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.
Pre-Referral Practices That Support English Learners
Dates: June 25, 26, and 27, 2024
Time: 9:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. (PT) | 12:00 p.m.–3:30 p.m. (ET)
Location: Virtual
REGISTER by June 18, 2024
Join us to gain an understanding of culturally and linguistically responsive grade-level math and reading core instruction (Tier 1) that promotes language development and content mastery.
This institute focuses on quality interactions and a Culturally Responsive UDL Approach within an MTSS for English Learners framework that is designed on the model demonstration research sponsored by the Office of Special Education Programs of the U.S. Department of Education. Practitioners can gain skills necessary for providing instruction, intervention, and data-based decision-making when determining the need for a special education evaluation.
Each day, two virtual sessions will run for 90 minutes with a 30-minute break in between sessions.
Who Will Benefit
- Classroom teachers, English language development (ELD) teachers, intervention staff, and others who provide grade-level, ELD, and intervention instruction to English Learners
- Child study team members, including special education staff, site administrators, families, and other support personnel collaborating with English Learners suspected of having a disability
What You Will Learn
Participants will have the opportunity to
- explore the role of intersectionality and a shift to asset-based approaches to instruction and intervention,
- identify misconceptions that have led to disproportionate representation of English Learners in special education,
- investigate the research around distinguishing between language acquisition and learning disability,
- examine the role of culturally sustaining pedagogy within the MTSS framework, and
- identify practical classroom practices that support language development and content mastery for English Learners in reading and math.
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 and 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.