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Common Asked Questions about Special Education and English Learners

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Common Asked Questions about Special Education and English Learners

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This site provides links to answer 11 very common questions about Special Education Services for English Learners. It answers questions and also provides helpful tips for how to best help an English-learning child. It even has suggestions on how to best make an IEP for a multilingual or English-learning student. This site can be helpful for both educators and parents as it can help teachers go in the right direction. It can also address parents' concerns or questions and ensure their child is provided with the correct resources.

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Multilingual Learners (MLs) and Special Education Questions and Answers

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Multilingual Learners (MLs) and Special Education Question and Answer

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English Learners with Disabilities Classification and %

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English Learners with Disabilities Classification and %

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This link provides a look into the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) and provides a look into the percentage of ELSWD (English learners with disabilities) within the 2020-21 school year. 13.4% of students enrolled in schools classified as IDEA, and of that, 11.9% were also ELs (English Learners). This site provides a diagram breakdown by state of how likely an EL is to be classified versus non-ELs, and New Jersey's percentage was among the highest three at -7.7% of English language learners classified with a disability.

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Eligibility for English Learners in Special Education

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Eligibility for English Learners in Special Education

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This document is very helpful for educators when it comes to determining if English Language Learners are struggling with the language or if they have a disability. It gives suggestions on how, after classification, Special education teachers and ESL teachers can work together to help the student make progress. It also goes into the resources and support that students are provided as they often struggle with not only just having the task of learning a new language but also having a disability and struggle learning in general.

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This is a slideshow made by a teacher of both ESL and special education. She defines both disability and what an English learner is. She goes into what it is like for an English Learner in a general education classroom and also goes into the most common disabilities among English Learners. She then goes into the accommodations and modifications and breaks them down by each subject and even daily use such as testing and even classroom settings. The methods stated and used are very helpful for students, and this can be a great resource for educators who have an English learner with a disability as it shows how to best help them.

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This site goes into the common misconception behind English Language Learners and the struggle that they face in education while learning a new language. The misconceptions are all supported by facts that show they are wrong, and many of them even have scenarios to prove the misconceptions wrong. The misconception that stood out most is the one that states ELLs are provided the support they need to learn the language in a special education classroom. This is untrue, and I was shocked this was not known to all. Special education classrooms are meant to help students with a learning disability, not to support them in learning the language.

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Myths About English Language Learners and Special Education

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Learn about the myths and misconceptions around services and supports for ELLs. The result will be a better outcome for your students.

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This slideshow walks educators through the process of making an IEP for English language learners. It asks questions to help the educator decide what the student needs in an IEP to succeed. It offers various options and is one made by a board of education. This can be useful for the child's teacher, team, and parents as it helps them determine the ultimate best option. This walk through is very helpful!

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This site talks about how schools can improve to better help dual language learners and English language learners. It talks about how the population of these students is growing yet very few changes are made. Some of the best and simplest ways to change these programs include a more central focus on equality, changing and updating policies, and collaborating and engaging with the community. The overall goal is to reform the policies so that they are more supportive and reachable for students.

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A New Federal Equity Agenda for Dual Language Learners and English Learners

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English learners (ELs) constitute a large—and growing—share of the student body in the United States. More than 10 percent of U.S. pre-K–12 students are

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This reading, written by the Department of Education, covers various areas of English language learners with learning disabilities. It covers the meeting or joining between the two areas and discusses various areas, such as challenges and how to identify both areas early. This article also covers various tools that can be provided for these students and the best strategy when it comes to teaching these students. Another thing that it covers is the various support networks that these students will have after classification. The overall theme of this article is how important it is to be responsive and provide these students with a classification early on so they may catch up in the later grades if possible

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This site covers various areas that are lacking when it comes to educating English learners who have a disability. It talks about the areas that are good but then highlights the areas that have gaps and how to fix them. This site uses research to back up the lacking areas and prove that they need to change. Things such as policies are not up to date and need to be modernized. This site guides how it can best be done.

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English learners (ELs) are the fastest growing group of students in U.S. public schools. They are disproportionately at risk for poor academic outcomes and are more likely than non-ELs to be classified as having specific learning disabilities and speech/language impairment. Data collected by the U.S. Department of Education in school year 2018-2019 (Common Core of Data, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) data) indicate that approximately 14.1% of students in classrooms across the country received services through IDEA Part B. Nationally, 11.3% of students with disabilities were ELs, a little higher than the percentage of total student enrollment who were ELs (10.2%). However, it is important to distinguish between language and literacy struggles that are due to learning English as a second language and those due to a language or reading disability. For those who have or are at risk for a disability and in need of intervention, it is also important that the interventions are linguistically and culturally appropriate for these children.

Since the first round of competitions in 2006, the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) has funded research on ELs with or at risk for disabilities. The projects are in broad topic areas, including early childhood; reading, writing, and language development; cognition and learning; and social and behavioral skill development. They vary with respect to the types of research conducted (such as exploration, development, efficacy, measurement) as well as the extent to which they focus on ELs, from ELs as the exclusive or primary population of interest to a secondary focus as a student group within the general population.

As an example, David Francis (University of Houston) explored factors related to the identification and classification of reading and language disabilities among Spanish-speaking ELs. The aim was to provide schools with clearer criteria and considerations for identifying learning disabilities among these students in kindergarten through grade 2. Analyzing data from previous studies, the team found that narrative measures (measures in which narrative responses were elicited, transcribed, and scored) were more sensitive to identifying EL students with disabilities than standardized measures that did not include a narrative component. They also found that the differences in student language growth depended on the language used in the instruction and the language used to measure outcomes. Specifically, language growth was greatest for Spanish-instructed students on Spanish reading and language outcomes, followed by English outcomes for English-instructed students, English outcomes for Spanish-instructed students, and with the lowest growth, Spanish outcomes for English-instructed students.

A number of these projects are currently in progress. For example, Ann Kaiser (Vanderbilt University) and her team are using a randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of a cultural and linguistic adaptation of Enhanced Milieu Teaching (EMT). EMT en Español aims to improve the language and related school readiness skills of Spanish-speaking toddlers with receptive and expressive language delays who may be at risk for language impairment. In another study, Nicole Schatz (Florida International University) and her team will be using a randomized controlled trial to compare the efficacy of a language-only, behavior-only, or combination language and behavior intervention for students in early elementary school who are English language learners with or at risk for ADHD.

Overall, NCSER has funded 12 research grants that focus specifically on English learners, dual-language learners, and/or Spanish-speaking children with or at risk for disabilities, including the following:

In addition to the research focused specifically on English learners, many other projects include ELs as a large portion of their sample and/or focus some of their analyses specifically on the student group of ELs with or at risk for disabilities. A few recently completed studies show encouraging results with little differences between ELs and non-ELs. For example, Nathan Clemens (University of Texas, Austin) investigated the adequacy of six early literacy measures and validated their use for monitoring the reading progress for kindergarten students at risk for reading disabilities. As part of this project, the research team conducted subgroup analyses that indicated ELs do not necessarily demonstrate lower initial scores and rates of growth over time than non-ELs and that there are few differences between ELs and non-ELs in the extent to which the initial performance or rate of growth differentially predict later reading skills. As another example, Jeanne Wanzek (Vanderbilt University) examined the efficacy of an intensive multicomponent reading intervention for fourth graders with severe reading difficulties. The team found that those in the intervention group outperformed their peers in word reading and word fluency, but not reading fluency or comprehension; importantly, there was no variation in outcomes based on English learner status.

NCSER continues to value and support research projects that focus on English learners with or at risk for disabilities throughout its various programs of research funding.
This blog was written by Amy Sussman, NCSER Program Officer

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English Learners with or at Risk for Disabilities

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English learners (ELs) are the fastest growing group of students in U.S. public schools. They are disproportionately at risk for poor academic outcomes and are more likely than non-ELs to be classified as having specific learning disabilities and speech/language impairment. Data collected by the U.S.

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This website covers how to test students for a disability and the importance of doing so correctly. Something that is notable from this website and stands out is that students may be tested in different languages. This is important because it is something often not remembered. The main thing in this article is the importance of doing the test right so the student gets the correct classification. Without this, the student will struggle and likely fail in the education system. This is why it is important to be done correctly and also equally as important to use their native language to ensure the correct classification.

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Special considerations for evaluating ELL students for LD

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When an English Language Learner is being tested for a learning disability, the evaluation should contain certain high-quality features.