Press Releases

For Immediate Release: 16 February 2010

New Research Examines How School Districts Identify Learning Disabilities Among ELLs

Boston, Mass. — A new Issues & Answers Report produced by the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands (REL-NEI) describes how three midsize school districts in New York State identify learning disabilities among students who are English language learners (ELLs). The report presents similarities and differences in the districts’ practices and lists eight challenges these educators faced in identifying learning disabilities among ELLs. It also describes five conditions that appear to be important for avoiding misidentification.

“Processes and Challenges in Identifying Learning Disabilities Among Students Who Are English Language Learners in Three New York State Districts” was published by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). The New York State Education Department (NYSED) requested the report as part of a state initiative to better address the needs of students who are ELLs and have learning disabilities.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 requires districts and schools to demonstrate, before ELLs can be identified as having a learning disability, that their academic struggles are not primarily because of a lack of scientifically based reading instruction, a lack of appropriate instruction, or their limited English proficiency. Many districts, however, lack the capacity to make these distinctions systematically and rigorously. Without clear processes in place, districts run the double risk of missing ELLs with learning disabilities who need support services and mislabeling other ELLs who do not actually need those additional supports.

“Research demonstrating effective ways to differentiate learning struggles that are expected during second-language development from those that are indicative of a learning disability is far from complete” said study co-director María Teresa Sánchez of Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), which administers REL-NEI. “Educators need information on how to identify learning disabilities among ELLs, and this report shows how three New York districts seek to identify these students, the challenges they face in the process, and lessons learned that can inform future practices in other districts.”

REL-NEI researchers collected data for the study through interviews with district and school personnel, from documents provided by interviewees, and from publicly available documents found on state and district websites. The report finds that the three districts had similarities and differences in both their prereferral and special-education referral processes, with more differences in their prereferral, or early intervention, practices.

The eight challenges encountered by district and school personnel in identifying learning disabilities among ELLs are:

• difficulties with policy guidelines;
• different stakeholder views about timing for referrals of ELLs;
• insufficient knowledge of disabilities, second-language development, and students’ cultural backgrounds among personnel involved in identification;
• difficulties providing consistent, adequate services to students who are ELLs;
• lack of collaborative structures in prereferral;
• lack of access to assessments that differentiate between second-language development and learning disabilities;
• lack of consistent monitoring for struggling students who are ELLs; and
• difficulty obtaining students’ previous school records.

The five district and school conditions listed as important for avoiding misidentification of learning disabilities among ELLs are: adequate professional knowledge; effective instructional practices; effective and valid assessments and interventions; interdepartmental collaborative structures; and clear policy guidelines.

For more information about this report, contact agaddis@edc.org.

The Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands (REL-NEI) is led by Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) in partnership with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and Learning Innovations at WestEd. REL-NEI is one of 10 Regional Educational Laboratories funded by the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education. REL-NEI provides rigorous research that is relevant to national education priorities, responsive to local needs, and usable for policy and practice. Visit www.relnei.org.

This project has been funded at least in part with federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education under Contract Number ED-06-CO-0025. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) is a global nonprofit organization that develops, delivers, and evaluates innovative programs to address some of the world’s most urgent challenges in education, health, and economic development. Visit www.edc.org.