Report Offers Recommendations to Improve Programs for English Learners with Disabilities
July 31, 2019
By: Naaz Modan
Source: Education Dive
A recently released New America report says that English learners (ELs) with disabilities are not well understood and are an underserved subgroup caught between underfunded federal programs and educators on the ground with little training.
The report outlines steps administrators, leaders, and policymakers can take to better serve ELs that also have a disability. These include integrating students with disabilities in regular classrooms as much as possible, providing clear policy guidelines and best practice manuals, expanding developmental screenings in a child’s native language and offering ongoing training that addresses issues of culture, language and disability.
Lack of sufficient federal support has led to state and local leaders cutting special education services, which has, in turn, limited the number of teachers hired and has even led to schools capping special education identification rates. In some cases, this leads to EL students and their families being denied access to special education, the report says.