Effective Assessment And Instruction For ESL Students In Special Education

13 Pages 3368 Words

INTRODUCTION:

The number of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in special education has raised a number of concerns about the special needs for these students and how to meet these needs. Just as special education students require specialized instruction to fit there individual needs, mainstream LEP students require similar specialized instruction to help gain proficiency in their second language. It is, therefore, reasonable to say Special Education-ESL (SE-ESL) require highly specialized programs to address the complexity of their educational needs. As simple as this topic appears, there are a number of problems accompanying this complex group of students. First, there are a limited number of teachers highly trained in both special education and ESL instruction. In order for the students to get the services they are entitled to by the IDEA, their needs must be identified in an IEP, and the services (SE-ESL) must be coordinated together. Second, proper assessment and classification of students are vital for the academic success of this special group. As educators, we know there are a number of students who are wrongly classified as needing special services. LEP students are at great risk of being wrongly placed in special education classes. Moreover, there is a large population of students who are in ESL classes having trouble with the targeted instruction due to undiagnosed learning disabilities or communication disorders. Often these students are seen as lazy or slow learners. In addition, an examination of what are the necessary key elements needed to design a responsive SE-ESL program. Lastly, once the problems that plague this population of students are identified, remedies to the problems will be examined.


LITERATURE REVIEW:
• Cummins, Jim. Bilingualism and Special Education: Issues in Assessment and Pedagogy: Jim Cummins work is referenced in several books used to research this topic. Cummins does an in dept...