English Language Learners

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 BICS WMLS-R: Level 3 WMLS-R: Level 5 CALP WMLS-R: Language Proficiency Test

Case 1 Spanish Oral Lang. = 4 Read/Write = 2 English Oral Lang. = 3 Read/Write = 1 Case 2 Spanish Oral Lang. = 1 Read/Write = 2 English Oral Lang. = 1 Read/Write = 1 Case Scenarios

Case 1 Spanish Oral Lang. = 4 Read/Write = 1 English Oral Lang. = 2 Read/Write = 2 Case 2 Spanish Oral Lang. = 2 Read/Write = 1 English Oral Lang. = 5 Read/Write = 4 Group Project

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 Population • 17.2% are Hispanic • Children served in sped • 12% 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.

Factors associated with Disproportionality • 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?

Factors associated with Disproportionality • 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