ELLs with Disabilities:
What the Literature Has to
Say
Adapted presentation by
Soyoung Park
Stanford Graduate School of Education
ELL SCASS Meeting June 24, 2014
1
Think of 2 or 3 important policy
and/or practice related questions
about ELLs with disabilities that
you would like to have answers
to (if they exist).
Please jot these questions down
2
Agenda
Part One:
• Who are English language learners with disabilities?
• Assessment and Identification Concerns
• Small Group Discussion
Part Two:
• Issues of Representation
• Instruction and Interventions
• Small Group Discussion
Part Three:
• Discussion: Lingering Questions
3
English Language Learners with Special Needs
Overview of the Literature
(77 articles)
Overview and
Background
(6 articles)
Miscellaneous
(7 articles)
Assessment and
Identification
(22 articles)
Instruction and
Intervention
(28 articles)
Representation
(18 articles)
4
Who are ELLs with
Disabilities?
• Students who are eligible for both special education services
and English language development/bilingual programs
• 2009-2010 School Year:
• 518,088 students with disabilities classified as LEP (8.5%)
• CA highest percentage of all ELLs identified as having
disabilities (2%)
• More than half of all states report providing SpEd services to
less than 0.5% of ELLs
(Office of Special Education Programs Data Accountability Center, 2013)
5
Who are ELLs with
Disabilities?
• In 2009-2010, states reported the following languages most
commonly spoken by ELLs with disabilities:
Arabic (29 states)
Chinese (32 states)
Hmong (7 states)
Russian (7 states)
Somali (10 states)
Spanish (32 states)
Vietnamese (31 states)
(2009-2010 Consolidated State Performance Reports)
6
Who are ELLs with
Disabilities?
• Most common disability categories for ELLs:
•
•
•
•
Specific learning disabilities (SLD)
Speech/language impairments (SLI)
Intellectual disabilities (ID; formerly MR)
Emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD; formerly ED)
• 2006 OCR study: 88% of students with disabilities in need
of ELD/bilingual instruction received it
• Many children only get one or the other when need both
• Many children get both when only need one or the other
7
Assessment and Identification
• Challenge: disabilities v. language proficiency issues
• What level of proficiency should ELLs acquire before referred
for SpEd evaluation?
• Educators tend to jump to LD diagnosis
• Lack of information on what educators need to understand
about second language acquisition
• Importance of considering instruction and interventions
students already received (usu. in RtI model)
8
Assessment and Identification
Common characteristics in language development of
ELLs and students with language related disabilities
Pronunciation
Phonological omissions, substitutes,
and/or additions
Syntax
Confusions with negation, word
order, and mood; grammatical errors
Semantics
Difficulty with forms of figurative
language like proverbs, metaphors,
and similes
Discourse/Pragmatics
Poor comprehension, difficulty
following directions, hard time
completing tasks
(Case & Taylor, 2005; Chu & Flores, 2011)
9
Assessment and Identification
• Problems with assessments
• Evaluations for SpEd eligibility all in English
• No adequate measures to determine when ELLs ready to be
assessed in English
•
•
•
•
Evaluations tend to be linguistically complex
Referral process is subjective and biased
RtI interventions rarely culturally relevant
One study finding: Psychological evaluation reports for ELLs
tend to ignore state and professional guidelines on how to
conduct nondiscriminatory assessments (Figueroa & Newsome, 2006)
10
Assessment and Identification
• Recommended assessment techniques
Alternative and
Supplementary Assessments
Approaches to Assessment
Multiple step process (RtI)
Collaborative teams
Assess in dominant language
Trained interpreters
Assess cultural responsiveness
of school
Analytic teaching
Curriculum-based assessment
Language sampling
Narrative analysis
Portfolio assessments
11
Discussion Questions
• What stood out to you in the information presented about
who ELLs with disabilities are?
• What stood out to you about issues related to assessment
and identification of ELLs with disabilities?
• Is there anything else you would like to know more about
regarding demographics of ELLs with disabilities or issues
of assessment/identification?
• What are common problems educators in your district face
with regards to assessment/identification? What
initiatives, if any, have been taken to address these
problems?
12
Representation
• Long history of overrepresentation of students with “low
status” backgrounds in SpEd
• Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans tend to be
overrepresented compared with whites and all students
• Asians tend to be underrepresented, with the exception of
some Southeast Asian groups
• English language learners tend to be disproportionately
labeled LD and SLI
13
Representation
At national level, ELLs not overrepresented in SpEd
General Student Population
English Language Learners
9%
13%
In Special
Education
In Special
Education
Not in Special
Education
Not in Special
Education
87%
91%
(Zehler et al, 2003)
14
Representation
Other studies focusing on single states with high ELL populations:
State
Relative risk ratio of
being in SpEd
% Districts with
overrepresentation
Arizona
0.77 in 1999
32% in 1999
(Sullivan, 2011)
1.9 in 2006
42% in 2006
Texas
2.46 in 2004
94% in 2004
(Linn & Hemmer, 2011)
1.35 in 2010
52% in 2010
15
Representation
• Consequences of disproportionate representation (Artiles et al,
2010):
• Over 1/3 of students with LD drop out of school
• Culturally and linguistically diverse students with LD less
likely to go to college than white students with LD
• Estimated range of youth with disabilities in detention, private
& public correctional facilities: 30-70%
• Disproportionate representation signals larger systemic
issues and the need for more culturally responsive practice
in schools
16
Instruction and Interventions
• Recommendations for Classroom:
• Culturally responsive pedagogy
• Primary language support/instruction
• Actively involve students’ parents in learning
• Regular dialogue between teachers and students
• Oral language development
• Collaborative learning tasks
• Focus on developing higher order cognitive skills
17
Instruction and Interventions
Instructional practices and interventions shown to have
positive outcomes for ELLs with disabilities
Classroom instruction:
Interventions:
• Instructional conversations
• Sheltered content instruction
• Peer assisted learning strategies
(PALS)
• Differentiated instruction using
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
• Fostering self-monitoring skills
• The Olé Project
• Phonological awareness
interventions
• Embedded in writing and
vocabulary lessons
• Combined w/ token
economy
• Intensive, small group reading
interventions
18
Instruction and Interventions
• Teacher preparation
• Lack of preparation to serve ELLs with special needs
• Rodriguez (2005): What do bilingual special education
practitioners think is most needed in teacher prep programs?
•
•
•
•
•
•
100 practitioners
85% proficiency in two languages
82% knowledge of assessments
79% planning and delivery of instruction
71% cultural competence
67% promoting and maintaining professionalism
19
Discussion Questions
• What stood out to you in the information presented about the
representation of ELLs in special education?
• What stood out to you in the information presented about
instruction and interventions for ELLs with disabilities?
• Are there any other issues related to representation or
instruction and interventions that you would like to know more
about?
• What are common problems educators in your state/district face
with regards to these topic? What initiatives, if any, have been
taken to address these problems?
20
Whole Group Share
What are some additional questions that you have?
21
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