Special Education Referral, Evaluation, and Placement Practices for Preschool English Language Learners

Hardin, Belinda J.; Roach-Scott, Marisa; Peisner-Feinberg, Ellen

doi:10.1080/02568540709594611

Cited by 18 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Then consent forms and demographic forms were explained, signed, and collected before beginning the data collection. Focus group questions were based on the results of the survey project described earlier (Hardin et al 2007). The focus group protocols consisted of open-ended questions regarding: beliefs surrounding educational services for young children, including those with disabilities; current processes used during the referral, evaluation, and placement process; and suggestions for improving these processes for children who are ELLs, particularly from the Latino population.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another factor is lack of clarity on the part of professionals about the purpose of screening and assessment instruments. For example, in a statewide survey of early childhood regular and special education professionals, Hardin et al (2007) found that the DIAL-3, a developmental screen, was reported as a language proficiency test (16.7% of administrators, 40% of teachers) as well as a diagnostic assessment (15.4, 20% respectively). Related to this problem is an insufficient number of bilingual professionals and lack of trained interpreters.…”

Section: Background Informationmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…These sites were selected from a pool of 31 programs that participated in a statewide survey examining the same issues the previous year (Hardin et al 2007). The following criteria were used to select the research sites.…”

Section: Research Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Investigating Parent and Professional Perspectives Concerning Special Education Services for Preschool Latino Children

Hardin

Mereoiu

Hung

et al. 2009

Early Childhood Educ J

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Population changes in the US have created new challenges for service providers responsible for screening, determining eligibility, and providing appropriate educational services to young English Language Learners (ELLs). Six focus groups (two each) with administrators, teachers, and parents were conducted in two different locations to investigate the referral, diagnostic evaluation, and placement of prekindergarten Latino children who are ELLs and their families. The purpose of this study was to: (a) identify effective practices that differentiate between cultural/linguistic differences and learning differences; (b) identify the gaps in the current special education services; and (c) make recommendations to reduce the disproportionate representation of young ELL children based on these data. The results revealed a number of factors contributing to the disproportionality of young ELL children in special services such as: inconsistent screening and evaluation methods; insufficient numbers of bilingual professionals and trained interpreters; communication barriers and contradictory procedures that undermine meaningful partnerships with parents of ELLs; the need for professional development on the purposes and administration procedures of screening and evaluation tools; and a need for policy and regulation changes pertaining to ELL children such as the timing of screenings and evaluations.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Background Informationmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Investigating Parent and Professional Perspectives Concerning Special Education Services for Preschool Latino Children

Hardin

Mereoiu

Hung

et al. 2009

Early Childhood Educ J

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Finally, when information is gathered in an inconsistent manner or using instruments that were designed for other purposes (i.e., screening vs. proficiency ratings vs. diagnostics) test results may not converge and/or lead to misidentification (Bracken 1988; Hardin, Roach, and Peisner-Feiberg 2007). Likewise, test translation may change the target construct relative to the original resulting in unintended responses (Fox and Cheng 2007).…”

Section: Using Language Tests and Surveys To Establish Need For Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parent and teacher rating of bilingual language proficiency and language development concerns

Bedore

Peña

Joyner

et al. 2011

International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

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Educators of young children, including speech-language pathologists, are often uncertain as how to effectively work with children from diverse backgrounds because they do not know enough about cultural and linguistic diversity and its impact on language development. The current study helps to address this gap by examining the validity of parent and teacher report in determining language proficiency and language ability in prekindergarten and kindergarten age children from Spanish-English bilingual backgrounds. Parents and teachers rated child language proficiency and ability in Spanish and English. Results indicate that teachers and parents were reliable informants on English language proficiency, but only the parents reliably rated children’s Spanish proficiency. Both teacher and parent report were significantly correlated to child language ability. Teachers’ ratings of ability correlated with morphosyntax performance while parents’ ratings correlated with their child’s broad language performance. For clinical and educational decision making, we emphasize the importance of understanding bilingual children’s language use across languages and contexts by incorporating both parent and teacher observations.

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“…Other researchers have attributed the lack of quality of multi-tiered interventions for ELL students (Wilkinson, Ortiz, Robertson, & Kushner, 2006). Hardin, Roach-Scott, and Peisner-Feinberg (2007) expressed the need of professional preparation for teachers, administrators, and paraprofessionals to appropriately instruct and meet the needs of ELL students.…”

Section: Ells In Special Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Special Education Policy Change

Barrio

2017

Rural Special Education Quarterly

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Research suggests that disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education has been a recurring topic of concern in the field of special education within the United States. Over the past few years, this concern has shifted to focus on the disproportionate representation of English Language Learners (ELLs) in categories of mild to moderate disabilities, specifically within the category of learning disabilities. Although improvements in educational policy have been made through federal legislation, local rural school districts continue to battle this concern, especially those in rural areas. The following article focuses on the recommendations for development, implementation, and evaluation of local policy change to improve the disproportionate representation of ELL students within rural school districts.

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Special Education Referral, Evaluation, and Placement Practices for Preschool English Language Learners

Cited by 18 publications

References 9 publications

Investigating Parent and Professional Perspectives Concerning Special Education Services for Preschool Latino Children

Investigating Parent and Professional Perspectives Concerning Special Education Services for Preschool Latino Children

Parent and teacher rating of bilingual language proficiency and language development concerns

Special Education Policy Change

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