With the number of English Learners growing across the country, practitioners face the challenge of how to best provide instruction and intervention to support the language development and learning needs of these students.
Practitioners can wonder about when, why, and how to provide culturally and linguistically responsive pre-referral intervention due to the complex interrelationships of language, culture, home, and school factors that can impact learning and behavior. Site administrators need to balance how to support teachers, interventionists, and English language development (ELD) specialists in providing equitable services while supporting related service providers with the complicated special education evaluation process for identifying an English Learner student with a disability.
The virtual WestEd summer English Learners With Disabilities (ELSWD) institutes address these needs through three offerings for the summer of 2024.
- Pre-Referral Practices That Support English Learners
- Culturally Sensitive Special Education Evaluation and IEP Development for English Learners
- Administrator Essentials for Supporting English Learners With Disabilities
Note: You can join one, two, or all three sessions, as they are not prerequisites for attending subsequent sessions. If you have joined us in the past, the content may seem similar, but new research and practices are added each year to make the institute timely and practical for all participants.
Culturally Sensitive Special Education Evaluation and IEP Development for English Learners
Dates: July 23, 24, and 25, 2024
Time: 9:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. (PT) | 12:00 p.m.–3:30 p.m. (ET)
Location: Virtual
REGISTER by July 16, 2024
Join us to gain a better understanding of the policies, procedures, and best practices identified through IDEA for special education evaluation of English Learners suspected of having a disability.
Participants will gain an understanding of the required components for developing a culturally and linguistically appropriate Individualized Education Program (IEP) for English Learners found eligible for special education services. They gain this understanding using tools and resources developed by the U.S. Department of Education English Learner Toolkit and joint guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education in a “Dear Colleague Letter” addressing the rights of English Learners and English Learners with disabilities.
Each day, two virtual sessions will run for 90 minutes with a 30-minute break in between sessions.
Who Will Benefit
- Teams involved in the assessment and IEP development for English Learners, including child study teams, eligibility determination teams, and families
- Staff who work with English Learners who may have disabilities, including psychologists, related service providers, special educators, ELD specialists, special education administrators, and site administrators
What You Will Learn
Participants will have the opportunity to
- identify the challenges of assessing English Learners to determine disability;
- learn about collaborative, family- and student-focused data gathering practices to inform a culturally responsive special education evaluation;
- identify options for assessing English Learners in their primary languages;
- examine the complex process of determining eligibility for English Learners;
- explore best practices for determining the present level of academic and functional performance (PLAAFP) to inform linguistically appropriate IEP goals;
- practice using the WIDA ELD Standards Framework to inform linguistically appropriate goals; and
- discover collaborative instructional practices that supports English Learners with disabilities built on the foundation of the High-Leverage Practices in Special Education.
What Previous Participants Are Saying
“This training has helped me to prepare for working with a duly identified student in EC and EL. I am very appreciative of all the information on modifications/accommodations I can use to help this student and give support to them throughout their remaining time at our school.”
“I think that the resources provided were top notch and I will utilize them all. I also thought that using the learner profile and IEP goals and developing adaptations based on that was a great exercise.”
“I was very impressed with the resources provided on identifying the differences between language differences versus disability. I believe they will be useful for training in my own district.”
“I recognized the need for intentional collaboration between the general education teachers, special education teachers, and EL teachers. I will be thinking about how to better incorporate this into my particular school.”
“The federal data on English Learners with disabilities was incredibly eye-opening. I think it’ll be a driving force to encourage more collaboration in the current silos we see.”
Cost
$299 per person
Payment options to WestEd include ACH/EFT, PayPal, purchase orders, and checks.
What’s Included
Participants receive 16 hours of professional development, a verification certificate, access to Padlet Wall resources, and an option for a unit of graduate credit from the University of Massachusetts Global at their own cost.
Questions?
Feel free to email us at [email protected] with any questions.