ASA1 Task 4

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Western Governors University *

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Communications

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Feb 20, 2024

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A. Utah State regulations and requirements for referring ELL student for SPED assessment. In my research I was not able to find any regulations in Utah for referral of ELL students for SPED. The Utah State Board of Education has general rules for providing students with disabilities free appropriate public education. This meets the US IDEA guidelines that all children with disabilities, between the ages of 3 and 21 have access to appropriate education. They have the right to an Individualized Education Program to help them with school and life after the age of 21. The Park City School District Special Education Policies and Procedures Manual has a few items linked to the referral of a student for evaluation for SPED. If a parent asks for Sped services, the school must comply in an appropriate time. If the school is wanting to evaluate a student, the parent must be notified and provide approval. There is also a provision for children that enter child protective services that the district is responsible to get the parent consent and then provide the evaluation. In our school, if a teacher is concerned about a student having learning issues, the process is to contact a member of the SPED department and voice your concerns. After that they will send out forms to all teachers requesting information and specific data on the student. The teacher’s responsibility returns to being supportive of the student, applying the suggested accommodations of the team and providing the requested documentation or data. B. Special factors in identifying if an issue stems from ELL or SPED. (PCSD, 2021) There are many issues or factors that should be considered when determining whether to evaluate an ELL student for Special Education services. It is important to make sure that all aspects of a student’s life are covered to find out if the gaps are from normal second language

learning issues or other challenges. First the student’s language development needs to be compared to the average timeline of their peers. Do they fall in the right stage of development for their time in learning the second language? Can the problems of language acquisition be attributed to the influence of the differences in the first and second language? For example, sounds that are in the second language and not in the first or vice versa. Next the environmental factors can also have an impact on learning development. Having a complete picture of the student’s abilities and function in different settings in their environment is a must. Are the teachers providing the supports that the student needs? If they did not have formal schooling or do not have supports at home, challenges could arise that are not cognitive. The differences between the native culture of education and the new culture of education may influence learning. Understanding and accommodating for these differences could help the problem. Another area to look at is underlying health issues. Hearing and vision screenings are routine for students being referred for SPED services. If there is a hearing or vision problem that needs to be resolved that should be addressed. Are there other medical issues, like depression, anxiety, or ADHD, that could be affecting the progress of the student? C. Steps prior to and during referral process. A teacher who is familiar with their students should be able to notice when something is out of place and may need some other attention. As the student progresses and the teacher notices discrepancies in the abilities of that student they should talk to the ESL teacher. After that they should share those concerns with the MTSS or SPED coordinator of the school. The teacher should have data from assignments, testing and observations on the student’s

performance. This starts the conversation and the process of identifying, supporting, and referring the student for SPED evaluation. The teacher will have to fill out a form that asks questions covering all the possible points of concern. The teacher will be required to provide information on the accommodations and Tier 1 or Tier 2 supports they have provided the student and the results of these. During the referral process a teacher will need to continue to provide accommodations and support for the student. Different modifications in the classroom will be tried first and may be what the student needs to improve. They will need to keep records of assessments and observations of behavior to provide for the referral. The teacher needs to be available to the referral team, allow them to observe in the classroom, apply the suggested accommodations and provide the necessary documentation. C1. Sources of information. An important source of information that a teacher would use to identify the possibility that a problem is due to a special needs concern would be observations of the student in various activities in the classroom. Keep a log of this data, writing down the things you observe when they are taking notes, working on assignments, reading or even their communication with others. All the different ways of using the language should be observed; writing, reading, listening, and speaking. Data, like test scores, is always important to use for evaluation. Being able to compare the academic data of the student with peers can show points of weakness. Another source that a teacher could use is the history of literacy, language issues, culture, and previous education situations. This could give insight of the reason for an observed problem and something that the teacher could adapt to better serve the student. Maybe the student needs

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different modes of instruction or assessment, a peer to work with or graphics and visuals. Other teachers, counselors, or staff can be a good source of information and provide their thoughts on the student’s abilities that will support your concerns or help you see differently. Collaboration with these other people in the student’s life helps everyone to know if the observed issues are the same for all or may be specific to the subject you are teaching. C2. Adjustments to the learning environment. It is important to create an environment where the student feels safe and confident that you are there to help them succeed. Being a teacher who is understanding of the difficulties that the student is having and giving them support can go a long way to improving their ability to learn. Another addition to the learning environment is using their background knowledge and cultural identity in the lessons and assessments. Give them something that they understand and care about to help them learn the language and content. At the beginning of a standard, have a table for important key terms that you will be using. Have a place for the word, the word in a different language, a definition, and a picture or graph. You could also have the class add difficult words or concepts to a word wall. Having key vocabulary words posted or in their notes that have visuals and the word in the home language will help them to remember these key terms. There are many other accommodations that can be used. For some students taking notes is difficult when they need to write faster to keep up. Providing graphic organizers or scaffolded notes where the student highlights or fills in the key words and does not have to write everything is a great way to help the slower writers get the information. Another way to help struggling students is to use group work, like think-pair-share for some of the instruction or activities.

References Breiseth, L. (2015, June 6). ELL Strategies & Best Practices . Colorín Colorado; Colorín Colorado. https://www.colorincolorado.org/ell-strategies-best-practices Dickson, S., & Voorhies, L. (2023). SPECIAL EDUCATION RULES . https://schools.utah.gov/specialeducation/_specialeducation/_rulesandpolicies/ _specialeducationrules/RulesSpecialEducationReport.pdf Park City School District. PCSD. (2021). PARK CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT SPECIAL EDUCATION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUAL . https://ut50010789.schoolwires.net/cms/lib/UT50010789/Centricity/Domain/45/PCSD %20Special%20Education%20Policy%20Manual%202021.pdf Robertson, K., Sánchez-López, C., & Breiseth, L. (2018, October 24). Addressing ELLs’ Language Learning and Special Education Needs: Questions and Considerations . Colorín Colorado; Colorín Colorado. https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/addressing- ells-language-learning-and-special-education-needs-questions-and-considerations WIDA. Focus Bulletin: Identifying Multilingual Learners with Specific Learning Disabilities . (2023). https://wida.wisc.edu/sites/default/files/resource/FocusBulletin-Identifying- Multilingual-Learners-Specific-Learning-Disabilities.pdf

ASA1 Task 4

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