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Multilingual Learners and Special Education: Process and Practicalities — Transcript

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0:00to our saddleback webinar this week my
0:02name is liz mangus literacy specialist
0:04with saddleback educational publishing
0:06we have a great topic for you today
0:08again another highly requested topic
0:11with a return presenter early clapholts
0:13here to tackle a very complicated topic
0:16so we'll bring her in in a moment but as
0:19you are logging in today
0:20i just want to draw your attention to
0:22the control bar which is on the bottom
0:24of your web browser window
0:26now i know we all know how to chat using
0:28zoom webinar these days
0:30there's probably no tutorial required
0:32for that so just a friendly reminder
0:34that when you want to chat with us today
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0:38from the little drop down there before
0:40you hit send
0:41this will ensure that everybody who is
0:43online with us today will be able to see
0:45your
0:46comments otherwise just a handful of us
0:47at saddleback will will see your
0:49thoughts
0:50the chat area is also where we will
0:52where we will drop links to resources
0:54for you today so be on the lookout for
0:55that
0:56and we anticipate a lot of questions
0:58today so go ahead and find that q a area
1:01on the control bar
1:02anytime you have a question either for
1:04orally or for saddleback
1:06go ahead and put it in there for us but
1:08just a warning i'm going to ask for your
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1:11because we think we're going to hold
1:13most
1:14content oriented questions for the end
1:16today just because there is
1:19a lot of information and a lot of um
1:22just a lot that we want to cover today
1:24so
1:24we just ask for your patience on that
1:27and please remember we now have our
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1:29uh enabled on zoom webinar so if you'd
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1:40this is where you can find us on twitter
1:43many of you are probably here today
1:44because
1:46uh you saw orly tweeting about this
1:48webinar so
1:49she's she's very active on twitter
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1:55please follow us
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2:00today
2:01and if you happen to be catching the
2:02recording later
2:04don't be shy you can still go to twitter
2:06let us know you watched it let us know
2:07your thoughts let us know if you have
2:09questions
2:10we always love to hear from you we will
2:12get started
2:13in just about another minute so let's
2:15say hi to orly how are you today my
2:17friend
2:18i'm doing well thanks liz how are you i
2:20am great i am going
2:22to see who is joined oh vivian is here
2:24hi vivian
2:26all right yes please make sure that you
2:28select panelists and attendees
2:30before you hit send on the chat this is
2:31just a gentle reminder
2:34rowena is here hello thank you
2:37great it's great to see everybody all
2:40right this is going to be
2:41such an informative topic and by the way
2:44this is our third webinar on this topic
2:46because there is so much to say on this
2:48topic and there's so many different
2:50pieces of of information
2:54so if if you need more information we're
2:56happy to answer more questions but
2:57please check out our youtube channel
2:59and find our previous webinars
3:02on this on this topic as well so
3:06hi michigan northeast texas connecticut
3:09everybody's here north carolina i love
3:12it
3:13hi everybody this is great
3:16okay it is time to i can't believe it's
3:18time to start already okay i know
3:20this is i i could just hang out here for
3:22like five minutes saying hi to everybody
3:24but we've got business to get to so so
3:26let's get to it
3:27our topic today is multilingual learners
3:30in special education
3:32huge topic huge very complex
3:35we're going to talk a little bit about
3:37the process and of course the
3:38practicalities which
3:39um it's it's hard to balance because
3:42sometimes we can't really understand
3:44what the practicalities are unless we
3:45know what the process is
3:46and it's so there's there's a lot we're
3:49orley is here
3:50to help us help us figure all this out
3:53as best we can so she is a return
3:56presenter with us
3:57and uh if you don't know her she founded
4:00multilinguals forward in 2019 to bridge
4:02the vast gaps in educational research
4:04and action for multilingual students
4:06she has experience creating specialized
4:09curriculum
4:09pairing grade level content with
4:11foundational skills and facilitating
4:13professional development in best
4:15practices
4:16first life she worked as a classroom
4:18teacher and special education
4:19coordinator
4:20working with slife and newcomers so
4:23she's well versed in this topic
4:25and we're thankful that you are here to
4:28share your thoughts and try to help us
4:30piece all this together because
4:32it's been a hard year and next year is
4:34going to get even more complicated um i
4:36think so
4:37thank you i will let you take it from
4:39here great thank you so much liz
4:42everyone give me one second
4:44while i get the powerpoint up here we go
4:48and great
4:51all right looks good we can see it thank
4:53you perfect okay hi everyone good
4:56afternoon thanks so much for being here
4:58um i'm really excited to talk about this
5:01really complex topic with you uh and
5:04hopefully answer any questions that you
5:06may have
5:07before we get started i do want to point
5:10out like liz mentioned
5:11really just how complex this topic is
5:15and so we're going to run through some
5:18scenarios we're going to talk about the
5:19process we're going to
5:21learn a little history together uh and
5:24then we're going to try and answer
5:25questions as best as possible
5:27but i really wanted to make sure to
5:28point out that so many questions that
5:30you may have so many of the answers to
5:32your questions
5:33are really complex um and uh oftentimes
5:36unique depending on the situation uh and
5:39it's just something we definitely want
5:40to keep in mind
5:41uh please you know as was mentioned as
5:43questions do come up definitely put them
5:45in the chat
5:46and i'm excited to learn with you all
5:48today
5:49um we're gonna really start with talking
5:52about the history of
5:53individuals with disabilities education
5:55act also known as
5:56idea um and the reason why it's
5:59important to really understand this
6:01history first
6:02is because prior to 1954
6:05exclusion was really the rule and in
6:08any large system right we're nothing is
6:11ever perfect
6:12um and so you know when we think about
6:16the system
6:16of special education and education in
6:19general right
6:20it's not a perfect system uh we
6:22definitely
6:23work to do our best but i think it's
6:25really important for us to remember
6:26just how monumental uh idea
6:30is uh and was when it was first enacted
6:33um and
6:34to really appreciate that the type of
6:36legislation that it is and and where
6:39we were and how far we've come even
6:41though at the same time
6:42we definitely have uh you know more to
6:44do and and
6:45uh more to accomplish and so when we
6:48think about
6:49um exclusion being the rule there were
6:51hundreds of thousands of kids right who
6:53were institutionalized who were
6:55uh either sent away from home or taken
6:58from their homes
6:59uh and those are those were kids who
7:02were not when we think about children
7:03with disabilities were not just children
7:05for example with
7:06a physical disability those were also
7:09children
7:09with sometimes a learning disability
7:11which is often viewed as almost
7:13an invisible disability um
7:16and so those children so many of them
7:18were institutionalized and i
7:20i'm pointing to these two specific cases
7:22in 1893 and 1919
7:25to show you even from a legislative
7:27perspective how these
7:28uh you know exclusion was really the
7:30rule so in 1893
7:32the uh supreme court in massachusetts
7:35actually upheld the decision of
7:36a school to exclude to
7:40expel a child because they were not
7:43reaching
7:44um what they considered academic um
7:46achievement
7:47um so that really points to that's one
7:50of the earliest cases we really see that
7:52happening but right the idea was that if
7:54the student couldn't perform
7:56academically whatever that meant
7:58so therefore the student shouldn't be in
8:00school
8:01and in 1919 um the
8:04uh supreme court in wisconsin also
8:06upheld a decision to exclude a child
8:08because the student had
8:09a cerebral palsy and so you really see
8:12prior to 1954
8:14the uh case after case of uh
8:17courts upholding exclusion and the idea
8:20of exclusion
8:22in 1954 i'm sure you all have heard of
8:25brown versus board of education
8:27that landmark case uh which really um
8:30showed that separate but equal that was
8:33established by plessy versus ferguson
8:35um goes against the 14th amendment and
8:39in that landmark case showing that uh
8:42from a legal perspective as a legal
8:44matter
8:45that uh segregation uh based on race
8:48uh is not legal right uh
8:52the reason that case is so important for
8:54disability advocates is because it
8:56actually set the precedent
8:58to then create the 1965 elementary and
9:01secondary education act
9:03that case set the in motion really uh
9:07for advocates to say
9:09we should not be uh creating a situation
9:12in which children with disabilities are
9:14not allowed to be in school right
9:15they are also allowed in school and
9:18saying that they shouldn't be in school
9:20is also against the 14th amendment um
9:23and so it's really uh from 1954 onward
9:26that you that's where you start to see
9:27case after case after case
9:29using brown versus board of education as
9:31well as the 14th amendment
9:33to uh prove and to show from a legal
9:36perspective
9:36these students belong in school and they
9:39deserve an education
9:40and that's where you then get in 1975
9:43was really the first
9:44form uh even though it's rewritten
9:47reestablished in 1994
9:49but you have really the first form of
9:51idea of the individuals with
9:53disabilities education act
9:54and the idea of the free appropriate
9:56public education and so
9:58really understanding this history and
10:00and how far we've come
10:02even though we have you know more to do
10:04more to go
10:05is really important because it shows how
10:08uh
10:09we really went from a place of like full
10:11exclusion and and that being the rule to
10:14this place of while we may not be
10:16perfect uh the idea of
10:17inclusion right um is is really
10:20what we're focusing on and making sure
10:22that every child
10:24is getting what they need in our public
10:25school system is really very important
10:29i wanted to show you a little bit of the
10:31legislation just so that we really know
10:33who we're talking about when we say a
10:34child with a disability
10:35what does that mean from a legal
10:37perspective uh and again idea
10:40right it's dense it's legal speak and
10:42it's very long
10:43but i wanted to just show you this
10:45particular piece so that
10:46we're really fully aware of who we're
10:48talking about so
10:49it says right that the term child with a
10:51disability means a child
10:53either right with intellectual
10:55disabilities hearing impairments
10:57including deafness speech or language
10:59impairments visual impairments including
11:01blindness
11:02serious emotional disturbance referred
11:03to in this chapter right at this point
11:05as emotional disturbance
11:07orthopedic impairments autism traumatic
11:10brain injury
11:10other health impairments or specific
11:12learning disabilities
11:14and right so it could be any or
11:17combination of any of those things
11:18and who by reason thereof needs special
11:21education and related services
11:23there are really four parts uh
11:26specifically
11:26to idea so the part a is really where
11:29all those terms are defined
11:31part b are the educational guidelines
11:33for children 3 to 21
11:36and the financial support that schools
11:39are given
11:40based on compliance of six criteria so
11:43um
11:43when schools don't have aren't within
11:46compliance this is why compliance is
11:47one of the reasons compliance is so
11:49important is because of funding right
11:51so if your school is out of compliance
11:53so you will not get that funding or you
11:55may get that funding taken away
11:57uh and that's why again right when you
11:59work in in any field then
12:01right that you need to make sure you're
12:02within compliance uh knowing that and
12:04knowing the law is so important
12:07part c is the birth to two years old
12:10and i want to point out here when we
12:11think about our multilingual learners
12:13uh how important right language support
12:16and language access is even
12:19of course in the classroom right as
12:20educators we think about that all the
12:22time
12:22but beyond the classroom um i think a
12:25lot
12:25of times about one time when i was
12:27taking one of my children to the doctor
12:29and
12:29someone there spoke a language that uh
12:32the secretary felt like they couldn't i
12:35don't know help them
12:36and i sat with them and i was just
12:38thinking about how
12:40this person is bringing their child
12:42right to
12:43the doctor and they don't the doctors
12:46offices even though they're supposed to
12:48right are not servicing them
12:49um in the language that they need and
12:52how much can get
12:53lost really um and when you think about
12:55for example a child who may need
12:56um certain evaluations from brook to two
12:58years old or a parent a caregiver anyone
13:01who really has any concern
13:02that piece of idea that specifically
13:06says
13:06by law they have to be taken care of
13:09um when it comes to any of these pieces
13:13uh we really need to make sure that
13:14those kids are getting uh
13:16full language support outside of school
13:18but within their communities uh doctors
13:20offices um psychological services which
13:22whatever it is that they're really
13:24getting that full language support
13:26um and then part d are the national
13:28activities such as grants and
13:29transitional services
13:31that support children with disabilities
13:32right so thinking about
13:34post-school opportunities um as well as
13:37just in general outside
13:39of school opportunities when we're
13:41talking about faith or free appropriate
13:43public education
13:44um it's really important for any
13:47caregiver
13:48and any educator to know that the this
13:51is one of the most important
13:53legal rights uh a child really has is
13:56this that
13:56piece of idea right it's not just that
13:59uh
13:59we believe that students who have
14:03any type of disability should be
14:05serviced but it's that they
14:06are by law uh you know have the right
14:10to a free and appropriate public
14:13education
14:13and knowing that is what really can help
14:16with making sure that we are partners
14:18with caregivers
14:19uh partners between schools let's say
14:21the special education team
14:22as well as the various teachers and the
14:26caregivers
14:26caregivers themselves so the question
14:27then becomes what is included in favor
14:30or what what does it really mean
14:32and um so the first part is the special
14:35education services
14:36must meet the unique needs of that
14:39specific
14:39child um now that doesn't mean that for
14:42example if i say
14:44i want the student to have a norton
14:45gillingham uh
14:47reading program that's not what that
14:49would mean
14:50uh but it would mean that for example if
14:52they're like if you go to the third
14:54box or in the middle right the
14:55accommodations and modifications
14:57if that's the way the child is going to
14:58access the curriculum then that is what
15:01uh the services to meet those unique
15:03needs
15:04we need to provide related services such
15:06as ot or occupational therapy
15:08or speech and language services a
15:11student if they need any kind of
15:12accommodation
15:13right so changing how the student is
15:15taught for example an audiobook or
15:17modification so changing what the
15:19student is taught uh
15:20so for example possibly changing the
15:22curriculum as well as their
15:24full individualized education plan and
15:27in the least restrictive environment and
15:29i want to point out here
15:31uh because we're all i'm sure pretty
15:33familiar with the idea of the least
15:35restrictive environment
15:36but the lre the least restrictive
15:39environment is specific to each
15:40student right so that does not mean that
15:43student a and student b
15:44are both going to have the same
15:47environment they may need very different
15:49things
15:49um and one of the reasons why we really
15:51want to think about this
15:52particularly for our multilingual
15:54learners is making sure
15:56that um they have when we're thinking
15:59about evaluating or referring
16:01that when we think about that least
16:02restrictive environment if someone is
16:04suggesting
16:04for example a more restrictive
16:06environment then we definitely want to
16:08think about
16:08why that is and make sure we are really
16:11uh pushing back
16:12before we determine that a student
16:14should be in a very restrictive
16:15environment we always want to start with
16:17the least
16:18and then if figure out if someone says
16:21right well they can't
16:22uh be in that environment uh better
16:24understand why that is
16:25before uh making any determination i
16:28also wanted to point
16:30out here before continuing that the idea
16:33of what an appropriate education is
16:35um is really subjective and
16:38it is the unfortunate reality that right
16:40now in the united states
16:42education and education as a right is
16:44not really part of the constitution
16:46and it was really left up to the states
16:48uh they're
16:49actually which is why when you see court
16:51case after court case
16:52of um individuals saying let's say like
16:56uh the school district maybe didn't uh
16:58educate me the way i would have expected
17:00whatever it is
17:00it doesn't really get much movement um
17:02there was recently a case in the last
17:04two years it was one of the first times
17:06it's completely unprecedented
17:08um of students who were actually suing
17:11the state to say that
17:12their the education they were given was
17:14not essentially appropriate and
17:17these were not students um who were
17:20uh students with disabilities and it was
17:22really one of the first
17:24it is the first time um that they uh
17:27in the sixth circuit they were they
17:29actually ruled
17:30in accordance with the students once it
17:32got to the next
17:34court uh it was not ruled um
17:37to the students but it really started
17:38this conversation of what does it mean
17:40to have a right to an education and what
17:42does it mean to have a right to an
17:44appropriate education
17:45um and that is definitely something we
17:47do want to think of
17:48as we educate our students uh
17:50particularly our multilingual learners
17:53who may or may not right uh qualify for
17:56special education
17:57services um when we think about
18:00appropriate education
18:02right uh as mentioned in supporting
18:04english language learners in the
18:05classroom
18:06a full appropriate education for our
18:08multilinguals is based on
18:10the understanding of each student's
18:11cultural and linguistic experiences and
18:13bridging those to instruction and
18:15as educators of multilingual students
18:18right you guys know this
18:19right you're fully aware of that and how
18:21important that is and you do that in
18:22your classrooms
18:23um and when we think about uh making a
18:27referral for special education for
18:29example though
18:30we want to make sure that we're
18:32recognizing that each of these aspects
18:34needs to be a part of um of that team
18:38that's
18:38questioning why is this student being
18:40referred uh for special education and
18:42how
18:43um if we're not bridging the cultural
18:46and the linguistic experiences and their
18:48lived experiences all those pieces
18:50to the instruction then where really is
18:52this referral coming from
18:54right um we need to first look at the
18:55instruction itself and how we're
18:57supporting our multilingual learners
18:59first
19:01i want to talk about over-representation
19:03and
19:04under-representation of multilingual
19:05learners in special education
19:07we actually see both with our
19:08multilingual learners and you might be
19:10wondering
19:11what do you mean we see both how can you
19:12possibly see an over representation
19:14and an under representation uh but
19:16what's really interesting is when you
19:17do read the you know from a statistical
19:19standpoint when you read
19:20uh you know the most recent data um
19:23anyone who does
19:24uh follow me on twitter knows i tweet a
19:26lot about data um i really like data
19:29um and uh but when you look at it it's
19:32really interesting because you
19:33have that which talks about the over
19:35representation
19:36and the underrepresentation and you see
19:38that because either you'll see a lack of
19:39services for example let's say our
19:41multilingual learners are not being
19:43serviced
19:43appropriately uh from a linguistic
19:45perspective um
19:47you will see a lack of valid assessments
19:49this is a really
19:50uh really challenging topic and complex
19:52topic the idea of assessment validity
19:55um not just in terms of uh language but
19:59in terms of
20:00who it's normed with right who are these
20:02assessments normed with right so
20:04even if all of these assessments are
20:05normed with someone who speaks the same
20:07language it still may not be
20:09a valid or appropriate assessment for
20:12this student
20:12um not understanding instructional needs
20:15uh right so a teacher may say
20:18you know the student is not
20:19understanding so they need a referral uh
20:21but that teacher maybe isn't um fully
20:24understanding the student what the
20:25student needs in the classroom and
20:26therefore is not
20:27giving it to them uh differentiating
20:29between english acquisition and learning
20:31disabilities this is
20:32uh unfortunately a huge one right um so
20:35many teachers will say well
20:36they're not understanding english
20:38they've been here let's say four months
20:39or however long so they must be
20:41uh you know they need to go be referred
20:43uh or they need to be evaluated and the
20:45reality is no that's not that's not the
20:47case it could be maybe
20:48depending on the student uh lack of
20:50understanding of culture right so you
20:51definitely see
20:53um obviously different cultures have
20:56uh different emphasis on different
20:58things academics behavior right so not
21:00fully understanding
21:01a culture often times will lead to
21:03over-representation
21:04of uh our multilingual population as
21:07well as well as bias
21:08right so oftentimes we do see students
21:11who are multilingual learners and they
21:14may end up in a certain setting and
21:15teachers who just kind of
21:17off the bat uh say uh i know already
21:20this kid probably needs to be evaluated
21:22um and so it's really important that we
21:24take each of those into account
21:26uh again with a team um as we're
21:28thinking about whether or
21:30not a student needs to be evaluated for
21:32special education
21:33when it comes to the underrepresentation
21:35this is actually really important and
21:36something we kind of need to
21:38uh i would say like check ourselves on
21:40also is the idea of the wait and see
21:42approach
21:42um and each of these uh bullet points
21:46really kind of uh mesh together they
21:48work together so
21:49there's the the wait and see as like uh
21:52people saying oh
21:53you know what just give them more time
21:54maybe they'll get it or maybe this or
21:56maybe they'll start this or
21:58um and so but that oftentimes
22:01if there is a concern right there
22:04and and we take the wait and see
22:06approach so then maybe we're not giving
22:08them
22:09the the the evaluation or the services
22:11that really they need and deserve
22:13and um as a result we don't end up
22:15getting in there when we need to right
22:17we know how much
22:18um you know early identification um and
22:21early access to services
22:22is so vital um and so the wait and see
22:25approach can really
22:26uh be an issue especially again the
22:28younger versus older grades you will
22:29often see
22:30particularly with the multilingual
22:32population students who
22:33will not be referred uh younger but will
22:36be referred older and so
22:38it fits in with the wait and see right
22:40so maybe you have a student
22:41who um someone is concerned about and
22:44uh they wait and they wait and wait and
22:46wait and then finally they get to an
22:48older grade and they're like oh this
22:49student really needs to be evaluated
22:51and then the fear of misidentification
22:53right so
22:54we know how over represented our
22:56multilingual population is so
22:58we may have this fear of i don't want to
22:59misidentify student right i don't want
23:02to make it seem like i am biased and
23:04think this kid needs to be evaluated
23:05when they really don't
23:06and so we oftentimes will start thinking
23:09in those terms of oh i probably
23:11shouldn't even say anything because
23:13um you know i don't want this kid to be
23:15misidentified
23:16and so i think that for us as educators
23:20the
23:20one of the most important things for our
23:22multilingual population particularly
23:24those
23:25uh who may need special education
23:26services is being curious
23:28right i am curious right about
23:32whether this student uh how the student
23:35is progressing let's say in my classroom
23:37i am curious about this student's
23:39culture i am curious about this
23:41student's
23:41language and so i think the idea of
23:43being curious is what
23:45really helps us to fully support kids
23:47because it help it kind of
23:48like acts as like a check on on the bias
23:52on the jumping to conclusions it's um
23:54hmm
23:55this student really struggled uh with
23:58let's say this
23:59assessment i am really curious why that
24:02is
24:02and that's when i start to ask questions
24:04hmm could it be
24:06my instruction could it be the student
24:08was having a bad day could it be
24:09right it could be a lot of different
24:11things but the idea of curiosity
24:13um and using that as the starting point
24:16um is what one of the things that will
24:19really help
24:20with both this side of
24:21over-representation as well as the
24:23under-representation
24:26um jeanette klinger really talks about
24:28this idea of considering
24:29all possible alternative explanations to
24:31a student's struggle
24:33including the possibility that
24:34instruction might not be appropriate
24:36before thinking that child might have a
24:38learning disability
24:39and this really also does get back to
24:41the idea again of curiosity right
24:44a student is you know having a
24:47challenging time in my class for
24:48whatever reason
24:49i am going to be curious before i'm
24:51going to jump to any conclusions
24:53my first my like gut instinct should be
24:56the curiosity right
24:57what what is going on here um uh
25:00what is uh creating these these
25:03challenges so again it's kind of that
25:05that uh the curiosity first uh going
25:08through all of these different
25:09tiers which we're going to get to before
25:11we say this child might have a learning
25:13disability
25:15um she also points to and this is from
25:17jeanette klinger she points to some of
25:18the similarities between for example
25:20um a learning disability and language
25:22acquisition i'm sure
25:24many of you are very well aware of these
25:26uh but they're important to go through
25:28and to realize just how similar some of
25:30the behaviors
25:31are as well as cultural characteristics
25:33um
25:34and why so much of that
25:36over-representation happens because
25:38when we don't know and again as i
25:40mentioned much earlier this is such a
25:42complex topic
25:43of the language acquisition um and
25:46learning disabilities but when we don't
25:48know how for example
25:49acquiring an l2 can look or sound um
25:53then we oftentimes will jump to
25:54conclusions and um
25:56we really want to as much as possible
25:58obviously avoid that so for example
25:59difficulty following directions and this
26:02i know i you know just said this a bunch
26:03but it's really again why that
26:05the idea of curiosity right my student
26:08didn't follow directions
26:09i wonder why that is right i am curious
26:11about why that is
26:12is it because right i didn't say the
26:15direction
26:16slowly enough is it because they need
26:18more um
26:19language support so really again being
26:22curious but
26:23those are examples of things that uh
26:26can be a struggle uh for
26:29students who are acquiring a second
26:32language or
26:32students who have a learning disability
26:34right difficulty with
26:36uh phonological awareness for example
26:38right um
26:39distinguishing between sounds um
26:41learning the sound to symbol
26:43correspondence and
26:44these by the way are some examples of
26:47when we have a student
26:48learning to read for the first time um
26:52we really really want to be mindful of
26:56uh what that looks like in an l1 and an
26:59l2
27:00and of course again this is a very
27:02complex topic
27:03but understanding that again if we take
27:07it from a place of curiosity versus a
27:09child
27:09needs to be evaluated now um
27:12and making this a team approach is how
27:15we can really make sure that kids who
27:17really do need to be evaluated at a
27:19younger age
27:20we'll get those services and then
27:22students who do not need an evaluation
27:24do not need a referral
27:25uh will not get one and we really want
27:27to make sure that we are
27:29um being very well aware of what that
27:31looks like right
27:32um so or like difficulty retelling a
27:35story in sequence right so that
27:37could be um a student maybe they have a
27:39learning disability
27:41um or maybe i'm asking a student to do
27:43that in english but they don't really
27:44have the expressive skills yet
27:46right so that's why we really need to be
27:48very mindful
27:49and also again why this is a team
27:52approach there should never be only
27:54one teacher saying um i think this
27:57this is a completely completely a team
27:59approach
28:00um cultural characteristics right
28:02viewing time differently
28:04a collectivist versus individualistic
28:06cultures right so
28:07a student may say i right coming from a
28:11culture that's collectivist they may not
28:13realize that they can't all work on an
28:15exam together or a project or
28:17or what one teacher might call like
28:19cheating
28:20right that's very different depending on
28:21what type of culture you come from
28:23and recognizing that as well ways of
28:25showing respect are very different
28:27um significance of school sharing
28:30belongings all of those different
28:32cultural
28:33characteristics um and what they look
28:34like in different cultures that we
28:36really want to be mindful of
28:38um again goes back to the curiosity
28:40right i wonder
28:41why the student did that and it's
28:43something we also want to
28:45the way we look at behavior right but
28:47what is underlying that behavior is
28:48there a cultural characteristic here
28:51um is there something else going on is
28:53there a trauma here
28:54uh that would not mean to refer student
28:57to special education
28:58but is there something i need to be
28:59aware of here and uh
29:01really thinking about both academic uh
29:04and the social emotional behavior piece
29:05as what what is really underlying all of
29:09this
29:09uh before saying this kid needs an
29:12evaluation or jumping to any kind
29:14of referral process uh all students who
29:17have academic challenges right should be
29:19provided support early and again this is
29:21why
29:22the whole uh needing to work as a team
29:24and i know that
29:26some of you are probably thinking well
29:28that's really easier said than done in
29:29my school
29:30uh and we'll talk about that in a little
29:32bit when we get to the scenarios
29:34but i do want to say that as someone who
29:37has worked as a special education
29:38coordinator particularly in a school for
29:41multilingual learners
29:42it is it is complex it is hard
29:45a lot of personalities um and and making
29:47sure everyone
29:48is working kind of as a well-oiled
29:50machine to make sure kids are really
29:52being supported as best they can i want
29:53to point out
29:54yes it is complex um and can be very
29:56challenging
29:57but there are definitely steps that we
29:59can take in order to make sure
30:00that our students are fully supported by
30:03everyone in the school
30:05just to quickly go through this process
30:07so that we're all on the same page for
30:09anyone who hasn't had experience with
30:11this
30:11the initial referral for evaluation uh
30:14begins let's say when either a caregiver
30:16or a teacher or
30:18i guess you know anyone in the school
30:19says uh this student
30:21let's say we've i've tried all these
30:23interventions um i've
30:24here's the data for example um this
30:27student
30:28i think the student needs a referral
30:30right should be referred for evaluation
30:32um assuming that the team says yes the
30:36that makes sense the student should be
30:37referred uh for an evaluation
30:39the school then needs to send informed
30:43needs informed and written consent for
30:45evaluation from
30:46a legal guardian from a caregiver
30:49there is also a time frame so schools
30:51can't just wait around
30:52right if someone once that referral
30:55process starts there is a
30:56clock um and so from a legal perspective
30:59student
31:00like schools have to get on it um they
31:02cannot do an evaluation without
31:04written uh informed and written consent
31:06then the evaluation happens i want to
31:08point out that the evaluation again this
31:10is complex but
31:11we're not talking about one evaluation
31:14um
31:15it should not be it should never be that
31:17the school psychologist for example
31:19um evaluates a student
31:22and uses that one evaluation to
31:25determine eligibility for any type of
31:28disability that is not appropriate
31:32for definitely from outside lingual
31:34learners but for any
31:35child any child who is going through the
31:37evaluation process to determine
31:39eligibility
31:40uh for special education services and an
31:42iep should have
31:44several different types of evaluations
31:46as well as discussions with teachers
31:48more than one teacher
31:49um as well for our multilingual learners
31:51particularly
31:52the esl teacher or the eld specialist uh
31:56need to be involved in this process um
31:59as well as caregivers we want to always
32:01think about partnering
32:03with families no matter what language
32:05they speak
32:06um and yes i do want to point out i'm
32:09sure some of you are thinking you know
32:10there is stigma let's say around this uh
32:12in certain cultures
32:14um and so i think that
32:17definitely taking that into account is
32:18really important
32:20and making sure to have those
32:22conversations to open up the
32:23conversations um
32:24to be as transparent as possible with
32:27caregivers with legal guardians is
32:29extremely extremely important in the
32:30entire process here
32:32then you have the iep meeting again i
32:34want to point out there
32:36a student who is a multilingual learner
32:38should have
32:39first of all a trained translator if
32:42needed
32:43um so the idea of for example pulling in
32:45another student
32:46who speaks that student's language last
32:48minute is not appropriate
32:50uh in order to get an iep meeting done
32:52and uh
32:53we should be aware of a student's right
32:56to have
32:56that translator um trained professional
33:00interpreter really at that meeting a
33:03caregiver
33:04is supposed to be there as well as again
33:06an esl
33:07or eld specialist in order to make sure
33:10that a multi-lingual learner is
33:12fully supported through the iep process
33:15then there's the writing the iep and
33:18then
33:18right giving the services as well as the
33:20progress monitoring
33:23in terms of the process for appropriate
33:25special education referrals
33:27um we have these different tiers right
33:29so tier one is really
33:30the gathering the information we're
33:32talking about the core instruction we
33:33really want to make sure that court
33:34instruction is appropriate
33:36um in all forms right for these students
33:39we want to make sure that the
33:40assessments are valid and reliable
33:42that we have long and short goals and
33:44we're monitoring progress
33:45i want to point out that sometimes there
33:48is a misunderstanding that you have to
33:50get through tier three
33:51in order for a student to be evaluated
33:53that is not accurate
33:55if within tier one right uh
33:58someone says listen um i'm really
34:00concerned about this student because of
34:02x right um already that
34:06means the process is starting we should
34:08not be waiting
34:09until let's say the end of tier three uh
34:12to determine whether or not a student
34:14needs an evaluation you really and this
34:17is actually
34:17written within idea that we should not
34:20be waiting
34:21until a student has let's say completely
34:23failed to say
34:25now they need to be evaluated and that's
34:26really important for us to take
34:28to remember that and take that into
34:29account when it comes to culturally and
34:31linguistic appropriate interventions
34:33right we definitely want to think about
34:34that within tier two
34:36uh if um it's really connected to tier
34:39one as well as comparing progress to
34:40true
34:41peers that's really important also is
34:43what does this look like to a true
34:45uh compared to a true peer at their
34:47grade and age level
34:49and then right then we have the tier
34:50three is referring for special
34:52education evaluation as i said including
34:54the eld specialist within decisions and
34:56caregivers
34:57um all of those aspects really being
35:00important to the iep
35:02team the iep process and the evaluation
35:06itself
35:07i want to point out these two high
35:09incidence categories
35:10for multilingual learners specifically
35:13the reason why you have
35:15uh over representation in specific
35:17learning disability as well as speech
35:18and language impairment
35:20is because of english language
35:22proficiency
35:23so when a student may not be and i'm
35:26putting in
35:27quotation marks progressing um in their
35:29english language proficiency
35:31in this in a way that a teacher may
35:34expect or maybe they saw another student
35:36do
35:36often times they'll hear great let's
35:38evaluate them um and we want to be
35:40really
35:40really mindful of uh the the
35:44definitions of what a specific learning
35:46disability is as well as speaking
35:47language impairment so
35:48i just want to go over them um before we
35:51continue so that we know what we're
35:52talking about right so
35:54a specific learning disability uh
35:57the term means a disorder in one or more
35:58of the basic psychological processes
36:00involved in understanding or in using
36:03language spoken or written that may
36:06manifest itself in an imperfect ability
36:07to listen
36:08think speak read write spell or do
36:11mathematical calculations right so
36:13specific learning disability oftentimes
36:14you'll hear for example like dyslexia
36:16uh or dyscalculia uh those are part of
36:19that
36:20um that definition so we definitely want
36:22to be thinking about
36:23uh this is part of that right documented
36:25academic skills below
36:27grade level um a weakness in basic
36:28processing area or cognitive weakness
36:31uh relative strength and some cognitive
36:33abilities right so you are not talking
36:35about
36:35um you could be talking about for
36:37example sorry a student who
36:39struggles in reading but is really good
36:41in math you could have a student who
36:42struggles in both
36:43right this it is so complex it is so
36:45student-dependent
36:47um that it's really important that we
36:49realize especially for our multilingual
36:51learners
36:51this could really look very different um
36:54depending on
36:55uh what's going on in their brain and
36:57then speech and language impairment
36:58being a communication disorder such as
37:00stuttering
37:01impaired articulation a language
37:03impairment or a voice impairment that
37:04adversely affects a child's educational
37:06performance
37:07i've had many teachers say to me let's
37:09say this student should be evaluated
37:11because they
37:11aren't speaking and as educators as of
37:14multilingual learners
37:15we're like okay so they're not speaking
37:17yet right they're not speaking yet
37:19um they may not be ready to speak and so
37:21recognizing and going over kind of the
37:23definitions and understanding really
37:25what these definitions mean
37:26and then what is typical english
37:29language
37:30development is really important for
37:33teachers to see to be able to understand
37:35does this kid really need a referral or
37:37not and again
37:38looking at these from the view of
37:40curiosity of being curious right of
37:42what's going on why isn't my students
37:44speaking it
37:44right oh they are new to the country
37:47that is
37:48very typical right and that is very
37:50normal
37:51um or maybe the student comes from a
37:53culture where
37:54they this is not typical for them to to
37:56uh speak up in the classroom
37:58in this form and so we really want to be
38:00very mindful of those
38:01because these are really the very high
38:03incidence category specifically for
38:05multilingual
38:06learners i i get this question a lot and
38:09i
38:09uh want to quickly go over why students
38:11with limited or interrupted formal
38:13education
38:14do not qualify for special education the
38:16at the current
38:17time we do not have federal legislation
38:20uh
38:21that um defines student source life
38:24and or that uh gives services to student
38:27source life
38:28um and so with the quote you see it's
38:31from idea
38:32and idea specifically says that a child
38:35may not be determined to be eligible for
38:37services
38:37if the determinant factor is a lack of
38:39instruction in reading or math
38:41and so that or limited english
38:43proficiency for example but
38:45if a student has not been in school if
38:48they've had an interruption in their
38:49education
38:50or uh what would mean a limitation
38:52whatever that means right
38:54um so they would not qualify for an iep
38:57and um most states all states to my
39:01knowledge at this point the
39:02actually the iep process would shut down
39:04which makes sense because
39:06idea is a specific uh specific
39:09legislation
39:10for students with disabilities not
39:11student source life yes they need their
39:13own
39:14legislation but that is for a different
39:16topic a different day
39:17um to create um consistency right
39:21uh for great educational experiences for
39:23dual identified students we must be bold
39:24together i love that quote
39:26um because it really does take
39:29um a team of really bold individuals
39:32curious individuals who are
39:34who want to work together to say um
39:37this is a really complex topic right but
39:39um
39:41and that's challenging and also
39:42beautiful at the same time and we
39:44really are want to work together on
39:47uh thinking about this in a different
39:49way and being bold and
39:50uh being bold in how we're gonna
39:52approach this and uh sometimes that
39:54means doing something totally different
39:55than what we were doing
39:56and sometimes that's saying like no this
39:58is really working and it's great
39:59um and so it's i i really like this
40:02quote because i think it's important for
40:03us to remember that that
40:04sometimes starting certain conversations
40:07that maybe sometimes might feel a little
40:08bit uncomfortable but you know is really
40:09so important
40:11for student support um is worth it
40:13sometimes it's just
40:14running through with a friend or another
40:16colleague um
40:17how should i phrase this right so that i
40:19i make sure that i'm approaching this in
40:21a sensitive way
40:22but that i know that this is how we'll
40:24support this student and the idea of
40:26just
40:26that is being bold right that's being
40:28daring that's um
40:29that's taking the approach of i'm gonna
40:31make sure this kid gets that support
40:33and at the same time recognize that this
40:35is challenging and this is complex and
40:36and i want to do it in a sensitive and
40:38thoughtful way
40:39so we're going to run through a couple
40:41scenarios um
40:43with the time we have left and then i'll
40:45open up for
40:46uh for questions um each of these
40:48scenarios i've
40:50been in each of these scenarios in a
40:52different form um so they are
40:54uh from personal experience and so i
40:55wanted to share with you in case it
40:57would be helpful for you
40:58um in terms of thinking of a question or
41:00maybe a scenario that you've been in
41:02so um i'm just gonna read it out and
41:04i'll talk it through
41:05i'm the esl teacher and i'm concerned
41:07about student aid's progress in my class
41:09and the student's core classes
41:10but i'm not sure if student needs a
41:12referral for evaluation or not
41:14when i approached the other teachers and
41:15or special education coordinator they
41:17told me that we should wait longer to
41:19see how student progresses
41:20when i told them i think we need to
41:21discuss this more i was shut down how
41:23should i proceed so that we are making
41:25sure to fully support the student
41:27so i want to first point out that it is
41:30really
41:30hard um and um difficult
41:34any time anyone is shut down right any
41:36time someone says like
41:37just leave it like either you know just
41:40uh
41:40wait and see like don't worry about it
41:43any of those things is not
41:44not having our voices validated um or
41:46heard particularly when we are trying to
41:48advocate for a student
41:50is is really just very hard and i want
41:52to point that out um
41:53and so when someone is in a situation
41:56like this
41:57oftentimes what i will say is that
42:00again i know i've said this a bunch of
42:02times today but like the idea of being
42:03curious like why am i being shut down
42:05right are it am i being shut down
42:07because
42:08the special education team is super
42:10overwhelmed and they can't handle
42:12another case right now
42:13um and um and therefore now i need to
42:17think about like
42:17how can i make sure this kid still gets
42:19those services um am i being shut down
42:21because
42:22um maybe there's some bias there right
42:24so um
42:26oftentimes as human beings our gut our
42:28reaction right the gut reaction is
42:30we just want to react right um and um
42:33i urge everyone in this type of
42:35situation especially because it is so
42:37complex
42:38um and sensitive depending on what the
42:40culture is
42:41in your school is to take that step back
42:43and think for a minute of
42:45um like why was i shut down here um in
42:48terms of proceeding
42:49to fully support the kid the the data
42:52piece
42:53is really very important in terms of
42:56advocating for a kid right so if you see
42:58that student a
42:59uh you're concerned about their progress
43:01right so then the question is like paul
43:03what what are you concerned about is it
43:05that you're concerned about certain
43:07progress let's say in
43:08writing reading speaking um listening um
43:11and how are you showing that data that
43:13you're concerned
43:14right so it is possible i've seen and
43:16heard this before uh special education
43:18coordinators would be like i don't know
43:19i have teachers come to me all the time
43:20and tell me they're concerned about this
43:22student
43:22right um and so being able to say listen
43:26uh here are my concerns here's why i
43:28have these concerns here's how i've
43:31paid attention to these concerns or
43:32here's how i've addressed these concerns
43:35and this is why even as a result of that
43:37i'm still concerned
43:39uh what do we need to do to move forward
43:41um
43:42and that's right like kind of that next
43:44step next
43:45step of thinking about how am i going to
43:47make sure that this kid is really
43:48uh getting the pro you know making
43:50progress and getting the attention that
43:52they deserve
43:54scenario two i'm the esl teacher or
43:56special education coordinator i have a
43:57couple teachers who have approached me
43:59about referring some of their
43:59multilingual students for special
44:01education
44:02when i asked what makes them say that
44:03they told me their students quote don't
44:05do anything
44:05or quote can't read in english i already
44:08know these teachers have biases towards
44:09the multilingual learners how do i make
44:11sure these students are supported and
44:13discuss these requests in a sensitive
44:15manner
44:15um i have been the special education
44:18coordinator
44:19when this has happened so i do speak
44:22from experience
44:23uh from this uh and i also want to point
44:25out how
44:26uh difficult it can be and hard it can
44:28be when you already know that teachers
44:29are coming to you
44:30right whether you're the esl teacher or
44:33the special education coordinator
44:34um or whatever role a coach anything
44:36right there or admin that you play in
44:38the building and someone is already
44:39coming to and just saying well they
44:40can't read in english so they should be
44:41referred
44:42um for for an evaluation for special
44:45education and i think
44:46that it's really important uh to
44:49recognize
44:50that in order to move the needle a
44:53little bit um
44:54any conversation that we're going to
44:55have around these kids
44:57and to fully support them means that we
44:59need to that we do need to be sensitive
45:01we need to think about
45:02what is this uh what is the way that i
45:04can approach this conversation
45:06so um is for example if i'm the special
45:10ed teacher a special ed uh let's say
45:11either teacher or coordinator
45:13um or the esl teacher right um is there
45:16uh someone on the admin team or another
45:19teacher that could act kind of like as a
45:21moderator
45:21uh for us to be able to sit down and
45:23have this conversation about why
45:25they think that uh is there someone on
45:27the team who can help us facilitate a
45:29conversation
45:30around what it means to say don't do
45:32anything right or can't read in english
45:33what are your expectations right
45:35um is there a way for me to preempt
45:37right this type of scenario and go to
45:39let's say admin and say listen
45:40i really want to make sure that this
45:42doesn't happen this year or
45:44i've noticed uh some of the teachers
45:47speaking this way could we please figure
45:49out a way
45:50to do some reading as a team some
45:53professional development
45:54you know as a team uh and what that
45:56looks like and and here's why and here
45:58are my concerns and because
45:59this is what's typical um i want to
46:01point out that
46:03none of this is easy right uh when you
46:05are working in a certain culture that
46:06may not support
46:08uh or particularly our multilingual
46:10learners um
46:12it is definitely challenging um and
46:14making sure to think about
46:16really who are the characters here what
46:17is the culture here and how am i going
46:19to move the needle a little bit because
46:22that lasting change is not going to
46:23generally happen overnight it starts
46:25it's just not and so we need to think
46:27about how we're going to have those
46:28conversations in a sensitive way
46:30um and make it very clear to them that
46:33uh
46:34that don't do anything uh means that the
46:37right there's a breakdown i'm sorry
46:38there's a breakdown somewhere of
46:42uh like why aren't they receiving the
46:43instruction that they should be
46:44receiving right are the supports there's
46:46you know they need to be receiving uh
46:48what does it mean when you say they
46:49can't read in english right
46:50um what is that teacher doing but
46:51instead of attacking them how do we make
46:53sure to have these conversations
46:55so that they're actually effective and
46:57supportive of everyone
46:59and for this scenario uh one of my
47:02students is new to the country and came
47:03from their country with an iep
47:05the student also has had some
47:07interrupted formal education when i
47:09approached the special education
47:10coordinator about ensuring there was a
47:11system in place
47:13to ensure the student received an iep in
47:14our school i was told that wasn't
47:16possible
47:16because the student has interrupted
47:18formal education how do i make sure the
47:19student receives the proper services
47:22i would like to be very clear when i say
47:24that if a student comes into your
47:25schools with an iep
47:27from their home country they should be
47:29getting an iep
47:30in the united states i recognize that
47:32depending on where they were depending
47:34on where they went to school depending
47:35on
47:36so many factors that is also complex but
47:39to deny a child who was given an iep
47:41in their home country in iep in the
47:43united states just because
47:45that there was some interrupted or
47:47limited education in some form
47:49is uh is really not equitable
47:52it's not um appropriate because what
47:55you're what we you're you're basically
47:57negating right we are negating
48:00um what was very clear right in their
48:03home country
48:04um and so it's really important that we
48:07take that into account
48:08i recognize that there will be those who
48:10say but look at idea it specifically
48:12says that if they've had interrupted
48:14education they cannot
48:15get an iep um and i think this is where
48:19the advocating and the being sensitive
48:21also part comes in um
48:24and and recognizing that in general
48:27people want to do
48:28right we hold the belief we we really
48:30want to support our kids
48:32right everyone wants to support the kids
48:33in the school and in the same way that
48:35like
48:35we every teacher quite honestly is a
48:38language teacher
48:38right that everyone here is also um
48:42a teacher to make sure that they get
48:43services they need i haven't figured out
48:45to put that in a nice compact way yet
48:46right but like
48:47we're all we're all here to make sure
48:49kids get their services they need so if
48:51a student comes in with an iep
48:53from their school and then had
48:54interrupted education in some form for
48:56some reason
48:57they should really still be getting that
48:58iep now what that evaluation
49:00looks like in terms of collecting
49:04um classroom data um how long do you
49:06wait that
49:07those are really different questions and
49:09that is again really really case by case
49:11by case
49:12but um even if a student comes in for
49:14example that they had an iep
49:16at at let's say i don't know seven years
49:19old in their home country and then
49:20didn't go to school for a couple of
49:21years and then let's say came here
49:23so then we really need to think like
49:24well why was that student given an iep
49:26in their home country and
49:27shouldn't we already start this process
49:29um and i want to make sure to point out
49:31here and then um i'll leave question uh
49:34time for questions is that just because
49:35you start the referral process for
49:37special education does not mean that a
49:39student will definitely get
49:41um an iep it doesn't mean for sure that
49:43part of the referral process that
49:45kind of has been lost along the way is
49:47that curious piece of like
49:48something here doesn't seem like it's
49:51making sense to me or i'm concerned
49:53about this
49:53um let me be curious uh let let's
49:56explore here so
49:58i just want to be clear that it just
50:00because a child has an
50:02evaluation doesn't mean they're
50:02necessarily eligible for special
50:05education
50:05um but that a student uh
50:08in order to make sure that kids are
50:10receiving their proper services
50:12we really need to work as a team we are
50:15we are a village we are a team we are a
50:17community every school
50:19uh should be looking at the iep process
50:21particularly for our multilingual
50:22learners
50:23in that way there is not going to be one
50:25assessment
50:26one evaluation that determines whether a
50:28student again particularly a
50:30multilingual student
50:31um uh it you know should have an iep
50:35or should be considered in special
50:36education by the way
50:38students who are not multilingual
50:39learners go through several different
50:41tests several different evaluations it's
50:43not just for example
50:44one evaluation and so too with our
50:46multilingual learners
50:47and we really need to see it as a team
50:49that everyone here is part of the
50:50process
50:51everyone here is part of the team and
50:53when we view it that way of how we can
50:55see this as like you know we all are
50:58working in this together
50:59that's how we really make sure that the
51:00kids are receiving their proper supports
51:03and what questions do you all have i'm
51:06here
51:07to answer them oh yes we have questions
51:11so we will uh we will get to those let
51:14me
51:15um share with you who is coming up next
51:17week yes
51:19and then we will get to the question so
51:21while you are um
51:22listening to what's coming up next week
51:24if you have any questions go ahead and
51:26submit those in the q a area
51:28right now or in the midst of collecting
51:30collecting those
51:31so next week we will have tina being
51:33visiting with us from silence education
51:35and she
51:36will be discussing the power of writing
51:38and social studies
51:39um this is another topic that we that
51:41seems to come back around every now and
51:43then which is
51:44i'm a content area teacher i have
51:46english learners in my classroom
51:48uh we need to write we need to engage
51:50with texts you know what are some things
51:52i can do
51:53to to help with that and so tina is
51:55going to come to
51:56share some writing strategies and that
51:59are obviously going to be great for all
52:00students not just your english learners
52:02so please do join us for that you will
52:04receive an email prompting you to
52:05register or you can register on our
52:06website
52:08just a reminder that saddleback digital
52:10now exists if you need high-low books on
52:13in a digital format we have that for you
52:15and there is an on-demand webinar
52:17available on
52:18our youtube channel for you to find out
52:20more information about that
52:21or simply reach out to us we'll be happy
52:23to give you more information
52:25all right let's jump into some of these
52:27questions
52:29all right so right now i have let's
52:32let's just get the
52:32the easy ones out of the way we had a
52:34couple that were
52:36about the book that you were showing
52:37supporting english learners in the
52:39classroom
52:40yes we need to know who is the author of
52:42that book because i didn't quite catch
52:43it on your slide
52:44okay one second i'm actually going to
52:46pull it out of the stack that my
52:47computer is on and show it to you
52:50um it's erica's and julie esparza brown
52:54um it's really uh
52:57great hold on let me just make sure this
52:58computer doesn't fall now okay
53:01yeah um is it easier if i do that julie
53:04esparza brown and eric hoss okay i want
53:07to see if i can put that in the chat
53:10for people because we had a couple of
53:11questions on that so
53:13yeah that um it was
53:16eric haas yeah
53:19and julie esparza
53:23brown there you go yeah great resource
53:26okay yes yes i
53:28go to it over and over
53:31so we yeah so we had two questions on
53:34that they love the quote
53:36uh and we knew this question was going
53:37to come up which was
53:39what is the best way to assess a student
53:40if there is no one to do bilingual
53:42testing in a low incidence language this
53:44is something we were discussing right
53:46before the webinar um
53:47is there a simple answer to this if
53:49we're evaluating and testing
53:51shouldn't we be doing it in the native
53:52language is not always possible like how
53:54do we handle that
53:56yeah that we liz and i were yes
53:58literally discussing that right before
54:00we got on
54:01um it this is this is a really really
54:05really complex topic that i you know i
54:08wish i had
54:09a very clear-cut better answer for um
54:12four languages that we either do not
54:15have readily available
54:16um assessments uh for whatever reason
54:20um your next really best bet is
54:24is the target language whatever target
54:25language that is now
54:27um i do want to point out that for
54:29students let's say who may be coming
54:30from countries where they speak a
54:32language
54:33um and then we're um uh what's called
54:36we're instructed in another language in
54:38school
54:39right so then you you may if you can for
54:41example
54:42evaluate in that language right so
54:44that's kind of that would be your next
54:46bridge depending on what the language is
54:48um
54:49but um that's where we also obviously we
54:53need to be really
54:54really cognizant and careful um about
54:57evaluating uh because if we can't do it
55:00in their
55:01in their home language um it's not
55:04we don't get a full accurate picture of
55:07uh
55:07whether or not the student needs to be
55:09referred for special education
55:11or even it within the special education
55:13testing
55:14um it's really very hard to determine
55:17uh whether or not the student should
55:19have an iep uh
55:21whether they do have a learning
55:22disability um and so
55:24uh it from a legal standpoint uh
55:27generally uh from in state law it will
55:30say that if a student
55:31is has shown that they are proficient in
55:34english on certain levels
55:36that you can or should at least do some
55:39testing in
55:40english um if they are not you're
55:41supposed to be able to access the native
55:43language the home language
55:45um if you really really can't
55:48then again your best bet is to use um
55:52is to use uh english but um i would say
55:55like
55:56the way kind of around that is um
55:59to the beauty of the online world is
56:03that you can often find
56:05not every every language but you can
56:06often find resources
56:08within um like kind of more uh
56:11low incidence languages that we find in
56:13schools and to even
56:15try and use those as resources to to get
56:18to read with them and listen to them
56:19right so
56:20um a student who is reading proficiently
56:22within their
56:23language versus a student who is
56:24struggling to read in their language
56:26with what would be considered kind of a
56:28more basic text would already give you
56:29some information about that student even
56:31if it's not an official
56:33let's say like a special education
56:34evaluation
56:37thank you sherry doyle i'm i'm calling
56:40out sherry specifically because i
56:41she put a question in the q a and i
56:42accidentally marked it as answered when
56:44we didn't answer it so sherry we're
56:45going to get your question right now
56:46because i don't want you to think that i
56:48was you know
56:50trying to push your question aside
56:52definitely not so sherry wanted to know
56:54um are there any informal assessments
56:56available to spot check a level of an
56:58eld student
57:00um just to clarify when you say a level
57:04of
57:04like meaning in english language
57:06proficiency or reading
57:07as i read it i'm thinking language
57:09proficiency that's how i read it
57:12okay um so this is definitely complex
57:15because you've got
57:17right within language proficiency we've
57:18got reading writing listening speaking
57:20so um i'm gonna go with reading assume
57:23are we gonna
57:23all right let's go with reading okay
57:25let's go with reading okay um
57:27if you're thinking about just kind of
57:28like like easy
57:30quick kind of spot checks again this
57:32really depends on grade level
57:35uh if you're thinking about let's say
57:36like reading foundations you definitely
57:38you have
57:39if you like to type into google there
57:41are free assessments online
57:43that go through uh you know foundational
57:46reading skills
57:47that can give you a sense of how a
57:49student is doing
57:51um the there are if you again type into
57:54google like
57:56reading proficiency assessments you will
57:58also find things that you definitely
58:00want to be careful of for example uh
58:01background knowledge right so if you
58:03assess a student uh to try and
58:05understand whether they're struggling
58:06with reading comprehension and
58:08you give something based on um like
58:11something that they would have not known
58:12the topic about then
58:13obviously that they're going to struggle
58:14in that area so it definitely you want
58:16to think about that in terms of
58:17assessment
58:18so it kind of it depends on it depends
58:20on what you're trying to spot check i
58:21would say but there are if you're
58:22looking for like
58:23you know phonemic awareness phonics
58:26those types of reading foundational
58:27skills there are
58:28uh definitely assessments online that
58:31that you can
58:32turn to that will let you like have a
58:33student just kind of like
58:35read through what are essentially the
58:37way they do it is through word lists
58:39that all
58:39are under the same uh same skill
58:43um and then if a student is really
58:44struggling for example like with that
58:46one skill so that already tells you
58:47something
58:47about uh let's say they're reading how
58:50they're uh
58:52how they're progressing i could not
58:53think the word progressing how they're
58:55progressing
58:56um in their english reading thank you
58:58now we had
58:59um i'm i have about three questions here
59:01that i'm going to bundle together
59:02because they seem to be resource
59:04specific um and i i guess
59:07the the the general approach to these
59:10questions together would be like is
59:11there a place we can
59:13uh go to kind of is there like a
59:16clearinghouse or something for for
59:18some of these resources where i can go
59:19get information so the first one is
59:22do you have a resource to help aid
59:23teachers in putting individualized
59:26linguistic and cultural accommodations
59:28in ieps so that's one um and then
59:32lisa wanted to know about resources or
59:35ideas
59:36um for rti specifically for ells as
59:40we're thinking about going through
59:41through the process so um i i don't know
59:45i'm not asking you to like endorse any
59:47like you know company or product and
59:49or something like that but is there like
59:51a a place
59:53you can direct people to find
59:54information and feedback on things that
59:56are out there
59:56so they can find what might work for
59:58their specific situation because every
59:59situation is unique there's not one
1:00:01particular resource that's going to you
1:00:04know
1:00:04solve every um situation right so
1:00:08yes um yeah this is definitely
1:00:13these are very i mean they're really
1:00:14important questions they're just like
1:00:15big questions you know
1:00:16big questions yeah they're big questions
1:00:18yes um
1:00:19so the first thing i'll say is in terms
1:00:21of like the iep
1:00:23the i the iep really needs to be
1:00:26more updated in terms for our
1:00:28multilingual students right like
1:00:30there needs to be more um
1:00:33there i would say like it's almost like
1:00:35they need like another
1:00:36like form within there uh for kind of
1:00:39like those
1:00:40cultural linguistic um like targets uh
1:00:44things to be aware of
1:00:45um um uh goals i would say
1:00:48um so i personally have not seen
1:00:52like one specific area i don't know if
1:00:55there are people like writing in the
1:00:56chat right now maybe they would know
1:00:57from what they've seen
1:00:58i haven't seen like one specific um
1:01:02i don't know anyone book or anything uh
1:01:04that has said like
1:01:06here is a list of like that you can pull
1:01:09from um in the same way that you see
1:01:11let's say for like reading or
1:01:12or writing um you know um
1:01:16and yeah i mean i i would say that a lot
1:01:19of it comes
1:01:20like like i use that book that i showed
1:01:22um as a reference it doesn't tell you
1:01:24for example like here are the goals that
1:01:27you should be setting or whatever it is
1:01:29but it like
1:01:30gives you all the things that you need
1:01:31to be aware of the other uh
1:01:33book that i actually um it's on this
1:01:36list somewhere also that i the jeanette
1:01:38klinger books she has a bunch of charts
1:01:40uh in her book that i i found very
1:01:43useful
1:01:44uh that breaks down like uh
1:01:48things you need to be aware of from a
1:01:49linguistic perspective as well as
1:01:50cultural perspective in terms
1:01:52of like uh what you should think of and
1:01:54then if the student is struggling with
1:01:55this kind of
1:01:57shouldn't really say it is a goal but
1:01:58like kind of where you would expect them
1:02:00to be
1:02:00so um yes name of the book one second
1:02:03i'm trying to find it i definitely
1:02:05ah here we go i have it in this stack
1:02:08um it's uh why do english language
1:02:11learners struggle with reading
1:02:16um so uh
1:02:20this is also a very useful um book
1:02:22because she
1:02:23like really takes it through um like
1:02:26different assessment like the different
1:02:27tiers she goes through the whole
1:02:29rti uh different tiers what you should
1:02:31be thinking of she puts it in
1:02:32charts so i use that those two books are
1:02:35i would say like my biggest references
1:02:37when it comes to
1:02:38multi-label learners um and special
1:02:40education i have others but
1:02:42those are two big ones for me yeah we
1:02:43have way more questions coming in then
1:02:45we'll be able to get to at this point in
1:02:46time i do have
1:02:48one more that um it's it's actually
1:02:51really really important and
1:02:52beth thank you for chiming in to um help
1:02:55me focus on this question because i
1:02:57think you're right it is
1:02:57super important that skeleton is with us
1:02:59today so hi beth
1:03:01um yeah these are i mean you can see how
1:03:04this could easily be like a three-hour
1:03:05session if not like a 50-day
1:03:07session right there's there's so many
1:03:09questions coming in
1:03:11um so um everybody who
1:03:14has submitted a question that that we
1:03:16don't get to live
1:03:17we will get to you i will make sure to
1:03:19accumulate your
1:03:20questions and make sure that orly gets
1:03:22them and together we will kind of tag
1:03:24team to make sure that you get the
1:03:25answers that you need
1:03:26but tiffany asked um what do you say
1:03:30when it's said that students can't
1:03:32double dip for services
1:03:34meaning esl and resource or that
1:03:36resource minutes supersede language
1:03:38services
1:03:39so um tiffany says i know students can
1:03:41legally receive both services but how do
1:03:43we have that conversation
1:03:44in a respectful way yeah very very
1:03:47important question
1:03:48oh such an important question yes um
1:03:51okay um this is one of those types of
1:03:54conversations like i said that
1:03:56you definitely want to talk out with
1:03:58someone first
1:03:59um because it can go in a lot of
1:04:01different ways
1:04:02um the idea of even kind of like dipple
1:04:07double dipping for services um
1:04:11really like negates that student's
1:04:14experience
1:04:15as both a multilingual learner and as a
1:04:17child who's
1:04:18right been like dual uh dual um
1:04:21recognized dual um
1:04:22identified right so that
1:04:26child is legal legally right should be
1:04:29given
1:04:29is has the right to all of those
1:04:32services and
1:04:33should be given um all of those services
1:04:36when it comes to having that
1:04:37conversation um
1:04:40and i know i said this like a bunch of
1:04:41times throughout the webinar about like
1:04:42being curious like
1:04:44honestly my first question would be to
1:04:46anyone who says that is like
1:04:48what what like what is bringing on
1:04:52right that comment right like why is
1:04:54someone
1:04:55why are we like thinking that either one
1:04:58takes precedent over the other
1:05:00why are we mentioning that i i would say
1:05:02like that's kind of my first
1:05:04my like gut reaction is like why why why
1:05:08someone like almost saying like they
1:05:09shouldn't be getting those services
1:05:11um as kind of my first uh
1:05:15thought um i think in terms of having
1:05:17that the respectful
1:05:19having it in a sensitive and respectful
1:05:21way is
1:05:22to sensitively show them
1:05:25um that the student needs both those
1:05:28services right so like
1:05:29it's like is there a reason why we would
1:05:33say that a student
1:05:35shouldn't receive those services like
1:05:37the student is a multilingual learner
1:05:39right so meaning the student needs those
1:05:41services so it's like
1:05:42let's imagine what it would be like to
1:05:43take away those services right and
1:05:46i'm sure many of you have seen like even
1:05:48pds where it's like you have to like
1:05:49like the other person
1:05:51is speaking in a different language and
1:05:52it's like really hard to understand
1:05:54what's going on because let's say you
1:05:55don't speak that language
1:05:56so like if we took away those services
1:05:58it's like let's let's get the other
1:05:59person
1:06:00in the shoes of this of the of the child
1:06:02right of what that means
1:06:04and then what if we took away those
1:06:05services or we made one service like
1:06:07more important than the other service
1:06:09um and i think so
1:06:13i think part of the having those
1:06:14conversations in a sensitive way
1:06:16is helping the adults to see what it is
1:06:19to be that child and in the same way
1:06:21that it's like really really
1:06:23hard um for like someone who's literate
1:06:26to possibly understand what it means to
1:06:29not be literate it's really hard to
1:06:31understand like if you
1:06:33are a dual identified student
1:06:36um how challenging that could possibly
1:06:39be
1:06:40um and so my approach to that is really
1:06:43um working with them to show them what
1:06:46it's like for that kid
1:06:47and why they not just from a legal
1:06:49standpoint because sometimes that like
1:06:50shuts people down when you're like
1:06:52this is their legal right but showing
1:06:54them
1:06:55um like how this is what it means to
1:06:58support this kid this is what they're
1:06:59experiencing
1:07:00um let's like show compassion and
1:07:02empathy and let's get you to understand
1:07:04what it's like for this kid
1:07:05um so that we can uh show you how
1:07:08important
1:07:08both these services are and how one
1:07:10isn't above the other and we have to
1:07:11work as a team to make sure they
1:07:13are getting the appropriate services for
1:07:15the amount of time that they
1:07:17are that they are legally deserving of
1:07:19that right um
1:07:20and that they should be should be
1:07:21getting all those services
1:07:23very very complicated questions today
1:07:26and
1:07:28we are about out of time but i want
1:07:30everybody to know who submitted into the
1:07:31q a
1:07:32um the um like julie
1:07:35and adalia and sarah we see your
1:07:39questions we just don't have time to get
1:07:40to them live but we will make sure that
1:07:42we
1:07:42um email you uh and and try to get you
1:07:45point you in the right direction that
1:07:47goes for everybody else
1:07:48who submitted questions and we thank you
1:07:49so much for your participation today
1:07:51and uh for your your interest and again
1:07:54let's go back to this word curiosity
1:07:56um the fact that we all took time out of
1:07:59our day today to come here
1:08:00and learn to how we can do better and be
1:08:03better for
1:08:03our multilingual learners and make sure
1:08:05that we are getting the right
1:08:07plan in place for them i mean it's it's
1:08:09a wonderful thing and i just commend
1:08:10all of you for taking the time to be
1:08:12here and and ask these questions so
1:08:14we'll do our part to make sure we get
1:08:15you what you need
1:08:17um thank you so much for joining us uh
1:08:19please
1:08:20find us on whatever your favorite social
1:08:22media platform is we are there
1:08:24and we are happy to connect with you and
1:08:26just a big thank you
1:08:28to everybody who joined us today for all
1:08:31that you do and to orly i mean for
1:08:32putting this together i mean
1:08:33what a massive task this is like i said
1:08:35our third third webinar on our topic
1:08:38check out our youtube channel we have
1:08:39two other multilingual and special ed
1:08:41related
1:08:42webinars and our presenters for those
1:08:44other webinars they worked
1:08:45i mean you could it's a passion project
1:08:48in a sense like making sure people have
1:08:50this information
1:08:51and there's so many different angles so
1:08:53um this is not the end for you you can
1:08:54definitely check out our other webinars
1:08:56and orley
1:08:57thank you so much amazing job and we'll
1:09:00see everybody next week
1:09:01take care thanks everyone

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