Download this episode’s companion brief, How Can Educators, Leaders and Education Systems Better Attend to the Intersection of Language and Disability for Multilingual Learners.
This episode highlights an important but still under-examined subject: the necessity for schools and school systems to pay better attention to the intersection of language and disability for young multilingual learners. Focusing on multilingualism and disability offers insight into a larger and more persistent question—how can district leaders, including superintendents and school business officials, make decisions and take actions that more effectively identify and meet the needs of all their students?
Host Jason Willis welcomes two WestEd colleagues, Jamey Burho and Elizabeth Burr. Both have worked extensively on policies and practices that support the needs of multilingual learners, particularly those with disabilities. In the past couple of years, Jamey and Elizabeth have co-authored key studies, including a 2022 report, Resourcing Supports for Young Multilingual Learners with Suspected Disabilities in California, and in December 2023, Pre-Referral Processes in California State Preschool Programs: How Practitioners Decide to Refer Multilingual Children for Special Education Evaluation along with Alyssa Perez.
More About Our Guests
As a Senior Research Associate on the Research-Practice Partnerships team at WestEd, Elizabeth Burr coordinates research projects, including policy analyses, literature reviews, and syntheses with the Regional Educational Laboratory West. She authored Guidance Manuals for Educators of English Learners with Disabilities: Ideas and Lessons from the Field and was a lead author of California Practitioners’ Guide for Educating English Learners with Disabilities. She is working on a comprehensive toolkit for educators of English learners with disabilities. Before joining WestEd, Burr was a Project Director at the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University and a Project Director at Policy Analysis for California Education.
Jamey Burho is a Senior Research Associate with the English Learners Services and Migrant Education (ELMES) team and the Special Education Policy & Practice (SEPP) team at WestEd. Her expertise focuses on students identified as English Learners with disabilities or dually identified students. As part of WestEd’s Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) program, Burho routinely leads professional development sessions nationwide for educators on supporting multilingual students. Before joining WestEd, Burho was a postdoctoral fellow at Oregon State University. She began her education career in Washington, D.C., as a special education teacher. She holds a BS in international relations from Georgetown University, an MA in teaching (special education) from Trinity Washington University, and a Ph.D. in special education from the University of Maryland.
Jason Willis serves as WestEd’s Director of Strategic Resource Planning and Implementation. He is a former chief business official in several California school districts.
Budgeting for Educational Equity is presented by CASBO and WestEd. The series is written and produced by Paul Richman and Jason Willis. Original music and sound by Tommy Dunbar. Alyssa Perez and Hannah Jarmolowski at WestEd provide research and develop the written briefs that go along with episodes.
