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Observation: Teacher observes ESL student struggling academically or behavi

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Observation: Teacher observes ESL student struggling academically or behavi

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IRIS | Page 2: Distinguishing Between Disability and Language Difference

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Delays in social and communication development might occur when children are learning two or more languages. Because such delays can be red flags for further developmental problems in the areas of social-emotional development and cognition, early childhood educators must determine their cause: langu…

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✔️ Step 1: Are the errors typical of English language development?

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✔️ Step 1: Are the errors typical of English language development?

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A tool to help you meet students where they are in their language development

The Can Do Descriptors highlight what language learners can do at various stages of language development as they engage in the following contexts:

Bilingual and English-immersion early care and education programs

Bilingual, Spanish-immersion and English-immersion K-12 language programs

Bilingual, Spanish-immersion and English-immersion K-12 content-area classrooms

Similar to the WIDA English Language Development Standards Statements, the Can Do Descriptors describe what learners can do with language across different content areas. Although the Can Do Descriptors relate to the ELD Standards Statements, they don't replace them but are used to supplement the standards statements during instruction.

Educators and early childhood practitioners can use the Can Do Descriptors to

Better understand what students at different levels of language proficiency can do with language

Expand their understanding of what the process of language development can look like

Collaborate around scaffolding that students need to engage in content-area learning and develop language at the same time

Differentiate instruction and classroom assessment for language

Interpret ACCESS for ELLs test scores

The Can Do Descriptors have not yet been updated to reflect the 2020 Edition; however, they remain available as a valuable tool for communicating with stakeholders about what students can do at each language proficiency level. WIDA is monitoring educator use to help inform the timing for updating the materials.

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A tool to help you meet students where they are in their language developmentThe Can Do Descriptors highlight what language learners can do at various stages of language development as they engage in the following contexts:

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→ Use scaﬀolding strategies such as:

→ Adjust instruction

→ Monitor for 4–6 weeks

Some strategies include:

Visual supports

Sentence frames to support speaking and writing

Scaffolded vocabulary instruction with gestures, realia, and translation when needed

Small group or peer-assisted learning with language models

Use of home language (L1) to preview or review content

Increased wait time for oral responses

Frequent checks for understanding using thumbs up/down, visuals, or short answers

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ELL (English Language Learner) students can struggle in class without a bit of extra support.

Differentiation is one key strategy that can be utilized to help these students thrive in the classroom.

In this guide, we'll explain what differentiation is, and how you can implement it in your lessons to benefit both you and your ELL students.

Contents

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

What is Differentiation?

Differentiation is a way for teachers to alter their instructional strategies to help all students with mixed abilities and learning styles reach their academic potential. Using this strategy could mean you give different material to your ELL students.

The materials or processes would be modified to give your language learners greater success with the same tasks that your native English-speaking students are also doing.

It's worth taking note of what differentiation isn't to better understand its purpose:

Differentiation isn't scaffolding. Scaffolding means giving ELL students assistance to accomplish the tasks that the native speakers in your classroom are doing. Everyone does the same thing, but some get more help than others.

Differentiation isn't individualized instruction. With individualized instruction, all students have the same goals, but each student goes through the material at different speeds and in different ways.

1. Figure Out What You Can Differentiate

For ELL students, you want to give them an opportunity to learn the same academic content as native English learners. For this reason, there are quite a few things you can differentiate in your class:

Content - This refers to what students are being taught. You can teach the same content to all students eventually, but alter the pace at which you're teaching for different students. Students who are moving slower can be given supplementary material at the same level.

Assessment - This refers to what types of final products you want the students to complete. This can be the same assignment, but with different expectations. It can involve giving different assignments altogether, or providing tests with simpler language for your ELL students.

Process - This refers to how students are being taught. ELL students might need, for example, a teacher who speaks slower and uses more gestures, or even a lesson that needs more visual cues.

2. Profile Student Readiness

Student readiness is what their current understanding is of a topic or unit of study. For ELL students, it could also apply to their current level of reading, writing and oral skills.

Using student readiness to create lessons and instructional strategies means you're creating tasks that closely match students' skill levels and what they understand about the topic you're teaching.

To determine student readiness, you'll need to assess for learning. This simply means giving them a diagnostic test. Some examples include pre-assessment tasks, student response activities, formative tests or even interviews.

Aside from your own assessments, you can ask previous teachers of these students for some insight. If possible, you can even look at report cards and past work to give you a better picture of what your students' needs are.

For example, if you see that most of your students struggle with sentence structure, you might want to differentiate the way you assess them.

You might have a different rubric for your ELL students, where you assess their content more rather than the structure of their paragraphs.

3. Identify Meaningful Goals and Objectives

A goal isn't necessarily to have all students learn a certain thing, but rather it will indicate what ways you'll go about helping them maximize their learning.

Think about what it is you want your students to know, to understand and to do. For example, if you want your students to learn about famous inventors, you might want to provide reading material with easier vocabulary for your ELL students.

You also want to go beyond identifying language skills. Yes, ELL students need to have differentiated learning because of their learning skills, but there are many other factors that affect their learning as well.

Think about what type of learner they are (visual, auditory, etc.), their educational and personal background and whether or not they receive support at home.

4. Create Learning Profiles

This is an important step in differentiating your classroom experience, because it can help you group students together, figure out instructional strategies and determine your differentiation goals.

Creating learning profiles doesn't need to take a lot of time. All you need is a file for each student. Jot down notes as you need to in class and after, including their cultural background and things you observe, like how a student reacts to a lesson or any topics they've told you they find interesting.

Make sure you include academic knowledge, such as your pre-assessments, writing pieces and any formal or informal tests they've done.

5. Create Your Differentiated Strategies with Assessment Data

Don't try out too many differentiation strategies at once. You want to be able to see if each thing you're trying works first.

Here are some more specific ideas for the three key areas of differentiation for ELL students.

Strategies for Content Differentiation

Change the vocabulary your students need to learn. You might simplify the text to eliminate any unnecessary vocabulary. If you're teaching a classic English novel, you could hand your ELL students a simplified or abridged version.

Teach them the necessary vocabulary beforehand. Give them additional materials before they tackle the main reading, such as word walls, predictograms, a word sort or semantic mapping.

Present information in a different way. For example, you might give students the information in a graphic organizer rather than a block of text. You could use a Venn diagram, a timeline or a flowchart.

Give your ELL students different homework assignments. This may involve decreasing the quantity of homework or the way in which they complete the assignment. You might ask the rest of the class to write a summary of something they read while your ELL students simply complete an outline template with information from the text.

Strategies for Process Differentiation

Give students the information in manageable chunks rather than a large whole. Give students one section at a time of a nonfiction article, for example, and let the chunks build on one another.

Consider letting groups work in their first language. If you have more than one ELL student in class, let them work together and use their native language to complete the task. Your students might have more success watching an instructional video with voice-overs, subtitles or even just talking about a problem in a more familiar language.

Use concrete items to teach. Rather than giving them a diagram of the water cycle, give them a tangible example with this simple experiment. You can find lots of ways to make teaching more hands-on with a little thought.

Build on your students' previous knowledge. The more you can help students remember what they already know about a subject, the easier it will be for them to retain any new information you present. Consider having your ELL students complete a K/W/L chart or do a think-pair-share activity.

Strategies for Product Differentiation

Use nonverbal means of assessment. Consider letting them put together a collage, make a diagram or create a poster illustrating their understanding of the information. Though these may seem like more extensive or difficult means of assessment, your ELL students might jump at the chance to show you just what they know without having to do it verbally.

Give your ELL students more time to complete their tests. Rather than having them take the written test with everyone else in class, give your ELL students the test orally, asking the same questions but allowing them to tell you their answers rather than writing them down.

Let your ELL students have additional tools to take tests. You might allow your students to use books or notes as they take the test, and you could certainly allow them the use of a dictionary. Or you might just rewrite your test using simpler vocabulary and grammar in the questions.

Native-level content, such as materials typically used in a classroom comprised mostly of native English-speaking students, can prove to be a challenge for ELL students. However, you could try using language learning program FluentU to aid in your students' progress.

FluentU has a curated library of authentic English videos with interactive subtitles. You, as the teacher, can assign your students specific videos or flashcards, and track their progress and activity. This will help when it comes to adjusting your differentiation strategies for each student.

6. Continually Assess and Observe Your Students

It may take some trial and error until you figure out exactly what works best for the students in your class. Don't be afraid to do a little guesswork when it comes to the right types of differentiation for your ELL students. But make sure you're continually observing and assessing your students and how well those differentiation methods are working.

To help with this process, you can also work with other instructors at your school, especially your school's ESL specialist. If you're a subject teacher, you'll want to consult the school's ESL teacher. ESL teachers are there to be a resource for your students and for other teachers in the school.

Keep communication lines open. Take suggestions from your ESL teacher on how best to differentiate for your ELL students.

ELL students want to know that they're important, intelligent and are subjected to the same academic rigor as all students in the class.

The more teachers understand this and create differentiated strategies to help them grow, the more we'll see these types of learners develop into confident, fluent English speakers.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

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Differentiation for ELL Students: 6 Simple Steps For Implementing Differentiation Strategies | FluentU English Educator Blog

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Differentiation for ELL students can be one of the most effective ways to help non-native English speakers in your class. Read this guide to find out how to identify areas where differentiation in your ESL classroom can be implemented, and what strategies you can use to help ELL students succeed.

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✔️ Step 2: Are challenges consistent across subjects, time, and settings?

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✔️ Step 2: Are challenges consistent across subjects, time, and settings?

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→ Reinforce ESL instruction and cultural supports

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Engaged ELL parents bring invaluable dedication and wisdom regarding their children to the school community and can be crucial partners in supporting their children's success. This guide offers twenty big ideas to help school leaders get started on the path towards a strong home-school partnership. An overview of the guide and related video clips are included below. You can also see this guide in an article format.

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A Guide for Engaging ELL Families: Twenty Strategies for School Leaders

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Engaged ELL parents bring invaluable dedication and wisdom regarding their children to the school community and can be crucial partners in supporting their children's success. This guide offers twenty big ideas to help school leaders get started on the path towards a strong home-school partnership.

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✔️ Step 3: Are difficulties present in both English (L2) and the student’s native language (L1)?

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✔️ Step 3: Are difficulties present in both English (L2) and the student’s native language (L1)?

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Monitor and differentiate using ELD supports

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Monitor and differentiate using ELD supports

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→ Avoid mislabeling

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Once you have completed the referral to special education process and the school has obtained parent/guardian consent, a team of qualified school professionals must conduct an evaluation to determine a student's eligibility for special education. The purpose of the evaluation is to identify strengths and weaknesses in a child's academic performance and decide if the child has a disability that requires special education services.

The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) requires that the evaluation must be completed within 60 days of receiving consent; however, be sure to verify evaluation procedures and timelines specific to your state and school district because many states have more stringent requirements than the federal requirements. For example, states such as Nevada and Minnesota mandate shorter timelines for completion of the initial evaluation.

IDEA defines 13 specific categories of disability that require public school systems to provide special education services, which include:

Specific learning disability (SLD)

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Emotional behavioral disorder (EBD)

Speech or language impairment

Intellectual disability

Traumatic brain injury

Other health impairment

Multiple disabilities

As an educator, you need to be familiar with the following information about conducting evaluations, as outlined in IDEA:

Determinations cannot be based on a single measure or assessment, requiring schools use a variety of tools to gather information including parental/guardian input, classroom observations, interviews, review of existing data, valid assessment instruments, and other additional data as determined by qualified professionals.

The evaluation measures must be administered in the child's native language and cannot be discriminatory in nature or culturally biased. The measures must be technically sound and administered in accordance with instructions from the provider of the instrument.

Once the evaluation has been completed, the group of qualified school professionals will meet with the parent/guardian to discuss whether or not their child meets the definition of a child with disability as defined by IDEA.
If the answer is yes, an Individualized Education Program (IEP) team-which includes, at minimum, a special education teacher, a regular education teacher, a parent/guardian, an administrator, a qualified individual who can interpret the instructional implications of the evaluation results, and the child, when appropriate-must meet to develop an IEP, a document that outlines the special education instruction, supports, and services required to meet the child's unique educational needs. IEPs must be reviewed at least once a year.  If the answer is no, where appropriate, the school may recommend support through a 504 plan or intervention services. Make sure that the parents/guardians are aware of their right to appeal the evaluation results.
Whether or not the child is found eligible for special education services, you should share information about informal supports that you provide to all students in your classroom and suggest resources and supports to help the student at home.

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Evaluation Process in Special Education | NEA

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What happens after referring a student to special education?

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✔️ Step 4: Conduct multi-tiered assessments:

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✔️ Step 4: Conduct multi-tiered assessments:

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→ WIDA ACCESS

→ Behavior checklists

→ Norm-referenced & criterion-referenced tests

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Do results show processing deficits, delays in memory, language, or attention?

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→ Monitor with adjusted strategies

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If you want to see the best supports for English language learners all in one place, then you'll LOVE this (updated) guide.

You'll find 63 different support ideas in this massive list organized by category so that it is easy to reference.

This could make a huge difference in the impact you have on your English learner's experience at your school.

So let's dive right in.
Jump to a Section:
Resource Related Supports for English Language Learners

In this section, we'll cover resource supports for English language learners that can be printed for our students to help them learn target content or access grade-level content.

Scaffolds

Scaffolds are any type of resource that help students "step up" to content that would be otherwise out of their reach. Scaffolds are necessary when students are in a grade level that is well above their English proficiency level. Our goal is to help our English learners access that grade level content as much as possible and scaffolds can go a long way towards making that possible. Anchor charts, graphic organizers, and sentence stems are examples of scaffolds, but there are many, many different kinds. Most of the resource supports discussed below would fall under this term.

Images

First up and maybe the most obvious support is images. Images help students grasp the meaning of content more quickly and remember it far more easily. It can be time consuming, but the more related images we add to the resources we provide our students, the more quickly they will learn.

Cheat Sheets

You can create little printable cheat sheets for students which detail classroom guidelines, topics, or concepts. These would be very similar to Anchor Charts (see below) only I like to think of these as being printed on smaller pieces of paper and more of a "this is just between you and me" kind of thing. If the "cheat sheets" include subject content from their classes, just let them know that the "cheat" part is just for fun and the students should not use them to do any actual cheating.

Realia

Realia are real-world objects that help ground academic content. For instance, having a globe when discussing world geography or providing plastic bugs for discussion of insects are both examples of using realia.

Sentence Frames & Sentence Stems

Sentence frames and sentence stems are both very helpful, but they are easily confused or conflated altogether. Sentence frames mainly leave blanks in place of particular words students can fill in and sentence frames provide the beginning of a sentence that students can go on to complete. Here is an article you might find helpful if you'd like to dig in further on how to use sentence frames and sentences stems with your students.

Graphic Organizers

Graphic Organizers provide students a pre-structured way of organizing information from a text or other source. These help students better understand what they need to be looking for which takes a lot of guess work out of an assignment. This helps students focus in more easily on the goal of an assignment.

These are examples of literacy graphic organizers included within the Kid-Inspired ESL Curriculum Membership.

Anchor Charts

Anchor Charts are similar to graphic organizers but already filled in. These are helpful reference sheets students can use to better engage with grade-level content or assignment expectations.

Infographics / Reference Sheets

These are basically the same thing as Anchor Charts, but are also very helpful for students on specific topics in science, social studies, history, math, or other subjects. For instance, a reference sheet or anchor chart showing images of the water cycle labeled with key words can make a huge difference to students engagement in a lesson on that subject. The resources pictured below are a new resource being added to the Kid-Inspired ESL Curriculum Membership covering a range of common topics and include short reading paragraphs and discussion questions.

Vocabulary Reference Pages

There are a number of ways we can provide students with vocabulary references that they can use in speech and writing. These pages can help boost the use of academic vocabulary and improve reading comprehension.

Leveled Readers

Readers are a great way to get students reading a lot at a level they can more easily manage and then working their way up to harder and harder passages. The Kid-Inspired ESL Curriculum Membership includes a growing library of fluency readers, but there are other options as well like Reading A-Z. You can grab a free set of beginners readers here.

Word Walls

Word walls are a great way of surrounding students with the words they need to manage their grade-level content. There are loads of different ways students and teachers can create and organize word walls in classrooms to be used as a fun and helpful reference.

Bilingual Dictionaries

These can be somewhat expensive, but they can be a helpful tool as well. We don't want our students spending all of their time looking up words in a dictionary so they should be used selectively when there is a word that a wants to say but only knows it in their native tongue. If your students come from a wide variety of language backgrounds, these types of dictionaries may not be feasible and you will likely want to just use online tools instead.

Translation

Translations can be a great help for our students as they develop their English skills. They are also great in that they help students continue to practice their language skills in their home language as well. We need to be careful about over-using translation though since students can come to over-rely on them in a way that impedes the development of their English language skills. This is a balance that will change depending on the student and the context.

Newcomer Assessment

A good assessment is incredibly helpful for getting a clear picture of what student does and doesn't know when they arrive. This information can go a long way towards helping you choose the right resources and strategies for supporting them. An assessment like the Kid-Inspired ESL Assessment can be used multiple times with a student over time to see their progress. You can download the Kid-Inspired ESL Assessment and guide here.

Games

Don't underestimate the power of games to help students gain mastery of the content they are learning. Games create interest and interest creates motivation. Games can also get students practicing with a lot of repetition without it feeling boring. I used to have teachers tell me they didn't have time for games. My response was always, "You don't have time not to play games." They just need to be the right kinds of games that actually get each and every child practicing a lot.

Teacher Related Supports for English Language Learners

In this section, we'll cover supports for English language learners that relate how you teach and prepares lessons.

Gesticulate!

Back up what you're saying with hand gestures, actions, movement. Act it out. Show as well as tell.

Then stop gesticulating. Once students have spent some time with a topic, try using only your words and nothing else as a way of getting them to rely on their ears rather than just guessing at meaning with their eyes.

Routines

Create consistent ways of organizing your lessons, class structure, worksheets, etc and stick to them. The less time students have to spend trying to decode a new activity, the more mental energy they'll have to focus on the content of what you're trying to teach. Some worksheets have 10 different activities on one page. Some teachers change up how they organize their lessons every class. The variety might make the teacher feel more interested, it can drain an English learner's mental energy before they've even set about the content they're supposed to learn.

Modeling

Model behaviors, routines, etc that you want students to learn. Have them practice those behaviors or routines until they feel confident with them. I often find that adding in a little humor into the modeling makes it a lot more engaging and memorable.

Pre-Teaching / Building Background Knowledge

One way to help students get more out of their gen-ed classes is to pre-teach target content they will need for those classes. I've bundled this idea together with building background knowledge though I can imagine if we split hairs, there are differences. You can teach target vocabulary words, sentence stems for how to respond, as well as concepts in their home language. Then when they get to their gen-ed classes, they will have a much better idea of what is going on and be far more likely to engage in the class.

Repetition

Simplify your explanations and repeat them more than once. Then have your students repeat explanations back to you or turn to a partner and repeat them. Get students to engage with the content in speaking, listening, reading, and writing (see SWIRL below). It definitely helps to vary it up, but repetition will help your students retain far more of what they need to learn than dumping never-ending amounts of new content on them that they can not digest or remember before the next time they get dumped with more new content. Having students pull something from memory right about the moment they've forgotten it is also scientifically proven to improve retention. You can check out this article for more on that.

Wait Time

Allow for a little more wait time before asking students to respond to something. Giving English learners a chance to organize what they want to say can be extremely helpful. At higher levels where students already have some writing ability, it can be particularly helpful to have students write out some ideas of what they want to say before asking for a response.

Student Involvement

This is something that all great teachers do regardless of whether they are English learners or not. Get your students involved. Do not give a lecture at the front of the class and expect students to understand and remember the content you're teaching. You can use TPR (see below), have them repeat back to you what you're saying, have them turn and tell a student next to them what you just said, or any other strategy that gets them to take some kind of action.

TPR

TPR stands for Total Physical Response. It is basically putting actions to the words that students are saying to help them better engage, understand, and remember the content you're teaching.

All Students Involved at All Times

One of the most common issues I have seen when observing teachers is this: they assume that just because everyone is in the classroom when a response is given, everyone has heard and understood. This is simply not true. Usually stronger students answer all of the questions and weaker students are expected to just listen. Avoid favoring stronger students, but don't favor the weak ones either. Some teachers only ever call on weaker students because they know the stronger students already know the answers. Neither of these strategies will engage all students and keep them motivated. Instead, aim to choose only strategies that get all students involved at all times. A strategy like Think, Pair, Share is a good example. Give them a second to think about the answer, and then have them turn and share with a partner. You can also do Think, Write, Pair, Share which gives the students a minute to write something down first. This, in turn, also gives you a chance for informal assessment of the students' grasp of the material. Ear to Ear Reading is a good example of an alternative to popcorn reading to get all students involved.

SWIRL

Students get better at what they practice. For instance, if they only practice listening, they will only improve in listening and will struggle to produce language in speaking and writing. Speak, Write, Interact, Read, Listen - Andrea Honigsfeld recommends every lesson touches on each of these in order to give students a chance to engage with content in multiple ways or modalities.

Regular Check-ins

Make sure to give each and every student a chance to show what they've learned individually and without help. These check ins will help you better understand how many of your students are gaining a solid grasp of the content. Don't wait until big tests or ACCESS testing or otherwise, check in every day or every other day.

Positive Correction

Instead of saying "that's wrong" when a students says something incorrectly, try just saying the sentence the correct way and having them repeat it. Then applaud the correct sentence they then made. If a student is having issues in class, rather than focus on the negative behaviors, search for any point in their behavior where they are doing what you'd like to see. Then praise that behavior, telling them that is exactly the kind of thing you absolutely love to see and makes you so proud of them.

Teach Common Classroom Phrases

When newcomers first arrive, one of the most helpful supports we can provide is to teach them basic classroom phrases so that they can get what they need. "I need help, please." "May I go to the bathroom, please?" "I'm having a hard time with this." These phrases give the student the ability to communicate needs. They also have the added benefit of making the student seem more normal and polite. English learners unintentionally come off as rude at times when they translate directly from their home language and it can unnecessarily bias some teachers against them.

Simplify your speech

Simplifying your speech can make a huge difference in your students grasp of the content you're presenting, especially when introducing a new topic. Use short, punchy sentences. Choose target vocabulary to teach and use those words repeatedly while keeping the rest of your words and sentence structures simpler. Then build in more complexity as the students gain more of a grasp of the topic.

Speaking Speed

Slowing down your speaking speed is another helpful support. As native speakers, we don't often realize just how quickly we speak. For those trying to learn the language, they will often only catch a few words out of a sentence and then guess at what you're saying. This may get them through, but long-term, if they do not begin to understand all of the words in what they hear, this will severely handicap their English development.

Avoid Idiomatic Expressions, Sarcasm, and Slang

This is similar to simplifying our speech. Students will need to learn idiomatic expressions and slang with time, but they are not a priority up front. Sarcasm is just plain difficult to understand when learning English and can VERY easily be misinterpreted. Our goal is not to confuse students. We cannot ask them to run before they can crawl.

You can pair an English learner with a native speaker or with another student who speaks the same home language for help and/or discussion when wrestling with a text or completing an assignment.

Reasonable Extensions

Giving students a little extra time to complete assignments can make a big difference to the students and the outcome of the experience.

Preview in Home Language

If possible, you can give students videos to watch or passages to read in their home language on the same topics they'll be learning about in their gen-ed classes. This way they already have some knowledge about the subject before arriving and can focus more on the language acquisition during class. This is something that you would likely want to get parents on board with so that they understand what you're doing and why.

Translanguaging

Translanguaging is a theory that, when faced with an academic task, people who know more than one language use all of their language resources in whatever way best gets the job done. Practically speaking, it means letting students use their native languages in natural ways alongside their new language when engaging with subject content. You can encourage this by asking them label things in their home language as well as English or write a response in their home language first before attempting it in English. Check out this article for more ->

School Related Supports for English Language Learners

In this section, we'll cover supports for English language learners that are related to what your school can do.

Teaching Language Skills Across All Subjects

Schools can support English learners as well as all other students by recognizing that all subjects involve language learning. The language of math or science is just as foreign to a student who has not learned the vocabulary and sentence structures for those subjects as the English language is to English learners. This means that any strategies that work for English learners also work for native speakers. If schools train teachers across the spectrum to use the strategies we know work well for English learners, all students will benefit.

Accommodations Training

Schools can help teachers stay up to date with the accommodations for English learners that are allowed and are sometimes legally required by the state. Most teachers want to do right by their students and there is simply a knowledge gap about the kinds of accommodations they can use. For more information on accommodations, you can check out the following article which also includes a much shorter, more-easily-digestible, downloadable list of accommodations.

In many cases, students can use an alternative language edition of an exam or be allowed more testing time. Check out your state's guidelines for what testing accommodations are allowed for your students.

Celebrating Diversity

No two people are alike. We all benefit when we are shown that we do not have to fit a mold that someone else has provided for us. The more diversity is celebrated and students are accepted for who they are, the more successful they will be in and out of the classroom. This can be done throughout the school in all sorts of both tangible and intangible ways. Schools can have students showcase their various backgrounds by creating posters, table displays, or shadowboxes in the school's halls is one way but not the only way.

Creating Community

It's easy to overlook how important community is to the success of a school. Students need to feel safe, need to feel like they belong, need to feel like they are part of a group of people who see them and love them. This kind of community is created through understanding and connection. You can consider having everyone in the school break off into small groups to discuss what kind of school they want to have. Then get the students to create a school contract that everyone signs and is posted somewhere publicly. Get the students, teachers, and staff to start brainstorming how they are going to actually create that kind of school and then have everyone prioritize those ideas to start testing them out. After each idea is tested, there should be discussion on how effective it was and how it should be adapted to better meet the goal.

Teacher, Staff, Parent, Child Communication

A school is extremely challenging because there are so many different parties involved yet they very rarely get to see each other in action. Teachers teach in the classroom, but parents are not there to see the challenges they face or the effort they put in. Parents do the parenting at home out of sight of the teachers who can only guess at what might be happening at home. Staff and administrators get sandwiched parents and teachers. The parents expect staff and administrators to tell the teachers why the parents are right and the teachers expect them to tell the parents why the teachers are right. This makes for a sometimes explosive environment where misunderstanding is running rampant and stress levels are off the charts. The way forward is opening up better lines of communication for everyone with the goal of creating understanding. The better parents understand teachers, the more likely they will be gracious and flexible with their feedback and support. The better teachers understand parents, the more willing they will be to help out with concerns parents have brought up. The better staff and administrators understand teachers, well you get the idea. There are more ways to do this than there are schools and each school will need to take some time for critical and creative thinking about how it can be accomplished effectively. If you need a tool that helps with communication across language barriers, you can check out Talking Points (see below).

Collaboration / Teacher to Teacher Communication

Collaboration between content teachers and ELL Support Teachers is a must for the success of English learners. I've put it in this section because it is something that the school really needs to support in order for it to happen consistently. The more teachers collaborate with each other, the more students benefit, especially when it comes to English learners. Find ways to make it possible for teachers to lesson plan together, discuss results, give feedback, etc. For some collaboration lesson planning templates as well on tips on the different types of co-teaching, you can check out the article below.

Software & Other Online Related Supports for English Language Learners

There are so many amazing software tools out there now that can be used as supports for our English learners. I have listed a few of the more popular options below. If you have a favorite that isn't listed here, let me know in the comments below!

Google Translate

This is a go-to tool for many teachers and students and can help enormously with scaffolding grade-level content for English learners. Just be careful not to over-rely on translation. Students who do over-rely on translation into their home language usually do not make very good gains in English.

Youtube

This is probably already on everyone's list when it comes to helping English learners. There are videos for pretty much everything imaginable and, very often, videos can be found in a student's home language to help them with concepts they are learning. If you don't speak the student's language, do a Google Translate of a topic and then put the translation into the search bar to see if any kids videos come up.

Talking Points

This is a wonderful and popular tool for helping teachers, staff, and parents communicate across language barriers. You can learn more by visiting their site here.

Unite for Literacy

This is a website with loads of free books that have English recordings of the texts. There are all sorts of topics covered. You can check it out here.

News In Levels

This site includes loads of news articles written at 3 different English proficiency levels. Here is the link to thew News In Levels site. One helpful strategy with this kind of resource is a Close Reading. You can learn more about how to do a Close Reading in this article.

Kid-Inspired Classroom

The site your own now has quite a few resources you can check out as well.

Emotional Related Supports for English Language Learners

Moving to a new country that does not speak your home language is incredibly challenging for students. In this section, we'll go through emotional supports for English language learners.

Cultivating a Relationship

Building a connection with your students builds trust. A student who trusts you and has a connection with you is going to be far more willing to put in the hard work it's going to take for them to get up to grade level. Get to know their strengths and interests, their fears, their home lives, everything you can.

This support as well as the next one come specifically from the Jennifer Gonzalez's Cult of Pedagogy blog article on supporting ELLs. Our English learners need affirmation of the real struggles they face as well as the complex emotions that go with those struggles. There are times when we might be tempted to let go a chuckle at the hangups or mistakes of our ELLs, but can be a big mistake that destroys any trust you've built with them. This is especially true of strong emotions like anger. Unfortunately, I've observed teachers laugh at students who are angry and communicating badly in English about something the teacher has done that they perceive as unfair. Their emotions are real even if they can't express them very well or you can't relate with them.

There may be nothing more helpful than the ability to laugh at oneself. Unfortunately, many adults aren't able to do this, so don't just expect it to be easy for your students to do. It's not. You can only graciously share examples from your own story as you point them in the right direction. When students make progress in this area, it can be very helpful, giving them more confidence and making them far less wary of making mistakes. Worrying about what others think can seriously hold our students back. When learning a language, one of the best things we can do is throw caution to the wind and just bravely go for it, being able to laugh when we make mistakes and learn from them.

This was discussed in the section on school supports, but individuals can still get lost in the crowd at the school level. You can find ways to connect with their backgrounds personally or to connect the content to their backgrounds where applicable. You can learn about students' cultural backgrounds simply by talking with them, asking them questions, or by researching their home countries. Then take advantage of opportunities to connect with those cultural backgrounds when opportunities arise.

Let Them Tell Their Story

When we show that we value and understand our students pasts, they better trust us with their futures. One of the first assignments we can give to our students is to tell their story. It can be in their home language first if necessary and then translated. Graphic organizers can also be beneficial in helping students to their stories.

Respect the "silent period"

Newcomers have a lot to adjust to: New country, new city, new neighborhood, new language, new school, new teachers, new friends, new expectations. It's not surprising they don't speak up very much at the beginning. Give them time to observe, but don't treat them like they're not there. Interact with them in ways that keep the pressure off while still letting them know you see them and are happy they're there.

This can be a challenge, to be sure. Some names are hard to pronounce and, if written in languages very different from English, can be spelled in ways unfamiliar to us. Taking the time to get a name right and practice it until we can remember it easily speaks volumes to our English learners about how much we value them.

Involve Them in Decision Making

Where possible, discuss options with students and give them choices about how they want to participate, how much assistance they need, and how they will complete assignments. Students will take ownership of decisions they've been included in.

Friendship - Pair Them Up with Potential Friends

By helping students pair up with students who can not only help them out, but also potentially build a friendship, our English learners are far more likely to feel like they belong. It should go without saying that students who have a sense of belonging are going to be more engaged in school.

Make Students Feel Welcome and Comfortable

Be patient and encouraging, smile a lot. - I got dinged on this when I first began teaching. Students thought I was angry a lot when I wasn't just because of my facial expressions.

Laugh

There are few things more soothing than having a good laugh. It can be extremely helpful to find ways to bring humor into lesson content. For our English learners, don't be surprised that they enjoy simple, silly kinds of humor more than more nuanced, sarcastic kinds of humor. They will likely not understand nuanced, sarcastic kinds of humor at all, and you'll be the only one laughing. When developing the Kid-Inspired ESL Curriculum, I noticed over and over how much more easily students remembered challenging content when there was humor embedded in it or the teacher used strategies that brought humor into challenging content. A good example of this is the Madlibs strategy with a challenging reading passage you want your students to grasp. I've said it before, but it's worth repeating, if we want efficient lessons, we don't have time NOT to play games like these. Our children are not machines we can plug a USB into to upload data and we shouldn't get upset with them when our USB-style teaching strategy produces poor results.

Family Related Supports for English Language Learners

The family is one of the most important factors in your students' success. This section goes over family-related supports for English learners.

Hopefully your school realizes the importance of good relationships with families and nurtures an environment where that is made easier for you. But even if your school doesn't, there are still few things that will have a greater impact on your students' futures. The house always wins when it comes to casinos, and the home always wins when it comes to schooling. You will never be able to outdo the impact the home has and you're far better off working with them than against them. This comes with an enormous number of challenges even when the parents speak the same language and can seem impossible when there is a language barrier. Just remember that a little usually goes a long way. You just need to focus on the most important things affecting your students rather than gunny-sacking every problem you've ever seen and dumping it all on the parents at one time, giving them the impression that you think their child is hopeless when all you're really trying to do is show that you care (and possibly, since we're all guilty at times, maybe show off a little). Be encouraging and understanding. Listen first and ask questions before offering solutions. Sandwich the bad things you may have to share in between good things.

There are usually family nights where you can get together with your students' families, but it doesn't have to stop there. You can get parents together on a regular basis to help create a community of support for your students and yourself. You don't even have to be there every time, you just need to be a part of the Facebook group so that you can know what's happening and can lean on the network when a student is struggling.

Phone Calls

Phone calls can be awkward if you don't speak the parents' language, but it still means a lot to the parents to hear from you, if possible. It doesn't have to be long, just a check in. Let them know how their child is doing and remind them of anything they need to pay attention to. Thank them for the effort they put into working together with you to help their child, even if they don't do much. You'd be surprised at how much a difference it makes when you notice parents' efforts and praise them for it.

Writing a quick letter can be just as helpful as a phone call, just a little less personal. You can have the letter translated into any needed languages using Google Translate or Talking Points (see above). If it is a general letter to multiple parents, you can even have your students take a crack at translating it for you. It's great practice for their home language skills as much as English.

Communication Book

A communication book is another easy way to communicate with parents. You can actually make a book or just print out individual pages. The nice thing about this strategy is that you can have the different parts of the page translated into multiple languages and all you need to do is check boxes or write numbers for homework. Request that parents sign the communication book each day. The ones who don't can be put on a call list to follow up with if you have the time.

Sources & Further Reading

So...What Do You Think?

I'd love to hear from you.

What do you think of this list?

Did I miss one of your favorite supports for ELLs?

Either way, leave me a comment below and let me know!

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63 Supports for English language Learners - The Ultimate List -

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If you want to see the best supports for English language learners all in one place, then you'll LOVE this (updated) guide. You'll find 63 different support ideas in this massive list organized by category so that it is easy to reference.

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→ Refer to SPED team

→ Begin formal evaluation/IEP process

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Once you have completed the referral to special education process and the school has obtained parent/guardian consent, a team of qualified school professionals must conduct an evaluation to determine a student's eligibility for special education. The purpose of the evaluation is to identify strengths and weaknesses in a child's academic performance and decide if the child has a disability that requires special education services.

The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) requires that the evaluation must be completed within 60 days of receiving consent; however, be sure to verify evaluation procedures and timelines specific to your state and school district because many states have more stringent requirements than the federal requirements. For example, states such as Nevada and Minnesota mandate shorter timelines for completion of the initial evaluation.

IDEA defines 13 specific categories of disability that require public school systems to provide special education services, which include:

Specific learning disability (SLD)

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Emotional behavioral disorder (EBD)

Speech or language impairment

Intellectual disability

Traumatic brain injury

Other health impairment

Multiple disabilities

As an educator, you need to be familiar with the following information about conducting evaluations, as outlined in IDEA:

Determinations cannot be based on a single measure or assessment, requiring schools use a variety of tools to gather information including parental/guardian input, classroom observations, interviews, review of existing data, valid assessment instruments, and other additional data as determined by qualified professionals.

The evaluation measures must be administered in the child's native language and cannot be discriminatory in nature or culturally biased. The measures must be technically sound and administered in accordance with instructions from the provider of the instrument.

Once the evaluation has been completed, the group of qualified school professionals will meet with the parent/guardian to discuss whether or not their child meets the definition of a child with disability as defined by IDEA.
If the answer is yes, an Individualized Education Program (IEP) team-which includes, at minimum, a special education teacher, a regular education teacher, a parent/guardian, an administrator, a qualified individual who can interpret the instructional implications of the evaluation results, and the child, when appropriate-must meet to develop an IEP, a document that outlines the special education instruction, supports, and services required to meet the child's unique educational needs. IEPs must be reviewed at least once a year.  If the answer is no, where appropriate, the school may recommend support through a 504 plan or intervention services. Make sure that the parents/guardians are aware of their right to appeal the evaluation results.
Whether or not the child is found eligible for special education services, you should share information about informal supports that you provide to all students in your classroom and suggest resources and supports to help the student at home.

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Evaluation Process in Special Education | NEA

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What happens after referring a student to special education?

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📌 Norm-Referenced vs. Criterion Referenced Tests

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📌 Norm-Referenced vs. Criterion Referenced Tests

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Explore the key differences and similarities between norm-referenced and criterion-referenced assessments in this comprehensive guide for educators looking to make informed choices in student evaluation.

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A suite of secure, large-scale, summative English language proficiency assessmentsACCESS for ELLs (ACCESS) is the collective name for WIDA's suite of summative English language proficiency assessments. ACCESS is taken annually by English learners in kindergarten through grade 12 in WIDA Consortium member states.

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→ Norm-referenced tests may not account for cultural or language differences

→ ELLs may underperform on standardized tests unrelated to cognitive ability

→ Always use multiple measures and consider the student's language development level

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In "Strengths and Limitations of Current ELL Assessment Measures and Assessment Strategies: Reliability, Validity, and Utility," Linda Espinosa explores the current trends and implications in assessment for young ELLs. This excerpt originally was published in Young English Language Learners: Current Research and Emerging Directions for Practice and Policy (Teachers College Press, 2010).

In order for ELL children's outcomes to be fairly and appropriately assessed, it is important to understand some of the major limitations to many of the currently available measures for young children. A more detailed review of the technical characteristics of common ELL assessment measures (e.g., how the measure was developed, nature of normative sample, intended use of measure, validity, reliability, predictive ability, relationship to other more in-depth assessments, prior use with similar populations, etc.) can be found in a recently compiled compendium of ELL assessment measures (Barrueco, López, Ong, & Lozano, 2007).

Similarly, it is critical that users pay particular attention to the background information on standardization procedures contained in the respective assessment manuals for each measure. This is important both to guide the initial selection of the most appropriate assessment measure or measures, and to better understand any key concerns or limitations related to the interpretation of the results derived from individual assessments.

Discussion Points

Not intended to be an exhaustive summary of considerations or limitations, the following discussion highlights some of the issues and general limitations across assessment measures and procedures for ELLs:

1. Despite the tremendous recent growth in the population of young ELL children, the corresponding development of a range of different types of appropriate measures for ELL children has lagged far behind. The limitations relate both to the overall number of available measures, and to the domains of skills and abilities covered by such measures.

2. Many of the currently available measures for ELL children have been developed essentially as basic translations or adaptations of existing English language versions of measures, with varying levels of attention to ensuring comparability in the conceptual, linguistic or semantic content and/or level of diffi culty of the translated items across languages. As such, the content validity and construct validity may not be the same for the Spanish as for the English version of the same measure.

3. Unless a test were specifically normed with a sample of similar ELL children, the tests are still less accurate and valid for dual language learners who have been judged suffi ciently fluent in English to be assessed in English. Often, the reliability coefficients for many standardized tests are lower for ELL children, even if they have been designated as fully proficient in English (Abedi, Leon, & Mirocha, 2001) meaning that the score for an individual child may not be an accurate measure of that specific child's abilities. The concurrent validity scores for some assessments have also been shown to be substantially lower for ELL students, again making the accuracy less dependable.

4. The actual developmental construct that is being assessed by a measure may vary from one language to the next. On several common measures assessing different aspects of phonemic awareness, a child may be asked either to add to or take away parts of words to form new words. On English versions of such tasks, compound words are often used. For example, a child may be asked to say a word such as mailbox and then say it without mail (box), or blend the words mail and box together to form a new word (mailbox). However, since compound words occur much less frequently in Spanish, this particular type of task is much more complex for Spanish-speaking children to understand and to be as engaged in. Thus, unless items for a given task have been simultaneously developed in both English and the other language (or the measurement equivalence has been examined with the Spanish version), as is done with some measures like the Preschool Language Scale-4, there is a much greater risk that the translation process may result in an unintended change in the content, meaning, or linguistic complexity of the desired skill or ability that is being assessed.

5. Many standardized assessment measures (both in English and other languages) contain a very small pool of test items to assess a given skill or ability of interest. Since many existing assessments are designed to assess a number of different skills and abilities, the developers often choose to keep the number of items for any given task to a small number, so as not to end up with an assessment that will be too lengthy and/or frustrating for the shorter attention span of many preschool-age children. However, given the abovenoted variability in young children's performance on many such assessments, the inclusion of a greater number of items would be one way to help to offset this inherent variability and improve the precision of the measures.

6. It is not uncommon to see the inclusion of a fairly small number of young children in the normative samples used to develop the standardized assessment measures. Given the expected, normal level of variability in performance for these preschool-age children, one might expect to see the inclusion of larger numbers of children at the younger age levels, even as compared with the number of children included at the older ages for the normative sample. This is especially true with ELLs considering the great within-group variability.

7. 7Many normative samples have a smaller-than-expected representation of low-income and culturally or linguistically diverse population subgroups, as compared with the composition of the total population of young children. However, information on the specific demographic composition of the normative sample used to develop a given measure may not always be readily available in the published assessment manuals. If the normative sample for a given measure does not match the demographic characteristics of those children who are being assessed, then the resulting norms may not be appropriate for use with such a different group of children.

8. For assessments targeted toward ELL populations, there also is the consideration as to whether the normative samples used were monolingual Spanish-speaking or bilingual children, or some combination of the two. The desirability of different types of normative samples depends upon the nature of the question the user is interested in examining. On the one hand, some users may be most interested in examining a child's performance on a Spanish measure against the performance of monolingual Spanish speakers to assess the child's development against a normative group of children who primarily speak one language, Spanish. However, other users may be interested in examining how a child being raised in a bilingual environment performs in comparison to other, similar bilingual children.

Conclusion

In summary, these are just a few of the considerations that users should understand in order to be better informed when deciding which assessment measure or measures to select from among the different available assessment options, and for what purpose. While some assessments contain adequate descriptions of how the measure was developed, the composition of the normative sample, and the detailed information on the psychometric properties of the measure (e.g., reliability and validity), others provide much less information and, in some cases, contain misleading psychometric information.

For example, some assessment manuals present psychometric data, including information on the validity and reliability of the test for the English version of the measure, but don't present similar psychometric information on the specific non-English version. Caution should be exercised by potential users if any assessment does not provide detailed information on all aspects of the test. Despite the many limitations and/or concerns noted above, currently there are some available assessment measures that can be carefully utilized to gain a better understanding of the language development ELL children. Nevertheless there is still need for the continued development of newer and better ELL assessment measures and measurement strategies.

Acknowledgements

Our policy section is made possible by a generous grant from the Carnegie Corporation. The statements and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors.

Citations

Espinosa, L. Young English Language Learners: Current Research and Emerging Directions for Practice and Policy (Eds. García, E. and Frede, E.). Excerpts from Chapter 7, "Assessment for Young English Language Learners." Pps. 123-126. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University. 2010. Reprinted with permission.

References

Abedi, J., Leon, S., & Mirocha, J. (2001). Examining ELL and non-ELL student performance differences and their relationship to background factors: Continued analyses of extant data. Los Angeles: University of California, National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing.

Barrueco, S., López, M., Ong, C., & Lozano, P. (2007). A compendium of measures for the assessment of young English language learners. Washington, DC: Pew Task Force on Early Childhood Accountability.

Reprints

For any reprint requests, please contact the author or publisher listed.

More by this author

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Assessment for Young ELLs: Strengths and Limitations in Current Practices

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In "Strengths and Limitations of Current ELL Assessment Measures and Assessment Strategies: Reliability, Validity, and Utility," Linda Espinosa explores the current trends and implications in assessment for young ELLs. This excerpt originally was published in Young English Language Learners: Current Research and Emerging Directions for Practice and Policy (Teachers College Press, 2010).

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What's an IEP?

Students who need extra help and support in school may be eligible for special education services in the form of anindividualized education program (IEP). This program is offered free of charge to families of kids in public schools and outlines the goals and any support services that may be needed for a child to succeed in school.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) says that parents and guardians of students with disabilities or special health care needs are important members of their child's education team. They should work with educators to develop a plan that helps kids succeed in school.

Understanding how to get and use these services will help your child be as successful as possible in school.

Who Needs an IEP?

Students who are eligible for special education services need an IEP. While there are many reasons that students could be eligible, some common conditions include:

How Are Services Offered?

In most cases, the services and goals outlined in an IEP can be offered in a general school environment. This can be done in the regular classroom (for example, a reading teacher helps a small group of children who need extra help while the other kids in the class work with the regular teacher.) The small group serves students with similar needs who are brought together for help.

Every effort is made to help kids learn alongside their peers who do not have disabilities. But sometimes the level of support needed can't be met in a general classroom, so students are educated in a specialized learning classroom that is more appropriate for their needs. These classes have fewer students per teacher and allow for more one-on-one instruction. The teacher usually has training in helping kids with special educational needs. Students spend most of their day in a small group classroom and join the regular classes whenever possible - for example lunch, gym, or the arts.

What's the Referral and Evaluation Process?

The referral process begins when a teacher, parent, or doctor is concerned that a child may be having trouble in the classroom, and the teacher notifies the school counselor or psychologist.

The first step is to gather specific information about the student's progress or academic problems. This may be done through:

a conference with parents

a conference with the student

watching the student in class to assess performance (attention, behavior, work completion, tests, classwork, homework, etc.)

This information helps school officials decide the best next step. Sometimes new classroom strategies are all that's needed to help a child become more successful. If this doesn't work, the child will get an educational assessment, which can find a specific learning disability or other health impairment.

Note: The presence of a disability doesn't automatically guarantee a child will get services. To be eligible, the disability must affect how the child does at school. To decide on a child's eligibility, a team of professionals will consider their observations, as well as how the child does on standardized tests and daily work such as tests, quizzes, classwork, and homework.

Who's On the Team?

As a guardian, you can decide whether to have your child assessed. If you choose to do so, you'll be asked to sign a permission form that will detail who is involved in the process and the types of tests they use. These tests might include measures of specific school skills, such as reading and math or developmental skills, like speech and language.

The professionals on the evaluation team can include:

When the team finishes the assessment, a comprehensive evaluation report is developed. This report includes an educational classification and outlines the skills and support the child will need.

You can review this report before an IEP is developed. If there is something that you don't agree with, work together with the team to come up with a plan that best meets your child's needs.

How Is an IEP Developed?

The next step is an IEP meeting with you and the team to decide what will go into the IEP. A regular teacher should also attend this meeting to offer suggestions for how the plan can help your child progress through the standard education curriculum.

At the meeting, the team will discuss your child's educational needs - as described in the evaluation report - and develop specific, measurable short-term and yearly goals for each of those needs. You can take an active role in developing the goals and determining which skills or areas will receive the most attention.

The cover page of the IEP outlines the support services your child will get and how often they will be provided (for example, occupational therapy twice a week). Support services might include:

Services might also include transportation, test help or modifications, participation in special programs, and the inclusion of transition planning beginning at age 14.

If the team recommends several services, the amount of time they take in the child's school schedule can seem overwhelming. To ease that load, a professional may talk with your child's teacher to come up with strategies that help but won't offer hands-on instruction. For example, an occupational therapist may suggest accommodations for a child with fine-motor problems that affect handwriting, and the classroom teacher would incorporate these suggestions into the handwriting lessons taught to the entire class.

Other services can be delivered right in the classroom, so the child's day isn't interrupted by therapy. The child who has trouble with handwriting might work one-on-one with an occupational therapist while everyone else practices their handwriting skills. When deciding how and where services are offered, the child's comfort and dignity should be a top priority.

Your child's IEP should be reviewed annually to update goals and make sure your child is getting the support that's needed. However, IEPs can be changed at any time on an as-needed basis. If you think your child needs more, fewer, or different services, you can request a meeting and bring the team together to discuss your concerns.

What Are My Legal Rights?

Guidelines (sometimes called procedural safeguards) outline your rights as a parent to control what happens to your child throughout the IEP process. For example, timelines ensure that the development of an IEP moves from referral to providing services as quickly as possible. When your child is referred, ask about this timeline and get a copy of your parents' rights.

The parents' rights also describe how you can proceed if you disagree with any part of the evaluation report or the IEP - mediation and hearings are some options. You can get information about low-cost or free legal representation from the school district or through early intervention programs.

Attorneys and paid advocates familiar with the IEP process will provide representation if you need it. You also may invite anyone who knows or works with your child whose input you feel would be helpful to join the IEP team. Federally supported programs in each state support parent-to-parent information and training activities for parents of children with special needs. The Parent Training and Information Projects conduct workshops, publish newsletters, and answer questions by phone or by mail about parent-to-parent activities.

What Else Should I Know?

Parents have the right to choose where their kids will be educated. This choice includes public or private elementary schools and secondary schools, including religious schools. It also includes charter schools and home schools.

But parents should know that the rights of children with disabilities who are placed in private elementary schools and secondary schools are not the same as children with disabilities who are enrolled in public schools.

Two major differences that parents, teachers, school staff, private school representatives, and kids need to know about are:

1. Children with disabilities who are placed by their parents in private schools may not get the same services they would get in a public school.

2. Not all kids with disabilities placed by their parents in private schools will get services.

The IEP process is complex, but it's also an effective way to address how your child learns. If you have concerns, be sure to ask about the evaluation findings or the goals recommended by your child's IEP team. You know your child best and should play a central role in creating a learning plan tailored to their specific needs.

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individuals with disabilities education act

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Some kids may be eligible for individualized education programs in public schools, free of charge. Understanding how to access these services can help you be an effective advocate for your child.

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Classtime. (n.d.). Norm-referenced vs. criterion-referenced assessment. https://www.classtime.com/en/norm-referenced-vs-criterion-referenced-assessment

Colorín Colorado. (n.d.). A guide to engaging ELL families: Twenty strategies for school leaders. https://www.colorincolorado.org/guide/guide-engaging-ell-families-twenty-strategies-school-leaders

Colorín Colorado. (n.d.). What is scaffolding and how does it help ELLs? https://www.colorincolorado.org/faq/what-scaffolding-and-how-does-it-help-ells

Edutopia. (2021, February 18). Recognizing signs of potential learning disabilities in preschool. https://www.edutopia.org/article/recognizing-signs-potential-learning-disabilities-preschool/

FluentU. (n.d.). Differentiated instruction for ELLs: 6 strategies for success. https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/differentiated-instruction-for-ell/

JoinQuickCampus. (2023, February 6). Observing students to identify struggling learners. Medium. https://medium.com/@joinquickcampus/observing-students-to-identify-struggling-learners-724cac5e0817

KidsHealth. (n.d.). IEPs: What you need to know. Nemours Children’s Health. https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/iep.html

Kid-Inspired. (n.d.). Supports for ELLs. https://kid-inspired.com/supports-for-ells/

National Education Association. (n.d.). Evaluation process for special education. https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/evaluation-process-special-education

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