English Language Learners

English
Language
Learners
School Issues
Common Terms for ELL
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English Language
Learners (ELL)
Limited English
Proficient (LEP)
Second-Language
Learner (SLL)
Culturally and
Linguistically
Diverse (CLD)
Bilingual
Title VII of Improving
America’s School Act (1994)
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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
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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…
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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?
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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
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BICS: Basic Intercommunication
Skills
CALP: Cognitive
Academic
Language
Proficiency
Tip of the Iceberg
Cummins, J. (1979).
Woodcock-Munoz Language
Survey, Revised (WMLS-R)
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Rating System
– 1 = Negligible
– 2 = Very Limited
– 3 = Limited
– 4 = Fluent
– 5 = Advanced
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Measures the following areas
– Oral Language Domain
– Reading/ Writing Domain
Tip of the Iceberg
WMLS-R: Level 1
BICS
WMLS-R: Level 3
WMLS-R: Level 5
WMLS-R: Language Proficiency Test
CALP
Case Scenarios
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Case 1
– Spanish
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Oral Lang. = 4
Read/Write = 2
– English
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Oral Lang. = 3
Read/Write = 1
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Case 2
– Spanish
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Oral Lang. = 1
Read/Write = 2
– English
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Oral Lang. = 1
Read/Write = 1
Group Project
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Case 1
– Spanish
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Oral Lang. = 4
Read/Write = 1
– English
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Oral Lang. = 2
Read/Write = 2
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Case 2
– Spanish
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Oral Lang. = 2
Read/Write = 1
– English
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Oral Lang. = 5
Read/Write = 4
Disproportionality in SPED
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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)
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African American compared to white
– 135%-188% more likely to be dx MR
– 59%-92% more likely to be dx ED
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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
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Hispanics
– 7-17%% more likely to be dx SLD
– 13-23%% less likely to be dx MR
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Most groups more likely to be dx MR in
states with larger diverse populations.
Least Restrictive
Environment
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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…
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Birth to 2
– General Population
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18.2% are Hispanic
– Children served in sped
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14.9% are Hispanic
Preschool
– General Population
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17.2% are Hispanic
– Children served in sped
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12% are Hispanic
Other end of the spectrum…
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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
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Deficit view about culturally diverse
students.
– Students will rise to the level of expectations
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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.
Factors associated with
Disproportionality
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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.
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Noncompliance w/State & Fed Guidelines.
– How often are students assessed in native
language?
– How well are exclusionary clauses
addressed?
Factors associated with
Disproportionality
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School accountability requirements
– Lack of accountability except through Englishonly 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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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For IEP meetings
– School shall take whatever action necessary
to ensure that the parent understands the
meeting.
IEP
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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.
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The IEP must describe which language
services will be provided to the student.
Group Project: Student
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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, WJIII, 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?
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How do you deal with this dilemma given
that the school is saying they will not
budge?

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