administered so as to not discriminate on racial or cultural bias.

Provided in child’s native language or other mode of communication unless it is clearly not feasible to do so.

Measures the need for SPED services not the need for bilingual education services. This includes formal or informal testing in both English and child’s native language.

If there is not a person available in your district to do this, then you must find one from outside of your district to do so.

Must evaluate if the primary cause meets one of the exclusionary clauses

Parents Participation in Meetings

General Meetings– Parents are members of the group making

decisions.– Make reasonable efforts to ensure that

parents understand and can participate in any meeting.

– To do this a translator may be needed. For IEP meetings

– School shall take whatever action necessary to ensure that the parent understands the meeting.

IEP

Schools are required to provide children with alternative language services to:– Enable them to acquire proficiency in English.– Provide them with meaningful access to the

content of the educational curriculum available to all children.

The IEP must describe which language services will be provided to the student.

Group Project: Student

You have received a referral on your desk for a child whose native language is Spanish. The school district has no paid translators and no tests except RIAS, WJ-III, KTEA-II– What are legal and ethical issues in assessing

this child?– What are legal and ethical issues that need to be

addressed in the eligibility meeting?– What are legal and ethical issues that need to be

addressed in developing the IEP? How do you deal with this dilemma given

that the school is saying they will not budge?

English Language Learners School Issues. Common Terms for ELL English Language Learners (ELL)...

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