25. Eligibility for Culturally Diverse Populations

Special Education Eligibility for Culturally Diverse Populations

The Banks School District is committed to ensuring eligibility practices effectively differentiate between a disability and a learning difficulty or underachievement that can be attributed to cultural and/or linguistic difference. Evaluation strategies ensure that students identified with Limited English Proficiency are not disproportionately represented within the Special Education population of the Banks School District. Research indicates that overrepresentation of culturally diverse populations in Special Education is often the result of 1) instruction and intervention practices that do not meet the learning needs of LEP students in general education, 2) Inappropriate Special Education referral and assessment procedures; and 3) Biased assessment practices. (Ortiz, 2002; Baca and Cervantes, 2004)

Procedures

The following procedures are used to ensure these issues are not a factor in making eligibility determinations for culturally diverse populations,

• Assessments and evaluation materials used to assess linguistically and/or culturally diverse students:

• Are selected and administered so as not to be discriminatory on a racial or cultural basis;

• Are provided and administered in the child’s native language or other mode of communication in the form most likely to yield accurate information on what the child knows and can do academically, developmentally and functionally, unless it is clearly not feasible to do so;

• Are used for the purposes for which the assessments or measures are valid and reliable;

•  Are administered by trained and knowledgeable personnel; and

• Are administered in accordance with instructions provided by the producer of the assessments.

Pre-referral

At the pre-referral level the ELD teacher will provide the following information:

• Completion of the Pre-referral Checklist for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

• Interpretation of Response to Intervention data with respect to cultural and linguistic aspects of the student’s needs and progress. This includes identification of barriers to success and planning to overcome such barriers.

• Assessment of opportunity for learning, language proficiency and acculturation will include:

• Completion of the Acculturation Quick Screen and Home Language Survey

• Administration of the Woodcock-Munoz Language Survey to assess of levels of English language proficiency and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency.

• Recommendation that lack of school success is not a function of the student’s level of English language development. 

Caution

• If the learning/behavior problems can be primarily attributed to

  • • Socio-cultural differences (level of acculturation)

    • Economic disadvantage

    • Lack of instruction/inconsistent schooling

    • Inappropriate instruction

    • Ecological/environmental issues in the classroom

• Then, the student should not be considered for Special Education.

• When students have been verified to have limited English proficiency, include the ELD teacher at the IEP meeting.

• Interpreters must be provided for families who are unable to participate in the IEP process without an interpreter able to translate in the parent’s native language. Please contact Student Services if translation services need to be set up.