Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Students: Strategies for Teaching and Assessment
Abstract
Connects theory to practice while presenting foundational teaching and assessment practices for CLDE students Practical in nature and designed with an eye toward universal design for learning, this text brings together foundational information from special education and ELL/bilingual fields to help teachers address the specific needs of culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional (CLDE) students. Key Features Case studies from teachers, students, and parents describe the personal challenges of CLDE students; Authentic student language examples illustrate the concepts described and make practical connections to the research discussed; Activities for further understanding allow students to review key points and connects theory to classroom practice Ancillaries available at Password-protected instructor resources include PowerPoint lecture slides, sample syllabi, and Web resources.; An open-access student study site provides online video clips of teachers in action, which exemplify different strategies and are accompanied by critical thinking questions from the authors. Students can also access additional case studies and relevant SAGE journal articles from the study site.
... Building relationships with students and families is essential to effective collaboration and increasing student outcomes (Miranda, 2014). Families can provide important information regarding the child's educational history, exposure to language, strengths and challenges in the child's acquisition of language, culturally appropriate behaviors, and differences between home and school expectations (Grassi & Barker, 2010). When school administrators value and encourage relationships with families, it not only improves understanding of the students' culture and context, but also increases the likelihood that families will be meaningfully involved in their children's education (Grassi & Barker, 2010). ...
... Families can provide important information regarding the child's educational history, exposure to language, strengths and challenges in the child's acquisition of language, culturally appropriate behaviors, and differences between home and school expectations (Grassi & Barker, 2010). When school administrators value and encourage relationships with families, it not only improves understanding of the students' culture and context, but also increases the likelihood that families will be meaningfully involved in their children's education (Grassi & Barker, 2010). ...
In recent years, student populations within public schools in the United States have become increasingly diverse, both culturally and linguistically, and are projected to continue to grow in diversity in the future. Consequently, educators must be prepared to support the needs and education of students with multicultural backgrounds who may differ from them. School administrators play an important role in creating safe, accepting school environments and guiding the education of diverse student populations. However, there is a need for additional guidance for school leaders in cultivating schools that promote equity for all students. Using the National Policy Board for Educational Administration (NPBEA) Professional Standards for Educational Leaders as a guiding framework, this paper provides practical suggestions regarding culturally responsive strategies and practices that school administrators might employ in leading diverse school communities.
... Unless teachers build trusting relationships with families, openly discussing academic, social, or special education issues will become increasingly difficult as children progress through the educational system. To help build these trusting relationships, teachers must advocate for frequent meetings, both formal and informal (Grassi & Barker, 2010). ...
... Home visits also provide opportunities for teachers to acknowledge and stress the importance that families have in contributing to student success in school and in other environments. Grassi and Barker (2010) have found that there are simple, yet important, guidelines that teachers should follow during home visits: ...
The changes in demographics in the United States are creating challenges in today's schools as more children from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds are identified with disabilities and live in rural areas. Collaboration with families is a foundation for the success of all CLD students with disabilities (Harry, 2008). This collaboration, however, can be difficult in rural schools due to historical challenges (e.g., distrust of school personnel and the special education process) and practical challenges (e.g., language differences, geographic isolation and lack of transportation). Understanding cultural issues, providing frequent informal encounters and formal meetings, and maintaining open communication can help teachers build trusting relationships with families. The development of family support systems, including cultural liaisons and parent-to-parent partnerships, can empower CLD families in rural areas and help them become comfortable with the special education process. When teachers focus on building relationships and empowering families in the school process, CLD families will have the opportunity to play a meaningful role in the appropriate education of their children.
... In order for collaboration to be most effective, school professionals must value the resources and expertise in the school, district, and community. Collaborative teams need to be diversified in their areas of expertise and experiences with students that support multiple facets of a child's needs (i.e., academic, linguistic, socioemotional; Grassi & Barker, 2010). In addition, collaborating about the needs of English learners and their families, researchers encourage school professionals to consider the ecological context of the family when determining interventions (D. Brown, Pryzwansky, & Shulte, 2006). ...
... In addition, collaborating about the needs of English learners and their families, researchers encourage school professionals to consider the ecological context of the family when determining interventions (D. Brown, Pryzwansky, & Shulte, 2006). Teams should be student centered, flexible, encourage trust, and all members of the team should have an equal voice (Grassi & Barker, 2010). Understanding the cultural values of the family and the collaborative team will enhance the impact of the collaborative process. ...
Schools are becoming increasingly diversified; however, training and professional development related to working with English language learners (ELs), especially in the area of English reading, is limited. In this article, we identify three “Big Ideas” of effective and collaborative practices that promote English reading achievement for EL students: (a) foster academic English at all stages of second-language acquisition by explicitly teaching vocabulary, emphasizing cross-linguistic transfer strategies, and supporting ongoing oral language development; (b) adopt a schoolwide collaborative approach to conduct frequent formative reading assessments and use the data to drive instruction by providing accommodations that promote English reading; and (c) implement a variety of grouping strategies to deliver reading instruction within a welcoming and sensitive learning climate. In addition, we discuss how school professionals may proactively instruct ELs and collaborate within a multidisciplinary framework to improve the English reading ability of students who are simultaneously learning the English language.
... This includes recognizing their unique ethnic and cultural identities, and understanding the beliefs of the family (Cheremshynski et al., 2013). Remaining family-centered might also require providers to offer materials or translation services in the family's native language (Grassi & Barker, 2010) which builds trust and rapport between the provider and family and may require additional training to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse families (Gardiner & French, 2011). Providers should consider developing personalized approaches and materials based on family cultural backgrounds, family knowledge of autism, service accessibility, socioeconomic status, and family priorities (Papoudi et al., 2021). ...
Over the past decade, a newer class of interventions has emerged specifically designed for young children with or at high likelihood of autism, which are called Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBIs). NDBIs are particularly well-suited as a discipline agnostic, primary intervention for young children with autism and other social communication challenges; however, community providers from multiple disciplinary backgrounds who serve these children typically do not develop competencies in areas crucial for effectively implementing NDBI. The goal of this commentary is to: (a) describe the interdisciplinary competencies needed to deliver NDBIs effectively and (b) provide recommendations for moving the field of early intervention for autism and social communication delays forward. Resources for building these competencies for providers at the pre- and in-service level are also provided.
... The teachers have been very careful in using terms, images, expression, etc, to avoid discrimination against Indigenous People [14]. Meanwhile, Grassi and Barker [15] also mentioned that connections to a student's cultural background increase student's motivation to learn. With that, module developers may include culturally relevant contents in the development of self-learning modules. ...
Aims: To determine the relationship between modules’ language contents and students learning engagement during the COVID 19 Study Design: Descriptive-correlational Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted in Bato National High School, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur from February to June 2021. Methodology: This research used the stratified random sampling. It involved 258 Grades 7-10 students. It utilized adopted questionnaires developed by Vergara (2017), Fredericks et al. (2005) and Moore and Lippman (2005). Results: The level of language contents of the modules in English gained an overall mean of 4.05 (SD=0.94) described as “high.” All components under language contents had rated high as follows: presentation (4.05), communication style (4.07), assessment (4.05) and content (3.92). On the other hand, the level of student engagement gained an overall mean score of 3.96 (SD = 1.06) with a verbal description of “highly engaged.” All components under students engagement had rated high as follows: behavioral engagement (4.19), emotional engagement (4.04), and cognitive engagement (3.65). The tested hypothesis gained an r value of 0.633, and a p-value of 0.00 which is less than 0.01, the alpha level of significance is denoting a strong positive correlation between the level of language contents of the modules and engagement of students. Hence, it determined that there was a significant relationship between language content of the modules and engagement of students. Conclusion: Although all variables in the contents of the modules and engagement are rated high and highly engaged respectively, specific statements which are within the border of often and seldom may be given attention. Moreover, the findings of this research shows significant relationship between language content of modules and students’ engagement may allow the module developers to consider that quality of modules is more relevant than quantity and that meaningful activities promote learners’ engagement.
... Addressing issues of time as a hidden curriculum is necessary for successful schooling of students with disabilities. Individualizing accommodation guided by the universal design of learning principles (Karlsone, 2015), differentiated instruction strategies (Lawrence-Brown, 2020), and culturally relevant pedagogy tenets (Grassi & Barker, 2010) is key to addressing the learning needs of learners with mobility, speech, and visual disabilities. ...
Formal education is schedule driven yet time as a hidden curriculum pertaining to students with disabilities is understudied. The authors share different challenges around disability: The first author has a physical disability and is a wheelchair user and teaches disability and equity studies in education, the second author stutters and teaches speech-language pathology, and the third author is blind and is a white cane user and teaches
linguistic and disability courses. Informed by personal and educational disability experiences, the authors examine three case scenarios related to the schooling of learners with mobility, speech, and visual disabilities in P-12 settings to understand the interaction of time and curriculum and the impact on their education. Since time as a hidden curriculum can be a barrier for students with physical, speech, and visual disabilities, then
there is a need for the reconceptualization of time within the frame of curriculum development to genuinely support the schooling of students with disabilities.
... A key factor in determining the degree to which the needs of CLDE children are met is the preparation or lack of preparation of teachers to be responsive to the needs of these students and to be more sensitive to their cultural heritage (Baca & Cervantes, 2004;Doran, 2016). Besides student learning, the area of curriculum and instruction materials is also directly affected by culture (Barker & Grassi, 2011). The contents of instructional materials as well as the instructional strategies must be presented in culturally appropriate ways (Bruns & Fowler, 1999;Patterson, 2002). ...
Arizona teacher education programs are largely concentrated in urban or suburban areas, with the majority of practicum experiences and student teaching placements located in the same metropolitan areas. However, in Arizona, 35% of K–12 students are served by the 135 school districts that qualify as “rural.” In the extreme southwest corner of Arizona bordering Mexico, 70% of these rural K–12 students are of Hispanic background with Spanish as their first language, and 26.7% of these Hispanic families are living below the poverty line. The “Grow Your Own” programs described here, developed through university–school district partnerships, are specifically designed to prepare culturally responsive educators to meet the needs and ultimately improve the lives of students with disabilities in southwestern Arizona rural border communities.
... Certain ethnic and racial categories of students appear to be overidentified or underidentified [14,31]. e disproportionality of ELLs in special education placement was explored in Arizona [29]. ...
Overrepresentation of English language learners (ELLs) in special education is a current problem. Urban school professionals indicated that inappropriate placement is linked to a multiplicity of factors. Scarce data exist regarding the relationship between school professional efficacy beliefs, the availability of bilingual programs and personnel for ELLs, and successful academic outcomes. School employees are still confused about the proper placement of English language learners (ELLs). What is enough time to acquire a second language and learn with success? Without other substantial program choices, children are referred to special education. Furthermore, many students in need of special education may be overlooked and remain in ESL programs for their entire school career. The aim of this study was to identify the role staff member’s efficacy plays in the proper determination of an ELL with a language difference or disability. Child study team (CST) members ( n=14 ) working with a large Hispanic ELL population participated in semistructured interviews to determine the role their efficacy beliefs exert during assessment of linguistically diverse students. Overwhelmingly, staff members noted that they did not feel competent when making decisions regarding ELLs. Therefore, staff members placed the children into special education each time. The practice implications come from the prominent themes that include significant in-district professional development on second language acquisition, facilitation of second language through use of first language through bilingual staff, and committed bilingual programs to meet ELL needs. Additionally, universities must provide coursework that furthers second language acquisition theories and strategies for all teacher candidate programs.
... While interactions based on discussion in one's native language are challenging enough, the added challenge of teaching and learning in a second language and in a reform context drawn from western cultures may make the task of developing self-regulated learners in an Arab country even more difficult (see e.g., Krashen, 1985;McInerney, 2008). Effectiveness of student-centered approaches may depend on teachers' abilities to provide comprehensible input in the second language together with linguistically and academically appropriate tasks in settings where students feel comfortable interacting with others in their second language (Grassi & Barker, 2010). ...
Following the establishment of a set of key elements for educational reform in Qatar, this chapter presents the findings from a research study in 67 randomly selected third and fourth grade math and science classrooms in Qatari Independent Schools on the status of the key educational reform elements. Observations were conducted to determine teacher and student classroom behaviors related to student-centered teaching and learning. Surveys were administered in these classes to investigate students’ perceptions of inquiry and learning environment and teachers’ perceptions of reform-based instruction and teacher efficacy. Achievement data were obtained from reports of the Qatar Comprehensive Educational Tests. Findings indicated a mismatch between observed behaviors, including achievement per¬formance, and participant perceptions of student-centered teaching and learning. In general, participant perceptions indicated greater implementation of reform-based elements than were evident in observations and achievement data. Few differences in profiles of higher- and lower-performing schools were found, although lower-performing schools exhibited more student-centered classroom characteristics with more student off-task behavior. Implications of the findings are also discussed in the chapter.
El trabajo que se presenta en este capítulo tiene como propósito principal construir y validar una herramienta que permita evaluar el desarrollo de la enseñanza de la música en los centros de educación primaria de Cataluña e identificar las competencias docentes requeridas en cada uno de sus contextos. Esta herramienta busca profundizar específicamente en dos aspectos que se consideran clave: (1) Diagnosticar y caracterizar el lugar y función actual de la música en los centros escolares de educación Infantil y Primaria y de Cataluña; (2) Identificar las competencias docentes que requiere el especialista de música en los diferentes contextos escolares actuales.
Introducción: Los estudiantes de hoy son nativos digitales, tienen un perfil diferente al alumno tradicional de papel y el bolígrafo. Son alumnos que han crecido con las tecnologías digitales, presentando con ello diferentes estilos de aprendizaje con una nueva actitud hacia el mismo. En estos tiempos de sociedad hiperconectada, los docentes nos enfrentamos a nuevos desafíos y debemos resolver cuestiones importantes relacionadas con la motivación, las necesidades y los intereses de nuestros estudiantes en el proceso de aprendizaje. La implementación de la gamificación en el ámbito de la educación es una de las herramientas que se pueden usar con el fin de desarrollar nuevas competencias, mejorar la motivación, la cohesión de grupo y el liderazgo de los alumnos. Objetivos: los objetivos que se posponen de este estudio son conocer las escape rooms educativas y su uso potencial como herramienta didáctica en Educación Superior. Metodología: La gamificación se conoce comúnmente como el uso de elementos de diseño de juegos en contextos no lúdico y, en los últimos años, ha cobrado impulso en varios ámbitos, incluido el educativo. En concreto, una tendencia que ha empezado a llamar la atención de los educadores es el uso de escape room educativas como recurso didáctico. Las salas de escape pueden definirse como juegos de acción en vivo basados en el trabajo en equipo en los que los jugadores descubren pistas, resuelven rompecabezas y realizan tareas en una o más salas para lograr un objetivo específico (normalmente escapar de la sala) en un tiempo limitado. Resultados: El uso de las salas de escape en contextos educativos ha demostrado ser capaz de aportar muchos beneficios a los estudiantes, potenciando habilidades como el trabajo en equipo, el liderazgo, el pensamiento creativo y la comunicación. Los profesores pueden crear salas de escape educativas, es decir, salas de escape diseñadas específicamente con fines didácticos y de aprendizaje, que tienen el potencial de aportar valiosos beneficios adicionales a los estudiantes. Conclusiones: para concluir, también es necesario añadir que la gamificación, y el uso de escape room como metodología educativa, tiene sus limitaciones y desventajas. Una de las desventajas fundamentales es la elevada implicación que supone para el docente, puesto que la producción de materiales educativos audiovisuales ajustados a los principios de calidad de la gamificación y de diversidad supone un desembolso de tiempo e ideas importante. Además, si no es bien aplicada y tutorizada, la gamificación puede desembocar en competitividades excesivas.
Introducción: El programa Hipatia promovido desde el Gobierno de Aragón tiene como finalidad crear redes de trabajo entre docentes de centros educativos y de la Universidad, facilitando la reflexión sobre temas de interés común para ambas partes. A través de estas colaboraciones surgen sinergias para generar proyectos de innovación e investigación que ayuden a mejorar los procesos de enseñanza aprendizaje. La participación en este programa facilita a los docentes de la Universidad la posibilidad de observar centros educativos de diferente tipología y, por otra parte, brindar a los docentes de estos centros la posibilidad de visitar y participar en la dinámica de la Universidad. Fruto de las estancias docentes realizadas a través del programa Hipatia nace el presente proyecto de investigación llevado a cabo desde el Área de Didáctica y Organización Escolar de la Facultad de Educación de Zaragoza junto con el Colegio de Educación Especial ATADES de Zaragoza, que escolariza a alumnos con Necesidades Educativas Especiales desde los 0 a los 21 años. Método: A través de este estudio cualitativo de investigación-acción se pretende mejorar el diseño de prácticas escolares del alumnado de Magisterio de Educación Primaria en centros de Educación Especial. Para ello, se ha llevado a cabo un grupo de discusión con cinco profesoras/es de Educación Especial y tres alumnas en prácticas. A través de éste se ha recogido información en torno a tres ámbitos de interés 1) ¿Cómo es el diseño de prácticas escolares y por qué no encaja en un centro específico con alumnado de Educación Especial? 2) ¿Cómo se podría mejorar el diseño y la evaluación de las prácticas escolares para encajar en la dinámica de un centro específico de Educación Especial? 3) ¿Qué competencias son necesarias en los docentes de Educación Especial y en el alumnado de prácticas escolares?. Resultados: 1) el diseño de prácticas escolares propuesto desde la universidad no se ajusta a las necesidades del alumnado en prácticas ni a las características del alumnado con Necesidades Educativas Especiales, además, obstaculiza la labor diaria del profesional de Educación Especial; 2) Se proponen alternativas para un diseño y evaluación más colaborativo, dinámico y constructivo para todas las partes: alumnado en prácticas, alumnos con Necesidades Educativas Especiales, profesionales de Educación Especial y tutor de universidad; 3a) Las competencias necesarias que conforman el perfil del especialista de Educación Especial están relacionadas con: el trabajo en equipo, la capacidad para adaptarse a nuevas situaciones, la capacidad para aprender y la adquisición de competencias emocionales para el bienestar; 3b) Las competencias necesarias que conforman el perfil del alumnado en prácticas están relacionadas con: la capacidad de aprender, la capacidad de aplicar conocimientos a la práctica, la adquisición de habilidades intrapersonales (autoconocimiento, regulación emocional, automotivación y autoestima) y habilidades interpersonales (empatía y habilidades sociales). Conclusiones: de esta colaboración surge una propuesta de diseño de prácticas enfocada al desarrollo competencial del estudiante y más adaptada a la realidad de las necesidades de los alumnos con discapacidad y de los profesionales de estos centros.
Call for Papers and Special Issue Proposals
Aims and Scope
Journal of Language Teaching and Research (JLTR) is a scholarly peer-reviewed international scientific journal published bimonthly, focusing on
theories, methods, and materials in language teaching, study and research. It provides a high profile, leading edge forum for academics, professionals,
consultants, educators, practitioners and students in the field to contribute and disseminate innovative new work on language teaching and research.
JLTR invites original, previously unpublished, research and survey articles, plus research-in-progress reports and short research notes, on both
practical and theoretical aspects of language teaching, learning, and research. These areas include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
• Language teaching methodologies
• Pedagogical techniques
• Teaching and curricular practices
• Curriculum development and teaching methods
• Programme, syllabus, and materials design
• Second and foreign language teaching and learning
• Classroom-centered research
• Literacy
• Language education
• Teacher education and professional development
• Teacher training
• Cross-cultural studies
• Child, second, and foreign language acquisition
• Bilingual and multilingual education
• Translation
• Teaching of specific skills
• Language teaching for specific purposes
• New technologies in language teaching
• Testing and evaluation
• Language representation
• Language planning
• Literature, language, and linguistics
• Applied linguistics
• Phonetics, phonology, and morphology
• Syntax and semantics
• Sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and neurolinguistics
• Discourse analysis
• Stylistics
• Language and culture, cognition, and pragmatics
• Language teaching and psychology, anthropology, sociology
• Theories and practice in related fields
Special Issue Guidelines
Special issues feature specifically aimed and targeted topics of interest contributed by authors responding to a particular Call for Papers or by
invitation, edited by guest editor(s). We encourage you to submit proposals for creating special issues in areas that are of interest to the Journal.
Preference will be given to proposals that cover some unique aspect of the technology and ones that include subjects that are timely and useful to the
readers of the Journal. A Special Issue is typically made of 15 to 30 papers, with each paper 8 to 12 pages of length.
A special issue can also be proposed for selected top papers of a conference/workshop. In this case, the special issue is usually released in
association with the committee members of the conference/workshop like general chairs and/or program chairs who are appointed as the Guest
Editors of the Special Issue.
The following information should be included as part of the proposal:
• Proposed title for the Special Issue
• Description of the topic area to be focused upon and justification
• Review process for the selection and rejection of papers
• Name, contact, position, affiliation, and biography of the Guest Editor(s)
• List of potential reviewers if available
• Potential authors to the issue if available
• Estimated number of papers to accept to the special issue
• Tentative time-table for the call for papers and reviews, including
o Submission of extended version
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o Final submission due
o Time to deliver final package to the publisher
If the proposal is for selected papers of a conference/workshop, the following information should be included as part of the proposal as well:
• The name of the conference/workshop, and the URL of the event.
• A brief description of the technical issues that the conference/workshop addresses, highlighting the relevance for the journal.
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yet available, please refer to previous events. First time conference/workshops, please report the estimated figures.
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be informed the Author Guide.
• Providing us the completed and approved final versions of the papers formatted in the Journal’s style, together with all authors’ contact
information.
• Writing a one- or two-page introductory editorial to be published in the Special Issue.
This study sheds light on the lexical choice difficulty encountered by advanced learners of English by analyzing the lexical choice errors committed by a group of Jordanian students majoring in English. A task was set for 40 students to translate from Arabic into English several sentences including lexical items whose specific senses restrict their use and applications in a particular context and within certain collocational patterns. The sources of the errors were identified and categorized. In backtracking the sources of the errors in each category, the study attempts to deduce the possible cognitive strategies employed by the students in dealing with a lexical choice difficulty. Hence, the study provides psycholinguistic empirical evidence on the lexical retrieval processes and strategies employed by second language (L2) learners in tackling lexical choice problems. Results of the study revealed that the students employ a range of first language (L1)-based and L2-based lexical retrieval strategies such as semantic association, semantic analogy, approximation and derivations.
Since there is a dearth of research in oral corrective feedback in the Philippines together with the implementation of the K-12 curriculum, the researcher deemed it necessary to shed light to the significance of corrective feedback in oral communication classes. The study aimed to determine the different types of oral corrective feedback used by oral communication teachers and preferred by students, level of effectiveness of oral corrective feedback as perceived by teachers and students, and the difference in the level of effectiveness of oral corrective feedback as perceived by teachers and students. Specifically, the results showed the following: first, ignoring was the type of oral corrective feedback mostly used by oral communication teachers in improving oral communication skills; second, recast, explicit correction, and questioning (self-correction) were the types of oral corrective feedback most preferred by students in improving oral communication skills. However, ignoring was the type of oral corrective feedback that was never preferred by the students in improving oral communications skills; third, teachers and students perceived recast, questioning (peer correction), and questioning (self-correction) as highly effective. On the other hand, ignoring was perceived as never effective in improving oral communication skills; finally, there was a significant difference in the level of effectiveness in clarification request as perceived by teachers and students. More importantly, there was a high significant difference in the level of effectiveness in explicit correction, denial, and ignoring as perceived by teachers and students.
High quality teaching and learning materials (TLM) are essential for early literacy learning. The purpose of this study was to determine if the TLM used in schools in Kano State, Nigeria, were culturally appropriate, gender balanced and relevant to the Nigeria Universal Basic Education Curriculum, with particular emphasis on primary reading. Using a researcher-adapted rubric, lesson plans, textbooks and reading books from 10 private and public schools located in urban and rural areas in Kano were evaluated. The TLM were rated as moderately relevant to the Primary 3 English studies curriculum, which focuses on literacy development. However, the materials were generally not culturally responsive to this region and displayed only emergent gender balance. We conclude with recommendations for policy and practice, including the greater involvement of stakeholders from this region in materials development to support early literacy teaching and learning.
Writing is one of the four abilities in English Learning. Many students need to write their theses and dissertations in English in order to achieve their academic degrees. English writing is in fact an access of international and intercultural communication with native-speakers and non-native speakers, in academic fields. After reading abundant books, articles, theses, or papers in English, the writers can try to produce their own writings to prove their understandings, ask their questions and waiting for answers from readers.
The increasing ethnic diversity in the UK has highlighted the importance of supporting primary school pupils with English as an Additional Language (EAL), some of whom also have special educational needs (SEN). However, there is relatively little research carried out in the UK on children with both EAL needs and SEN. This paper presents the results of a study which aimed to explore the strategies used to teach and support pupils with the dual needs in four schools in North-West England. It reports research carried out with eight EAL pupils with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) and four pupils with learning difficulties (LD), and explores the different strategies staff used to support these pupils. The results showed that the two groups varied in the extent to which staff differentiated pedagogical strategies. The paper concludes by pointing to the need for further training and greater collaboration between the fields of EAL and SEN in research and educational practice.
Qatar K-12 school reform emphasizes student-centered classrooms where students actively engage in enquiry and use their critical thinking and problem solving skills. Classrooms characterized by these elements should emerge as more successful on Qatari standards-based assessments, but little research has been done to examine the relationship between these characteristics and standards attainment. This study investigated the conditions for student-centered teaching and learning through examination of teacher and student perceptions, and student achievement in math and science classrooms in higher and lower achieving elementary schools. Data were collected in 17 schools randomly selected from 46 schools that had implemented the standards for at least 3 years. Findings indicate that the percentage of standards met by schools is very low and the incidence of classroom behaviors associated with student-centered classrooms is also very low across schools. However, schools making more progress meeting standards tended to exhibit higher levels of student-centered behaviors. The implications of these findings for professional development and the implementation of reform in Qatar were discussed.
Standards-based instruction and differentiated learning can be compatible approaches in today's classrooms.
The purpose of this paper is to review research on the use of formative evaluation with mildly handicapped pupils. First, the importance of formative evaluation to special education is described. Then, four critical issues in formative evaluation methodology are discussed: focus of measurement, frequency of measurement, data display, and data-utilization methods. Finally, a proposal for additional related research is advanced.
Today many special education services are provided in general education classrooms. various support models are designed to make classrooms more inclusive and more appropriate learning environments for students with disabilities and others who are at risk for school failure. supporters contend that better collaboration and service coordination in mainstream settings will enable many students with disabilities to achieve greater academic and social success. one support model used in many inclusive classrooms is cooperative teaching or “co-teaching.” this article explores fundamental planning issues that need to be addressed by school systems to facilitate effective co-teaching models.
Describes four models for grouping in cooperative teaching settings with a regular and a special educator. Common coteaching issues such as grading and classroom management are addressed. Charts provide a framework for lesson planning in coteaching settings. (DB)
IntroductionThe TheoryThe EvidenceThree Longitudinal StudiesExplanations for Stabilization and/or FossilizationThe Status of Fossilization in SLA Theory
The need for effective approaches for identifying English language learners with learning disabilities is great and growing. Meeting this need is complicated by recent developments in the field of learning disabilities that are unrelated to the English language learning status, and by limitations in existing knowledge specific to the identification of English language learners with learning disabilities. We review recent developments in the field of learning disabilities concerning the need for earlier identification, the need for a more appropriate conceptualization of learning disability, and the need for more effective assessments and treatments. We discuss challenges to assessment and identification of English language learners with learning disabilities, provide examples of two approaches to meeting these challenges, and describe some remaining challenges.
This paper is a case study of the untutored acquisition of English by a 33 year old Costa Rican named Alberto. His language learning was examined longitudinally for a ten month period. During that time he evidenced very little linguistic growth. Three causes for Alberto's lack of development are considered: ability, age, and social and psychological distance. Performance on a test of adaptive intelligence indicated that lack of ability is not adequate to explain his acquisition pattern. Also, due to the inadequacy of the arguments for a biological critical period in language acquisition, age is also rejected as a cause. However, Alberto's English speech showed evidence of pidginization. Pidginization is seen as the result of the learner's social and psychological distance from speakers of the target language. Hence, it is argued that Alberto's lack of development in English is the result of his social and psychological distance from native speakers of English.
This is an 18-month ethnographic study of learning difficulties among linguistic minoritychildren in grades 1–5. Twelve children (4 Hispanic, 3 Laotian, 3 Hmong, 1 Vietnamese, and 1 Sudanese) were followed across school and home settings. The study shows that cultural conflict may help explain problems in the acquisition of English literacy. English literacy school activities presuppose cultural knowledge and values which these children and their families have not acquired. Such cultural conflict can manifest itself as a “cultural trauma” that disables children's learning, and in specific, their literacy learning. As a result of the study, an argument is made (a) that at the heart of academic failure may be a profound cultural conflict, (b) that there are ways to socialize minority children for academic success, and (c) that culturally-based instructional models can help in the acquisition of English literacy for academic success.
In order to test whether nonhandicapped students reject or dislike lower-achieving handicapped peers with whom they collaborate 48 students (36 nonhandicapped and 12 handicapped) were assigned to cooperative or individualistic conditions 55 minutes a day for 15 instructional days. The results indicate that cooperative learning experiences promoted higher achievement and greater interpersonal attraction between handicapped and nonhandicapped students, as well as more cross-handicap interaction focused on supporting and regulating efforts to learn and to ensure involvement of all students in the learning tasks.