2009 Special Education Director’s Conference

1. 2009 Special Education Director’s Conference Maribel Huerta Parent and Educator Liaison Chicago Public Schools District 299

2. The Importance of Providing Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services Essay: ”What Education Means to Me” -written by an immigrant-English Language Learner* and recent scholarship recipient - Jessica Guadalupe Perez *English Language Learner (ELL) is at times used interchangeably with Limited English Proficient Student (LEP) and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Student (CLD)

3. Did you know? Immigration status of either parent or child has no bearing on the right to enroll.The laws of Illinois and the United States guarantee all students, including undocumented immigrant students, access to a free public education through grade twelve up until the age of twenty-one regardless of immigrant status. This requires every district to guarantee all immigrant students equal access to the full range of programs and resources. Source: www.ISBE.net

4. Did you know? • Districts can NOT require that parents or adult caretakers provide either a Visa, “Green Card,” Illinois driver’s license, a state identification card or other documents which require Social Security numbers, nor can they mandate documents such as a lease, or mortgage. • Although residency for special education pupils is generally based on guardianship, districts cannot mandate adult caretakers or relatives with whom a non-special education student resides to establish legal guardianship as a condition for gaining access to the district's schools and programs. • Funds may be available for districts with a large influx of immigrant students. Contact 312-814-3850 or visit www.isbe.net/bilingual/htmls/consolidated_application.htm Sources: OCR and http://www.isbe.net/pdf/registration_guidance.pdf

5. Did you know? • The U.S. Department of Education estimates that there are 2.4 million national-origin minority school children who have limited English language skills which affect their ability to participate effectively in education programs and achieve high academic standards. • Approximately 69% of ELL are born in the U.S. or are naturalized citizens. • The U.S. is now the 3rd largest Spanish-speaking country in the world (tied with Colombia). Some predict Mandarin will catch up.

6. Rules and Regs* • Title III “Language Instruction for Limited English Proficient and Immigrant Students” of No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 • Article 14-C of The School Code of Illinois • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 • The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) • Special Education Rules by the Illinois State Board of Education *All protect the rights of linguistically and culturally diverse students with disabilities to receive non-discriminatory assessments and linguistically appropriate instructional services*

7. Purposes • to help ensure that children who are limited English proficient, including immigrant children and youth: • attain English proficiency • develop high levels of academic attainment in English • meet the same challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards as all children are expected to meet • to promote parental and community participation in language instruction educational programs for the parents and communities of limited English proficient children • Students who are ELL should have access to the school’s general curriculum and materials

8. Your challenge: • Meet federal requirements and serve students with both: • linguistic challenges, and • learning challenges • Engage parents and the community • Begin with: English language proficiency of all students whose parents answered "yes" to one orboth of the Home Language Survey questions; • "Is a language other than English spoken in the home?” • and "Does the student speak a language other than English?"

9. Screening & Eligibility

10. Screening & Eligibility (continued) • Pre-IPT Oral overview and online training can be found at http://www.ballard-tighe.com/IPTOnlineInserviceTraining/IPTOral/IPTOralTests.htm • Teachers and other appropriately certified district staff members administering the WIDA MODEL™ including those who had been administering the W-APT until now, must be re-certified prior to administering this test. http://wida.wceruw.org • Any school district that has started to screen Pre-K/K students with the WIDA MODEL™ must have informed the Division of English Language Learning by sending an email to Ilyse Leland at ileland@isbe.net by May 29, 2009. Should you have any additional questions regarding this request, please call 312-814-3850. • WIDA ACCESS Placement Test™ (W-APT™) Understanding the WIDA English Language Proficiency Standards : A Resource Guidehttp://www.wida.us/standards/Resource_Guide_web.pdf

11. Screening & Eligibility (continued) For all students scoring at or above 4.0 best practice encourages the use of additional indicators to determine English language proficiency and eligibility for bilingual education program services Example of additional indicators: • Information from family members • Information from school personnel • Performance evaluations by teachers • Results of criterion or norm-referenced tests • Results of locally developed test • Student academic history (such as report card information) • Student work samples Source: http://www.isbe.net/bilingual/pdfs/WIDA_placement.pdf

12. Test Accommodations for ELLs with Disabilities • http://www.isbe.net/bilingual/pdfs/access_accomodations.pdf • Alternative ACCESS for ELL is currently under development. Workshop will be held August 10 - 11, 2009 http://www.isbe.net/bilingual/pdfs/access_aug09_workshop.pdf

13. IAA is given to students with severe cognitive disabilities in place of ISAT or PSAE, if appropriate. Remember: ACCESS is also required for LEP until proficiency is reached.

14. Similarities between ACCESS for ELLs® and the W-APT™

15. 4 Language Domains • Listening- process, understand, interpret, and evaluate spoken language in a variety of situations • Speaking- engage in oral communication in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes and audiences • Reading- process, understand, interpret, and evaluate written language, symbols and text with understanding and fluency • Writing- engage in written communication in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes and audiences

16. Proficiency Levels • Entering – Student knows and uses minimal social language and academic language with visual support [Overall Composite Score: 1 – 1.9]. • Beginning – Student knows and uses some social English and general academic language with visual support [Overall Composite Score: 2 – 2.9]. • Developing – Student knows and uses social English and some specific academic language with visual support [Overall Composite Score: 3 – 3.9]. • Expanding – Student knows and uses social English and some technical academic language [Overall Composite Score: 4 – 4.9]. • Bridging – Student knows and uses social and academic language working with modified grade level material [Overall Composite Score: 5 – 5.9]. • Attained – Student knows and uses social and academic language at grade level [Overall Composite Score: 6]. * When Level is achieved (4.0) the school district has the discretion of using additional indicators, e.g., other tests, to determine whether the student is LEP based on the district’s established criteria.

17. Virginia Department of Education ELP Standards Videos The Virginia Department of Education has generously offered to share a series of videos created by teachers, for teachers, to promote understanding of the WIDA ELP Standards and offer example lesson plans based on certain language functions. • http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Instruction/ESL/elp_videos.html#

18. Differences between ACCESS for ELLs® and W-APT™ (1 of 2)

19. Parents of Eligible ELL Must be notified: Their child is eligible for a ___ program: • Transitional Bilingual Education • Transitional Program of Instruction • Dual language/Two-Way Immersion • Developmental Bilingual Education • Newcomer Program And that they have a right to: • visit the classes in which their child is enrolled • meet with staff to learn more about the program • decline enrollment in an ELL program • withdraw their child immediately from the program • choose another program if one is available • may take action by sending a letter to the school • declining the recommended program will mean that the student may be placed in a program where English is the dominant language of instruction.

20. Does your school / district send ALL notices and school information in the language parents understand? • Federal law requires that you provide parents whose English is limited school notices or other information in a language they can understand.

21. Accommodate ELL (Early Interventions) • Clinical Teaching • Peer or Expert Consultation • Teacher Assistance Teams (TATs) • Alternative Programs and Services • One-one tutoring • Family and support groups • Family counseling • Programs supported by Title 1 funds (should be supplemental to and not a replacement for general education instruction “general education, not special education, should be primarily responsible for the education of students with special learning needs that cannot be attributed to disabilities” Source: Ortiz and the CAL - ERICCLL

22. Over-Identification VS. Under-Identification • Direct attention to evaluation issues is essential in order to provide quality education to all students. “It is the objective of fair and appropriate assessment to document any potential difficulties and then to differentiate between those due to intrinsic disorders and those due to cultural and linguistic differences and other intrinsic factors. Only through this process can the appropriate assessment, identification, and programming of exceptional LEP students versus non-exceptional LEP students be accomplished.” (Krestschmer, 1990)

23. Prior to Referring and Conducting Special Evaluations • Has a tailored bilingual or English as a Second Language (ESL) program and supports been provided to meet the students language and cultural needs? • Schools must provide extensive interventions and collect data, for example: • School Based Problem Solving • Ongoing use of scientifically based language instruction and assessment as part of the process; language use, pattern and cultural background profile • Instructional interventions; differentiated instruction, tutoring, team teaching, etc. • Accommodations • Behavior Intervention Plan

24. When are Special Evaluations requiredto be conducted by a bilingual team? Students referred for ANY special education evaluation that have been identified as a bilingual student due to the Home Language Survey (HLS), and eligible for bilingual education and language support services determined by the: • Pre-IPT® Oral English Language Proficiency Test, where a: • Three year oldPre-K student scored below Level D (A, B, or C) • Four year oldPre-K student scored below level E (A, B, C, D) • WIDA MODEL screener, where a: • First Semester Kindergartener scored either Listening or Speaking proficiency level below 4.0 • 2nd Semester Kindergartener or 1st Semester First Graderwho scored an overall composite below level 4.0 • WIDA ACCESS Placement Test™ (W-APT™) where a2nd Semester 1st Grader thru 12th Grader scored an overall composite proficiency level below 4.0. Please note: that part of second language acquisition for some ELL often entail going through a non-verbal period sometimes referred to as the “silent period”, which can be confused for LD. An IEP team may also use discretion in deciding to use a bilingual team for a bilingual student who is no longer required to receive bilingual education. Use communication and language that is most likely to yield the most accurate information.

25. Students also requiringassessment by bilingual team • Are those who come from a home where a language other than English is spoken; however, the severity of the disability interferes (e.g. severe cognitive disabilities, deaf or hard of hearing students)with an accurate assessment of language proficiency.

26. Evaluation Proceduresfor Low Incidence Languages • When a student speaks a low incidence language, and no bilingual specialist speaks that language, there may be a need to use an interpreter. –Each School District should set policy and procedures for safeguarding the this practice as an alternative. • Interpreter should only be used in extreme situations when a bilingual specialist can not be found. • Consequence: Using an interpreter during test administration modifies standardized test conditions and must be noted in the evaluation report.

27. Special Evaluation Proceduresfor ELL Students with Disabilities or Suspected Disability • For ELL, IDEA requires tests and all other evaluation materials to… • Be non-discriminatory • Be provided and administered in the student’s primary language or other mode of communication and in the form most likely to yield accurate information • Measure the extent of the disability and not the student’s English language skills If the student has a disability it will manifest itself in the student’s primary language

28. Assessing ELL with Suspected or Identified Disabilities Consider multiple and alternative assessment measures, including: • criterion-referenced tests • work samples • behavioral observations • teacher evaluations • *assessing in native language* • parent interviews *Best Practice indicates that ELL should be assessed in both languages (dual language assessment) by a bilingual specialists or in collaboration with an ESL teacher (who has an understanding of students native language and culture)*

29. IEP for ELL Indicate: • assessment reports addressing language and cultural factors • language/cultural considerations • language used by student, at home • translation needs of the parent • English Language Proficiency level • bilingual special education model • language(s) of instruction • other assessments

30. CPS Bilingual Special Education Service Delivery Models 1– Bilingual Special Education Teacher 2– Team Teaching: Bilingual + Special Education Teachers 3– Special Education Teacher with ESL Credentials 4– Team Teaching Monolingual Special Education + ESL Teacher 5– Monolingual Special Education Teacher + Bilingual Assistant 6– Consultation Special Education Teacher Consults with Bilingual or ESL Teacher

31. Differentiating Curriculum and Instruction for ELL with Disabilities • Adapting Curriculum • Teaching Principles • Emphasis of effective teaching • Curriculum Principles • Emphasis of effective curriculum implementation • Culture and Differentiating Curriculum for ELL • Family Structure • Interpersonal Relationships and Gender Responsibilities • Discipline Procedures and Values • Time, Space, Religion, and Health • Traditions and Significant Historical Events Source: Hoover and Patton

32. Recommendations for ServingELL Students with Disabilities • 1st Gather information • Parents • Previous Teachers • Screen and Test in both languages • Comprehensive Dual Assessments • Testing in 1 language is incomplete • Look for regional experts if local ones are not available • Use instructional strategies known to be effective with ELL having disabilities • Once an instructional model has been decided on, consistency is important. ELL may need extended response time for specified model. • Give ELL native language support • Teach connections between their two languages (similarities and differences)

33. Success of ELL Depends on: • A school climate that fosters academic success and empowers students • Adopt a philosophy that believes • all students can learn and • that educators are responsible for helping ELL with and without disabilities learn • Positive School Environment • Strong Administrative Leadership • High Expectation for student achievement • Challenging, appropriate curricula and instruction • A safe and orderly environment • Ongoing, systematic evaluation of student progress and • Shared decision-making among ESL teachers, general education teachers, administrators and parents Source: Ortiz and the CAL

34. Factors critical to the success of ELL: • A shared knowledge base among educators about effective ways to work with students learning English • Recognition of the importance of the students’ native language • Collaborative School and Community Relationships, • Academically Rich Programs that integrate basic skills instruction with the teaching of higher order skills in both the native language and in English, and • Effective Instruction Source: Ortiz and the CAL

35. Resources for Educators • Center for Applied Linguistics www.cal.org • World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment www.wida.us/ • Colorin Colorado www.colorinColorado.org • LD OnLine www.LDOnLine.org • Reading Rockets www.ReadingRockets.org • US Department of Education: Region V - Programs for Educational Opportunity http://www.umich.edu/~eqtynet/eac.html

36. Parent Involvement • Video from Reading Rockets • Becoming Bilingual • http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid9413665001?bclid=6012551001&bctid=5545238001 • Parents as Partners • http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid6933800001?bclid=5172041001&bctid=5211443001 • www.usalearns.org A Free Web Site for Immigrants and Other Adults Wanting to Improve Their English Skills • www.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/hyc.html Helping Your Child Series by the U.S. Department of Education

37. www. Additional Resources • www.oism.cps.k12.il.us/dept_oss_resources.shtml#Parents • www.isbe.state.il.us/spec-ed/html/lre.htm • www.kidstogether.org • www.inclusiveschools.org • www.nichcy.org/parents.asp • www.pepartnership.org/ • www.schwablearning.org • www.wrightslaw.com/info/lre.index.htm

38. DATE SAVER 2010 Transitional Bilingual Education / Transitional Program of Instruction / Title III Directors’ Meeting Illinois State Board of Education Division of English Language Learning September 30, 2009 – October 1, 2009 Crowne Plaza Hotel3000 S Dirksen ParkwaySpringfield, Illinois 62703217-529-7777

39. Supporting Parents & Educators… Maribel Huerta Parent and Educator Liaison Chicago Public Schools District 299 mhuerta@cps.k12.il.us 773/553-2258