2010 OSEP Leadership Mega Conference Collaboration to Achieve Success from Cradle to Career Current and Evidence-based Practices in Special Education for English Language Learners: Are They the Same? Dr. Julie Esparza Brown Portland State University English Learners who are Students with Disabilities Presentation #S4-202 and S4-201

Oregon’s Demographics The Latino population has grown from 4% in 1990 to 11% in The Asian population grew from 2.3% in 1990 to 3.4% in More than four-in-five, or 84% of children in immigrant families are U.S. citizens.

Diversity in Oregon’s Schools Ten percent of all students in the state’s largest school district (46,898 total students) are in the ESL/Bilingual Program. In this district, there are 72 different languages spoken by students.

Top Ten Languages Spanish Vietnamese Somali Cantonese/Chinese/ Mandarin Russian Maay-Maay Chuukese Burmese Arabic Oromo

Survey: Current Perceptions and Practices in ELL Education Brown and Chabon (in preparation) recently conducted a survey on perceptions of educator groups regarding their pre-service preparation and current practices in ELL education. Respondents were: – ELL/Bilingual Teachers: 81 – ELL Administrators: 18 – SLP/SLP Administrators: 39 – Sped Administrators: 18 – Sped Teachers: 82

Respondents with Preparation to Teach ELLs Educator Rolesn% of respondents ELL/Bilingual Teachers 8190 ELL Administrators 1872 SLP/SLP Administrators 39 Sped Administrators 1850 Sped Teachers8245 Educator Rolesn% of respondents ELL/Bilingual Teachers 8136 ELL Administrators 1844 SLP/SLP Administrators 3944 Sped Administrators 1839 Sped Teachers8245 Respondents with Preparation to Teach ELLs with Special Needs

Specific Training in Pre-Service to Teach ELLs Educator Rolesn% of respondents CourseworkStudent Teaching Workshop ELL/Bilingual Teachers ELL Administrators SLP/SLP Administrators Sped Administrators Sped Teachers

Specific Training in Pre-Service to Work with ELLs with Special Needs Educator Rolesn% of respondents CourseworkStudent Teaching Workshop ELL/Bilingual Teachers ELL Administrators SLP/SLP Administrators Sped Administrators Sped Teachers

Topics Covered in Preservice to Work with ELLs with Special Needs Educator Rolesn% of respondents Cross-Cult. Coll. Assess. Instruc. & Interven. 2 nd Lang.Ac Multicul. Ed ELL/Bilingual Teachers ELL Admin SLP/SLP Administrators Sped Admin Sped Teachers

Do You Believe it is Appropriate to Address ELD Services on IEPs? Educator Rolesn% of respondents ELL/Bilingual Teachers 8189 ELL Administrators 1894 SLP/SLP Administrators 3969 Sped Administrators 1893 Sped Teachers8276 Educator Rolesn% of respondents ELL/Bilingual Teachers ELL Administrators SLP/SLP Administrators Sped Administrators Sped Teachers Do IEPs for ELLs Address ELD Services?

Challenges Identified Finding qualified bilingual personnel with appropriate training Forming partnerships with families and communities

Findings Across groups, the following topics were covered in preservice : – Assessment (X = 33%) – Multicultural Education X = 31%) – Second Language acquisition (X = 29%) – Instruction & Intervention (X = 27%) – Cross-cultural Collaboration (X = 16%)

Findings Sped Administrator and Sped Teacher groups believe the most important approach in teaching literacy to ELLs is to use English language immersion with ELD support. No group perceived bilingual instruction as the most important approach. No group reported that understanding both special education and ELL federal regulations was a challenge.

Findings Less than half of the SLP/SLP Administrators, Sped Administrators, and Sped Teachers had pre-service preparation to teach ELLs with or without special needs. Field experiences did not include working with ELL students.

What Does the Research Say? Goldenberg (2008) examined the research for effective practices in ELL instruction. The majority of ELLs students (60%) receive all- English. About 12% receive no ESL/ELD services. More primary language (L1) instruction over time leads to higher academic achievement in English. In other words, teaching students to read in L1 promotes higher reading achievement in English!

What Does the Research Say? All-English immersion does NOT lead to rapid English fluency, in contradiction to some state policies (e.g., California, Arizona). ELL students need explicit language instruction and opportunities to speak for genuine communication in a separate ESL/ELD block. Process approaches to learning showed mixed results; explicit instruction in skills and sub-skills is what is needed for ELLs to make gains.

Implications: What Does This All Mean to Special Educators? They need more knowledge about the instruction of ELL students, ESL/ELD program requirements, working with families across cultures and to collaborate with other departments. What does this mean to YOU?

Some Comments “The ESOL teacher in my building is fantastic but I feel that what is misunderstood by other staff members. They don't understand the need for all the language supports that she provides. Many still feel that English Immersion practices are the best and that kids should just "speak American" quickly.”

Some Comments “Students with IEPs are placed in ELD classes and modifications cannot always address the special needs without interfering with the other students' instruction. Students who are dual identified should have a separate ELD class to allow instruction to adapt to their particular needs. Administrators should be required as part of their licensing to attend and provide diverse cultural and linguistic training annually.”

Some Comments “There is no consensus among SPED and ELL staff regarding appropriate identification assessments and protocols for ELLs.”.” I see the need for better collaboration between the special education and the English Language Acquisition Dept. Until there is more collaboration we will continue to see ELL needs addressed inadequately. When bilingual instruction is not available, what is most important is daily access to quality ELD instruction.”

Moving Forward: State Level Last year, the Special Education and Title III Departments of the Oregon Department of Education collaborated to deliver VTel presentations across the state to ELL/Bilingual and Special Education personnel. Stakeholders were requested to submit their questions ahead of time.

Moving Forward: State Level Powerpoint of Vtel can be accessed at: spx Type into Search: Decision Making for Dual Identified Students

Moving Forward: University Currently, the Department of Special Education at Portland State has two federal grants. – Pathways: Early Childhood Special Education; emphasis is to train culturally competent EI teachers to work with young children with disabilities and their families. Cultural and linguistic competencies were infused throughout program.

Moving Forward: University Currently, the Department of Special Education at Portland State has two federal grants. – BiSped: Special Education Licensure (noncategorical); participants must be bilingual and are included in a part-time cohort. Recruited through district partners. Participants take three extra courses: (1) second language acquisition, (2) Biliteracy, and (3) Academic Assessment of ELL Students

Is There Anything That Surprises You? ???

What Questions Are Missing? ???

Closing Thoughts A community advocate recently commented to me that parents think they need to pick one or the other (ESL or sped). They invariably choose special education because districts imply the student will NOT benefit from an ESL program (S. Ramirez, personal communication, 2010). In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. (Supreme Court of the United States. Brown v. Board of Education – 1954)

Reference Goldenberg, C. (2008, Summer). Teaching English language learners: What the research does – And does not – say. American Educator, 8 – 44.

Resources National Center for RTI: National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCREST): Council for Exceptional Children Division for Diverse Learners: Mast Modules: (should be available later this year) East Carolina University

Contact Information Dr. Julie Esparza Brown Assistant Professor Department of Special Education Portland State University PO Box 751 Portland, OR