Assessment of ELLs.
Dr. Lorraine Valdez Pierce discusses the effective classrooms strategies for assessing English language learners.

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The George Washington University’s Distance Learning Program Spring 2011 Online Course

  

The George Washington University's bilingual special education online distance program is now accepting applications for:

 

• 18 credit hour graduate certificate and
• 45 credit hour MA in Bilingual Special Education for the Spring 2011 semester. 

For more information please contact Tara Courchaine at taratez@gwu.edu and visit our website at http://www.gwu.edu/learn/

 

 

Comprehensive Assessment and Evaluation of Students With Learning Disabilities, A Paper Prepared by the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities, June 2010
The National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD) strongly supports comprehensive assessment and evaluation of students with learning disabilities by a multidisciplinary team for the identification and diagnosis of students with learning disabilities.
Sensitivity to cultural and linguistic diversity in assessments and assessment procedures is another factor that is receiving attention in reading and literacy research.

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English Language Learners With Reading Disabilities: A Review of the Literature

and the Foundation for a Research Agenda, Jane R. Shore & John Sabatini, May 2009

 

The issue of identifying reading difficulties and disabilities in English language learners (ELLs) is a complex one. It is an area that draws on the diverse disciplines of first- and second-language acquisition, literacy, English language learning, and reading, including differences and disabilities research. This literature review aims to synthesize the research that aims to address the topic, focusing on the following three questions:

1.      How does one identify reading difficulties/disabilities (RD) in individuals who are learning the English language?

2.      What needs to be done to aid in identifying RD in ELLs?

3.      What does one do with this information

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Distinguishing Differences From Disability : The Common Causes of Racial /Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education 

by Edward Fergus

 Are there too many students of color in special education at your school?
Does the pattern continue in spite of your efforts to make change?

The Equity Alliance at ASU 's newest publication in our Equity in Action series:  Distinguishing Difference from Disability can help you to identify the root causes of placement patterns.

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Professional Learning for Culturally Responsive Teaching
King, Artiles,Kozleski, Arizona State University, April 2009

Professional learning for culturally responsive teaching has the potential to address achievement gaps across ethnic groups and disproportionate representation in special education for students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. This brief has a twofold purpose: (a) to demonstrate the need for rethinking current approaches to professional learning and (b) to provide guidelines for professional learning for culturally responsive teaching, as well as research-supported examples of schools and districts engaged in this process.

A Cultural, Linguistic, and Ecological Framework for Response to Intervention with English Language Learners
Brown,Doolittle, March 2008

Looking through the lens of culturally responsive practice, we consider how best to implement Response to Intervention (RTI) in a way that will provide equitable educational opportunity for students who are English Language Learners.

Building Collaboration Between Schools and Parents of English Language Learners: Transcending Barriers, Creating Opportunities
Waterman,Harry - May 2008

Schools that support meaningful parent involvement have higher levels of student achievement, improved school attendance, higher graduation rates, larger enrollment in post-secondary education and students with positive attitudes about school (e.g., August Hakuta, 1997; Henderson Berla, 1994).  read more ...