Overidentification of English Language Learners for Special Education

2022 ◽  
pp. 302-320
Author(s):  
Penelope Debs Keough
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Proposition 227 ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Disproportionate Number

Alarming statistics presented by the United States Department of Education reveal a disproportionate number of students of minority language (English language learners) qualify for special education. As far back as 2007, the DOE recognized there was a concerted effort needed to reduce racial and ethnic disproportionality in racial and ethnic identification, placement, and disciplinary actions for minority students' representation in special education. This chapter will examine and address solutions to prevent the over identification of English language learners in special education specifically in the area of identification. As a further objective, the ramifications of this over representation will be examined, and the authors hypothesize about why the over representation occurs. Confusion over the Unz Initiative (1998, Proposition 227) may have inadvertently led to the over identification. A case study, leading to case law, concludes the chapter.

Overidentification of English Language Learners for Special Education

2020 ◽  
pp. 191-215
Author(s):  
Penelope Debs Keough
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Proposition 227 ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Disproportionate Number

Alarming statistics presented by the United States Department of Education reveal a disproportionate number of students of minority language (English language learners) qualify for special education. As far back as 2007, the DOE recognized there was a concerted effort needed to reduce racial and ethnic disproportionality in racial and ethnic identification, placement, and disciplinary actions for minority students' representation in special education. This chapter will examine and address solutions to prevent the over identification of English language learners in special education specifically in the area of identification. As a further objective, the ramifications of this over representation will be examined, and the authors hypothesize about why the over representation occurs. Confusion over the Unz Initiative (1998, Proposition 227) may have inadvertently led to the over identification. A case study, leading to case law, concludes the chapter.

scholarly journals Addressing the Teaching of English Language Learners in the United States: A case study of teacher educators’ response

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi L. Hallman ◽  
Hannah R. Meineke
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Nationwide Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Core Content

This article discusses teacher educators’ response to the issue of preparing prospective teachers in core content areas to be teachers of English language learners. In the case study we present in the article, the views of English language arts teacher educators, as analyzed from a nationwide survey of the teaching of English, are articulated. As a follow-up to the survey, focus groups were conducted with a sub-section of survey respondents. Findings indicate that, although the teaching of ELLs is viewed as a priority for teacher education, the field has yet to determine how to adequately address program coherence and partnership approaches to teaching ELLs within pre-service teacher education.  

scholarly journals An analysis of how restrictive language policies are interpreted by Arizona’s Department of Education and three individual school districts’ websites.

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margarita Jimenez-Silva ◽  
Katie Bernstein ◽  
Evelyn Baca
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
School Districts ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Individual School ◽  
One Year

Restrictive language policies for education have been passed in several states in the United States. In 1998, 2000, and 2002, California, Arizona, and Massachusetts passed the most restrictive of these policies, impacting 4.4 million students classified as English language learners (ELLs). This study examines how these policies are currently interpreted and presented to the public on Arizona’s Department of Education website, as well as how they are interpreted and presented on the websites of three of the state’s largest school districts. We seek to understand how three key elements of the laws—one-year programmatic time limits, Structured English Immersion (SEI) programs, and waiver processes—are conveyed by each text. Using tools from critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 2003, 2013, 2015), we trace the endurance or disappearance of these elements between texts and across time. Textual differences are discussed as reflecting and perpetuating important contextual differences among the districts.

High-stakes plumbing in the twenty-first century: Fixing the cracks in the academic pipeline for undocumented English Language Learners

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly Hansen-Thomas ◽  
Ludovic A. Sourdot
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Educational Crisis ◽  
Academic Pipeline

This article examines the severe educational crisis in the United States regarding the ability of institutions of higher education to recruit, retain and appropriately serve Latin@ English Language Learners (ELLs). In particular, it highlights the plight of undocumented ELLs who attend U.S. high schools and universities, but cannot work upon leaving higher education. This case study aims to describe the story, challenges and successes of one undocumented college graduate. In this study the authors show how cracks in the academic pipeline negatively affect Latin@ ELLs. This article offers specific recommendations to mend these cracks and improve the education opportunities of immigrant ELLs.

scholarly journals ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS IN INTRODUCTORY STATISTICS: LESSONS LEARNED FROM AN EXPLORATORY CASE STUDY OF TWO PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS

2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-32
Author(s):  
LAWRENCE M. LESSER ◽  
MATTHEW S. WINSOR
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Statistics Education ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Journal

Despite the rapidly growing population of English language learners in U.S. colleges and schools, very little research has focused on understanding the challenges of English language learners specifically in statistics education. At a university near the United States-México border, the authors conducted an exploratory qualitative case study of issues of language in learning statistics for pre-service teachers whose first (and stronger) language is Spanish. The two strongest findings that emerged from cross-case analysis of the interviews were the importance of the role of context (the setting in which information is communicated) and the confusion among registers (subsets of language). This paper overviews and synthesizes relevant literature and offers resources and recommendations for teaching and future research. First published November 2009 at Statistics Education Research Journal: Archives

Assessment 360°: A Panoramic Framework for Assessing English Language Learners

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Lewis ◽  
Nancy Castilleja ◽  
Barbara J. Moore ◽  
Barbara Rodriguez
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Linguistically Diverse ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Her Family ◽  
Diverse Student ◽  
Many Sources

This issue describes the Assessment 360° process, which takes a panoramic approach to the language assessment process with school-age English Language Learners (ELLs). The Assessment 360° process guides clinicians to obtain information from many sources when gathering information about the child and his or her family. To illustrate the process, a bilingual fourth grade student whose native language (L1) is Spanish and who has been referred for a comprehensive language evaluation is presented. This case study features the assessment issues typically encountered by speech-language pathologists and introduces assessment through a panoramic lens. Recommendations specific to the case study are presented along with clinical implications for assessment practices with culturally and linguistically diverse student populations.

Pre-Referral Procedures: Meeting Unique Needs of English Language Learners

2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Joanna Burton ◽  
Betsy Wendt
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
School System ◽  
English Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public School System ◽  
Language Difference ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
School Team

An increasingly large number of children receiving education in the United States public school system do not speak English as their first language. As educators adjust to the changing educational demographics, speech-language pathologists will be called on with increasing frequency to address concerns regarding language difference and language disorders. This paper illustrates the pre-referral assessment-to-intervention processes and products designed by one school team to meet the unique needs of English Language Learners (ELL).

Working With Interpreters to Support Students Who Are English Language Learners

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (16) ◽  
pp. 15-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henriette W. Langdon ◽  
Terry Irvine Saenz
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
Primary Language ◽  
Second Best ◽  
Support Students

The number of English Language Learners (ELL) is increasing in all regions of the United States. Although the majority (71%) speak Spanish as their first language, the other 29% may speak one of as many as 100 or more different languages. In spite of an increasing number of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who can provide bilingual services, the likelihood of a match between a given student's primary language and an SLP's is rather minimal. The second best option is to work with a trained language interpreter in the student's language. However, very frequently, this interpreter may be bilingual but not trained to do the job.

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