Teresa Walker, Ed.S., School Psychologist
Angie Corderman, Psy.S., School Psychologist
 English Language Learner (ELL) is used to avoid
the negative connotation of “limited English
proficient” (LEP). LEP is still used by the law.
 U.S. Census data states (U.S. Dept. of Education):
 IN 2008-09; 5.3 million students were identified as ELL
 19% PK-12th
 Research indicates ELLs are typically either overrepresented or under-represented in district special
education programs in the U.S.
 Research demonstrates English language learners with
the least amount of language supports are most likely to
be referred to special education.
“If ELLs are failing in general education,
there is no harm in placing them in
special education where they will receive
individualized instruction.”
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnd2cn17
VUw
 Think – Pair – Share
 What did you learn?
 Do you agree with the message?
 Why? Or Why not?
TOP TEN LIST
Top 10 areas to consider before “Suspecting a
Disability” on a student who is considered
ELL….
#10
CULTURAL
COMPETENCY
Cultural Competency
 Does your school/district have a questionnaire to
complete when parents register their students?




Native language?
Years of English exposure?
Student bilingual?
Ethnicity?
 Culture Integration Component (CIC)
Discipline System – culturally relevant?
Schools Rules/Motto – school rules or mottos that
are culturally appropriate?
When rules created – diverse cultures involved?
School-wide Discipline – PBIS working in your
school?
 Is school staff culturally competent
 Learning environment created for student
 Personal and family factors
 Physical and family factors
 Previous schooling
 Proficiency in oral language and literacy in both first
L1 & second language L2
 Academic achievement in both L1, if available, and
L2
 Cross-cultural factors
 http://justlists.wordpres
s.com/2009/05/27/37success-factors-forcultural-competency-inteachers/
 #17
 #2
 #21
 #5
 #28
 #12
 #30
 #19
 #20
 #32
 #33
#9
NUMBER
OF
YEARS
 Number of years - In school, in country,
learning English
 Demographic information – a form?
 What does your school do to gather additional
information and does an interpreter need to be
present?
 Do you have an interpreter or can you gain
access to one?
 District promote teachers to visit family in
home setting?
 ESL, general education, etc?
#8
VARIABLES
Variables –
Student/Teacher/Curriculum/Instruction
 Student/Teacher
 Does the student feel welcomed?
 Can you pronounce their name (correctly)?
 Does the teacher build rapport with student
 Through support
 Open communication
 Curriculum/Instruction
 ELL friendly?
 Visuals?
 Strategies – SIOP, Criss Model, Differentiated
Instruction, Sheltered Instruction
#7
INTERVENTIONS
 Targeted Interventions
 RTI + I = Response to Interventions +
Instruction
 Modifications
 What content is being taught?
 Adjusting the content so that students will be
successful.
 Students are given less complex or lengthy content to
meet learning needs.
 Accommodations
 How is content being taught?
 A physical or environmental change that ensures
success.
 Differentiated teaching practices based on student
learning needs.
 Specific & Differentiated Instructional Strategies
 Key features of RTI, refers to specific action teachers
mindfully take as a preventative measure to support
students at-risk
• Ix’s = Assess  Implement  Adjust
#6
ASSESSMENTS
Assessments: What & How
 A variety of assessment methods should be
used to evaluate ELL students.
 Multidimensional – each student is an individual
and their needs will look different!!!
• Can refer to checklist for SAT/BAT
 Standardized Tests
 Alternate Assessments
 Functional Assessments
 ICEL/RIOT (from the Department of Education)
matrix can be utilized!
 The most common approach to evaluation for
special education is to use standardized tests
to determine intellectual and academic skills.
 Standardized tests can provide quantitative
information that can suggest the possibility of
success in general education
BUT…
 Standardized tests do not always provide the
most valid, reliable, and accurate information
about an ELL student’s achievement and
progress due to a lack of appropriate norm
populations.
 Some of the standardized tests that are still
in use include:








BVAT
Woodcock-Johnson III
Woodcock-Munoz II
UNIT
C-TONI
Kaufman Assessment Battery
DAS-II
Etc.
Advantages
 More flexible than standardized tests
 Looks at a continuum of skills rather than comparison
to the performance of others who may not be true
peers
 Techniques are diagnostic-prescriptive and help
define an instructional plan
 Procedures can be implemented in any language or
combination of languages
 Methods are less intimidating
 Can measure for subtle changes in performance with
progress monitoring
Purpose
To examine the student’s academic performance and
behavior within the student’s own instructional
environment.
Types which include:
 Native language assessment
 Curriculum Bases Assessment (CBA/CBM)
 Direct intervention
 Test, Teach, Re-test
 Observation (Not just narrative)
 Interviews
 File Reviews
#5
COMPARISONS
 Comparisons to Peer Group
 Norms
 District-wide...
 What does your district use?
 PAT, BRI, DIBELS, etc
 Can an aggregate group be created of students who
are identified as ELL?
 AEA Norms
 Aimsweb
 ELL Norms (Spanish forms only)
 Grade based norms
 2006 Hasbrouck & Tindal Reading Fluency Data
 The following chart shows the number of academic years
needed to reach an average score at the 50th percentile
on nationally standardized tests of reading, language arts,
science, and social studies.
Student age on arrival in the US
Number of years
5-7 years (no prior education)
5-8
8-11 years
4-5
12 or more years
6 or more
Chamot, A. & O’Malley. (1989). Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach. When
They don’t All Speak English, edited by P. Rigg & Y. Allen, 103-125. National Council of
Teachers of English.
#4
BICS
&
CALPS
 BICS & CALPS/Stages of Language Acquisition
 BICS-Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills
 BICS are the first kind of language skills that students
acquire. It could be called “playground” language because
students use this language in social situations.
 You can easily be fooled by students who can
communicate very well in English in the classroom or on
the playground; but can’t read, write, or understand
content area material.
 BICS can require 1-5 years to develop.
 CALPS-Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency Skills
 CALPS are the second type of language
development and are necessary for understanding
cognitive academic language in school.
 CALPS require from 3-10 years to develop
 CALPS depend on many factors such as how well
educated the student is in his first language.
 The sequence for mastering a second
language and the cognitive academic
skills of the language is:
Listen
Speak
Read
Write
#3
THE LAW
 Federal, State, & Special Education Law
 See Quick Guide Handout
 See Flowchart Handout
 Exclusionary Factors (Department of Education)
 RIOT/ICEL Methods
 www.idea.org
 State forms, templates, download
 Area Education Agency Special Education
Procedures
 See page 34
 Exclusionary Factors
 Lack of scientifically based instruction in
reading
 Lack of instruction in math
 Limited English proficiency
 Racial or ethnic diversity
#2
DISABILITY
VS.
DIFFICULTY
 #2: Disability vs. Difficulty (Language
Acquisition)
 If skills are within normal limits in the native
language, second language delays cannot be
considered a disorder
 If the 5-7 years for CALP development have not
been completed, delays could still be due to second
language learning
 Some research indicating 10 years if no primary L1
 If the child has recently been exposed to a second
language, skills in native language may temporarily be
depressed due to the “silent period” which may occur
 All of these possibilities must be considered
before diagnosing the child with a language
disorder1
 Is it truly (you’ve exhausted everything, have
support from ESL teacher, etc.)
 ELL + Disability?
Language
Disorder
Language
Difference
Difference &
Disorder
*Foreign accent
*Code
switching/mixing
*Borrowing from L1
(interference)
*Unusual prosody
*Higher scores on
context-rich tasks
than single-word
tasks
*Limited vocabulary
*Unusual phonology
*Atypical grammar
*Atypical
pragmatics
*Word-finding
difficulties
*Must be BOTH
languages
*Problems in both L1
& L2
*Family’s concerns
about
communication
issues
*History of
developmental
delays (child or
family members)
*Slower rate of L2
growth compared to
other CLD students
*Social Problems
after 1-2 years of
exposure to L2
*Higher scores on
vocabulary tests than
on reasoning tests
Language Difference vs. Language Disorder (Roninson, 2003)
#1
DOES THE
DISABIILTY EXIST
IN THE FIRST
LANGUAGE?
 Does the disability exist in the first language?






Home Language Survey
Observations
Teacher Input
Parent Input
Can an SLP assist you?
Language development charts have been
accessed and team agrees?
 Again, ELL + Disability = consensus?
Beginning of School Year: October
End-of-Year: May
1.
The number of years the students has lived
and attended school in the U.S.
2.
Types of ELL programs in which the student
has participated.
3.
Understanding the number of years required
for the development of BICS and CALPS.
4.
The student’s level of English language
acquisition with assessment of skills in BICS
and CALPS.
5.
The purposes and uses of retention in the
student’s educational history.
6. The impact of parental, environmental, cultural,
educational, and linguistic effects on the student
and the evaluation of the student’s skills.
7. The effect of mobility including the number of
schools attended and /or lack of attendance in an
educational setting.
8. Use of the problem solving process with
appropriate accommodations and interventions
completed prior to a special education
evaluation.
9. Use of progress monitoring to determine
academic achievement and development of
academic skills.
10. Use of appropriate, valid, and reliable tests in
English and the student’s first language.
11. Tests in English are not to be translated.
12. Standardized tests in English become tests of
English language skills.
13. Use of non-traditional assessment methods
provide a more accurate assessment of the
student’s ability to learn and achieve.
14. Disabilities must be determined to exist in the
first language.
15. Use trained interpreters in all of the special
education processes.
16. Parent rights must be addressed as outlined in
both federal and state law.
17. There is no minimum amount of time an ELL
should be in your school or district before
assessing their need for special education.
 If, as a team, you can answer YES to the
above “Critical Factors for Evaluation of
ELLs” then:
 You have used integrity to make a decision
 Have more than enough data
 The student might be ELL + disability
 And, now you can write the lengthy, redundant,
new EER report, which reports evaluation
information to parents!!!
10. Cultural
Competency
9. Number of Years – In school, in country,
learning English
8. Variables –
Curriculum/Instruction/Teacher/Student
5. Interventions?
6. Assessment – What & How?
7. Comparison to Peer Group
4. BICs/CALPs/Stages/Skills
3. The Federal Law
2. Disability vs. Difficulty
1. Is it a disability in the first language?

Cummins, J. (1984). Basic interpersonal communicative skills and

Hamayan, E., Marler, B., Sanchez-Lopez, C., & Damico, J. (2007). Special
education consideration for English Language Learners. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon
Publishing.

Rhodes, R., Ochoa, S., & Ortiz, S. (2005). Assessing culturally and
linguistically diverse students. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Educational Research Website (2009). Teaching English games. Retrieved
January 10, 2010 from http://teachingenglishgames.com/3-5.htm

U.S. Department of Education (2009). English language learners. Retrieved
January 10, 2010 from http://www.edweek.org/rc/issues/english-languagelearners/

National Research Center for Language Acquisition (2009). One Child, two
languages: A reference for preschool Educators working with ELL students.
Retrieved January 29, 2010 from http://nationalresearchcenterellpreschool1/

City/State data (2010). Iowa languages. Retrieved February 5, 2010 from
http://www.city-data.com/states/Iowa-Languages.html

Clark, B.A. (?) First and second-language acquisition in early childhood.
Retrieved February 4, 2010 from http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/pubs/katzsym/clarkb.html

Online resource: October 20, 2011, http://justlists.wordpress.com/2009/05/27/37-success-factorsfor-cultural-competency-in-teachers/
cognitive academic language proficiency. Chicago, IL: Carlson, Inc.
 http://everythingESL.net
 Education about appropriate nonverbal/gestures to
use
 Lesson plans
 Teaching tips