Drawing distinctions between English-learners who struggle with the language and those who have learning disabilities is difficult.
Educating English-learners or students with disabilities often requires special training and a firm grasp of sometimes complex federal policy. The prospect of identifying and supporting dual-identified students鈥攚ho are eligible for extra support for both English-language acquisition and learning with a disability鈥攐ften leaves teachers feeling underprepared and overwhelmed.
It鈥檚 a refrain that researchers from New America, a Washington-based think tank, heard repeatedly while interviewing teachers across the country as part of their work centered on improving educational access, quality, and outcomes for English-learners.
A new brief from New America, , offers a series of recommendations to help educators 鈥渕ore accurately identify ELs with disabilities and provide appropriate instructional services鈥� by addressing gaps in educator knowledge, and inherent weaknesses in student referral strategies and assessment tools.
鈥淒elivering appropriate services and supports for students with disabilities from monolingual, English-speaking families, is by itself, a complex challenge for schools,鈥� the report authors write. 鈥淭he work of appropriately identifying and serving students becomes all the more complicated when a student is learning across multiple languages.鈥�
New America鈥檚 recommendations call on schools to:
- provide clear policy guidance on how to identify English-leaners in need of special education services; (.)
- train educators to identify and support the 鈥榙ual-identified鈥� students; (It鈥檚 a blind spot in teacher professional development.)
- improve evaluation and assessment practices; (.) and
- support a child鈥檚 home language. .)
The paper also addresses trends in over- and under-identification of English-learners with disabilities, noting that in the years before 3rd grade, English-learners are generally under-identified but tend to be over-identified in middle and high school.
The New America brief is the latest in a series of research and policy papers that address the education of English-learners with disabilities.
A report from the National Center on Educational Outcomes takes a national look at which states have manuals on and finds that many don鈥檛 have one. California, the state with the nation鈥檚 largest English-learner population, recently released its .
The Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast & Islands produced a two-page guide that offers guidance to determine whether a student鈥檚 in-school struggles stem from their .
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Image Credit: New America