Practitioners working with English Learners sometimes struggle with when, why, and how to provide instruction and intervention and when to begin identifying if an English Learner has a disability.
Managing interventions, special education evaluations, and instruction can be challenging because of the complex interrelationships between language, culture, home, and school.
WestEd aims to support the teaching and learning of English Learners with disabilities with two summer professional learning opportunities:
- Pre-Referral Practices That Support English Learners (learn more and register)
- Culturally Sensitive Special Education Evaluation and IEP Development for English Learners
Culturally Sensitive Special Education Evaluation and IEP Development for English Learners
Dates: July 11, 12, & 13
Time: 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (PT) | 12:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. (ET)
Learn the policies, procedures, and best practices identified through IDEA for special education evaluation of English Learners who may have a disability.
Using tools and resources developed by the U.S. Department of Education English Learner Toolkit, participants will learn the required components for developing a culturally and linguistically appropriate Individualized Education Program (IEP) for English Learners found eligible for special education services.
Who Will Benefit
- Teams that assess and develop IEPs for English learners, including child study teams, eligibility determination teams, and families
- Staff who work with English Learners who may have disabilities, including psychologists, related service providers, special educators, ELD specialists, special education administrators, and site administrators
What You Will Learn
In this institute, participants will learn to:
- Identify best practice options for special education evaluation of students who are English Learners
- Examine the complex process of determining eligibility for English Learners
- Explore the process for developing linguistically appropriate IEP goals
- Discover collaborative instructional practices that supports English Learners with disabilities
Each day, two virtual sessions will run for 90 minutes with a 30-minute break in between sessions.
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/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 idelswd@wested.org with any questions.