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 offerings:
- Pre-Referral Practices That Support English Learners
- Culturally Sensitive Special Education Evaluation and IEP Development for English Learners (learn more and register)
Pre-Referral Practices That Support English Learners
Dates: June 20, 21, and 22
Time: 9:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m. (PT) | 12:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. (ET)
Join us to learn about accessible grade-level core (tier 1) instruction and appropriate interventions for English learners. The course will focus on a Culturally Responsive Design for English Learners: The UDL Approach within a multitiered system of support for English Learners framework.
The framework was designed based on the model demonstration research sponsored by the Office of Special Education Programs of the U.S. Department of Education to provide instruction, tiered intervention, and pre-referral data gathering and problem-solving to make informed special education referral decisions.
Who Will Benefit
- Classroom teachers, English language development (ELD) teachers, intervention staff, and others who provide grade level, ELD, and intervention instruction to English learners
- Child team members, including special education staff, site administrators, families, and other support personnel working with English Learners suspected of having disabilities
What You Will Learn
Learn how to:
- Tell the difference between language acquisition and learning disabilities
- Implement evidence-based instruction and intervention
- Use multiple data sources to make appropriate referrals for special education evaluations
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.