Overrepresentation of ELL Students
Providing an ELL student with an authentic assessment to get a true understanding of their academic ability level is difficult for various reasons. One of the reasons assessment is so difficult for ELL students is because generally the intelligence testing that is used to identify students for special education involves the student to use a lot of language skills. If the ELL student has not yet fully mastered their language skills, the test will not be valid or accurate in assessing the skills on the assessment. Another concern is that questions on formal assessments are often culturally based and students that are ELL may not understand what the questions are asking. These types of questions can often be misleading and result in the ELL becoming confused. All of these components as well as many more can cause to the ELL student to be misidentified as being a special education student. It is important for educators to keep in mind that it is easy to mistake an ELL for a student with a learning impairment because they will need a lot of remediation and support just like a child with an IEP. Although the ELL students in our classroom need support, we can not confuse the fact that they may have the cognitive ability to do the skills, but their language and communication skills are still being developed.
The teachers of the student can gain a lot of helpful and meaningful information about the student by speaking to the family. This will give them insight to how the child functions at home, and how the child performed at school in their native country. If the team decides after intense intervention that the student still isn't improving on the skills of concern, they can discuss with the family about assessing for special education. I think it is important for everyone involved with working with the ELL student to have realistic and positive goals in order to help the child reach their greatest academic potential.
The teachers of the student can gain a lot of helpful and meaningful information about the student by speaking to the family. This will give them insight to how the child functions at home, and how the child performed at school in their native country. If the team decides after intense intervention that the student still isn't improving on the skills of concern, they can discuss with the family about assessing for special education. I think it is important for everyone involved with working with the ELL student to have realistic and positive goals in order to help the child reach their greatest academic potential.