RTI for ELL/SEL/EAL Students

RTI for English Language Learners

Dr. Catherine [email protected]

Alphabet Soup!• ADD• CLD• CLDE• EL• ELD• ELL• ESL

IDIEPLEPLDNNESELSLD

The Bottom Line

CLD/LEP must be able to participate effectively (at or near peer) in all

programs and content areas.

Definitions

• The concept of things that particular people use as models of perceiving, relating, and interpreting their environment.

• The process by which individuals perceive, relate to, and interpret their environment.

• Difficulty in perceiving and manipulating patterns in the environment, whether patterns of sounds, symbols, numbers, or behaviors.

• Culture • Cognition• Learning Disability

But avoid stereotyping!

• Sometimes it is easier to understand culturally diverse families in terms of group attributes. But individual families are constantly negotiating their identity and their culture within their peer groups and their community culture is not static.

Stereotypes• Racism & cultural bias

– Lazy, slacker– Always trying to get out of

work– Much smarter/capable than

others• Ableism

– Holding up traffic– Taking attention away from

others– Always trying to get out of

work

Stereotypes continued• Language & dialect

– Not as intelligent– Doesn’t want to learn to read– If she can’t speak, she

doesn’t understand what I am saying

• Expectations

Expectations

• Colleges• K-12 schools• Resettlement Services

Expectations

• Community• Families

Yes or No? Are These Disabilities?• Use of words with incorrect meaning.• Incorrect use of plural.• Lack of enunciation of apostrophes and “s”

to indicate possession.• Use of incorrect referent-pronoun

agreement.• Incorrect use of articles and incorrect

agreement with noun.• Omission of preposition and use of “in”

when “on” is needed, etc.• Incorrect word order or verb misplaced.

So, what do you think?

Disability - Legality

• Disability cannot be measured solely on the ability to do certain tasks.

• Disability depends also on the ease with which they perform activities that are of central importance to most people’s daily lives.

• The disability must also be permanent or long-lasting.

O’Conner, U.S. Supreme Court (2002)

K-12 US Concerns• Are academic growth rates comparable between ELL and

non-ELL populations?• Can they ever test out of ESL if they are Sped?• How do you know the difference between a language barrier

and a language disability? What are the signs of each and how are they different?

• Can ELL students receive help from both resource and ELL programs?

Disproportionality for EAL/ELL 2010

• Underrepresented in special education overall

• Overrepresented in specific categories:– Speech/language

Impairments (SI)– Learning Disabilities (LD)– LD/SI combination

source: 2010 MSP/HSPE Student W file

All students testing Not ELL ELLNo Disabilities 87% 82%Disability identified 13% 18%Total Number of Students 565,368 39,651 Special Education Identified Not ELL ELL01 Developmental Delays 0% 1%02 Emotional-Behavioral 5% 1%03 Orthopedic Impairment 0% 0%04 Health Impairment 23% 7%05 Specific Learning Disability 44% 71%06 Mental Retardation 4% 4%07 Multiple Disabilities 2% 0%08 Deafness 0% 0%09 Hearing Impairment 1% 1%10 Visual Impairment 0% 0%11 Deaf-Blindness 0% 0%12 Communication Disorders 14% 13%13 Autism 6% 1%14 Traumatic Brain Injury 0% 0%Total 100% 100%Number Special Ed Students 75,102 7,243

Not ELL ELL

12.9%

5.8%

Percent of Total Students Identified as SLDs

True or False?

• Students in English immersion programs are referred at higher rates than those in bilingual programs.

True or False?

• ELLs whose parents have opted out of ESOL are the most likely to be referred and placed in Special Education.

THE BASICS OF BEING HUMAN Sensory abilities, linguistic wiring, genetic and biologic

heritage, innate abilities, etc.

ENCULTURATIONPerceptions, social and behavior patterns,

language, values, etc. learned from caregivers.

ACCULTURATIONPerceptions, social & behavior patterns,

language, etc. learned from interaction with new group(s).

INDIVIDUALUnique experiences,

insights, personal reflections.

Ways we are less like other people.

Ways we are more like other

people.

Common Side-Effects Of the Acculturation Process

Heightened AnxietyConfusion in Locus of ControlWithdrawalSilence/unresponsivenessResponse FatigueCode-switchingDistractibilityResistance to ChangeDisorientationStress Related Behaviors

The Intensity of CultureShock is Cyclical

AnticipationPhase

SpectatorPhase

IncreasingParticipationPhase

ShockPhase

AdaptationPhase

AnticipationPhase

SpectatorPhase

IncreasingParticipationPhase

ShockPhase

AdaptationPhase

Highly Engaged Level

ModeratelyEngagedLevel

Normal Intensity of Emotions

ModeratelyDepressedLevel

Greatly Depressed Level

Why do they do that?Error in English Possessive forms

• No marker for possessive forms: “my friend’s house”– “house my friend”

• Avoid use of ‘s to describe possession: “my sister’s children”– “the children of my

sister”

Non English language

• Khmer, Vietnamese– A noun’s owner comes after

the object

• Navajo, Apache– Only specific things can be

“possessed” or “owned”

• Hmong, Spanish, Tagalog– Use of a prepositional

phrase to express possession reflects a more common structure

True or False?

• Parents of CLD students, with and without exceptionalities, should speak with their children at home in English in order to increase the child’s exposure to the second language.

True or False?

• Students with special needs cannot learn two (or more) languages.

True or False?• Acquiring more than one

language is “difficult” and can lead to academic problems. For this reason, all energy should be spent on having CLD students focus on English, and further natal language development should be halted.

Five Things that Work in Intervention for EL

1. Adequate Professional Knowledge

2. Effective Instruction3. Valid Assessments &

Interventions4. Collaboration Between

District Departments5. Clear Policies

7 Steps for Separating Difference & Disability

Step 1 Building & Sustaining a Foundation for LearningStep 2 Establishing & Supporting ResiliencyStep 3 Instructional Intervention & Differentiated InstructionStep 4 Intensive Intervention & Progress MonitoringStep 5 Resolution or ReferralStep 6 Integrated Services & Cross-cultural IEPsStep 7 Maintaining Staff & Programs Serving CLDE

Literacy Readiness Skills

Oral Proficiency L1

PRISIM: Pyramid of Resilience, Instruction, Strategies, Intervention, & Monitoring

Learning created with building blocks for success

PRISIM: Building the Foundation of the Pyramid

Systems & policies promote and sustain:

• Access to safety, food, clothing, & shelter

• Quality preparation of effective education professionals & support staff

• Adequacy of school facilities & resources

• Consistent use of culturally & linguistically responsive, evidence-based practices

• Supportive responsive relationships

• Other effective practices & procedures

True or False?

School districts are required to provide information to parents of ELL students in their home language even if they are not literate in that language.

PRISIM Application Step 1

Building & Sustaining a Foundation for Learning

What will you have in your foundation?1. Personnel2. Families3. Programs4. Resources5. Processes

True or False?

LEP students cannot be referred for special education services if they are limited English proficient.

What we recommend for Step 21. Identify student’s home language proficiency & use to

support academic interventions.2. Measure student’s level of acculturation to school and use

to implement appropriate instruction & intervention.3. Measure the student’s ‘classroom language’ in all

communication modes & use to design appropriate instruction & intervention.

4. Develop a resiliency & cognitive learning profile useful in implementing effective instruction & intervention.

5. Implement strength based instruction & language support.6. Monitor effectiveness of instruction & intervention.


Establishing & Supporting Resiliency

How will you facilitate resiliency in your students?1. Personnel2. Families3. Programs4. Resources5. Processes

Specific Needs

_____________

_____________

_____________

_____________

_____________

____________

_____________

Doesn’t get work in = Self checklist

Does not take time to think

Cannot organize tasks

Makes noises to distract

Says it’s no use to do work

Does not initiate work

Confuses English & Spanish phonemes

= “STOP” strategies

= Graphic organizers

= Guided practice

= Self concept activities

= Active processing

= Compare & contrast, rhymes, games

= Specific Strategies

What we recommend for Step 31. Implement specific strength & need based interventions that

facilitate learning.2. Monitor effectiveness of instruction & intervention strategies.

Modify based upon student’s response to the strategy.3. Monitor effectiveness of instruction and intervention in relation to

student’s home language proficiency.4. Monitor student’s level & rate of acculturation to school & the

effectiveness of instruction & intervention to facilitate.5. Monitor the student’s ‘classroom language’ in all communication

modes & the appropriateness of instruction & intervention to expand.

6. Monitor resiliency & cognitive learning & effectiveness of instruction & intervention.


Instructional Intervention & Differentiated Instruction

How will you differentiate instruction & intervention?1. Personnel2. Families3. Programs4. Resources5. Processes

What we recommend for Step 41. Determine if the rate & level of acculturation to school is normal &

analyze pattern of response to intervention & instruction.2. Determine if language gains are normal & analyze pattern of language

acquisition. 3. Determine if student response to interventions & modification patterns

resolve problems & are sustainable.4. Implement & monitor short cycle tightly focused “unanswered” needs

based intervention. 5. Monitor the response & effectiveness of intervention.


Intensive Intervention & Progress Monitoring

How will you monitor student progress?1. Personnel2. Families3. Programs4. Resources5. Processes

What we recommend for Step 5After a formal referral:1. Crosscultural evaluation based upon the outcomes of the instructional

intervention2. Test Evaluation Checklist3. CrossCultural Administration of Standardized Tests

If the student is eligible for SE & ESL services:4. Integrated plan of services.5. Cross-cultural IEP.6. Continued language and acculturation support.If the student is not eligible for SE services:7. Integrated plan of services within the general education program.8. Continued language and acculturation support.


Resolution or Referral

How will you decide?1.Personnel2.Families3.Programs4.Resources5.Processes

Indicators that validate the need for SPED evaluation

• Poor communicative proficiency in the home as compared to siblings and age peers in bilingual environments, especially when this lack is noticed by the parents.

• English language development that appears to be significantly different than that of peers who are also learning English as a additional language.

• Documentation that student’s acquisition of English is within normal range for his peer group, age, culture/language population, length of time in ESL, etc. but there are specific learning and/or behavior problems unrelated to culture shock or language transition.

• Specific sensory, neurological, organic, motor, or other conditions that impact learning and behavior when having reliable documentation that culture shock or language transition contributes but is not the determining factor for the learning and behavior problems.

• Student is demonstrating limited phrasing and vocabulary in both languages indicating that she has not acquired morphologic structures by the appropriate age. Again, both languages may be marked by a short length of utterance

True or False?

Districts should ensure that a teacher with credentials to provide instruction to EL students participate in every IEP proceeding involving these students.

What we recommend for Step 6

PreProduction

Early Production

Speech

Emergence

Intermediate

Fluency

Intermediate Advanced Fluency

Advanced Fluency

Needs total assistance

Needs a great deal of assistance

Needs a lot of assistance

Has a moderate level of needs

Has moderate but specific needs

Has specific need to be addressed

Needs minimal assistance

Pull out for targeted assistance

Push in for targeted assistance

Integrate for targeted assistance

Total Inclusion


Integrated Services & Cross-cultural IEPs

How will you integrate services?1.Personnel2.Families3.Programs4.Resources5.Processes


Maintaining Staff & Programs Serving CLDE

How will you maintain personnel readiness?1. Personnel2. Families3. Programs4. Resources5. Processes

Thank you! Come visit us atwww.crosscultured.com

• Over 45 years experience.• Research on impact of acculturation on

referral & placement of CLD students. • Research on effectiveness of specific

cognitive learning strategies for diverse learners.

• Classroom teacher, diagnostician, faculty, administrator.

• Social justice advocate, author & teacher educator.