Feature Issue on Educating K-12 English Language Learners with Disabilities
The available knowledge on how to effectively educate K-12 English language learners with disabilities, and measure their progress, is small but growing. However, many educators and families have pressing questions. How can educators distinguish between language-related needs and disability-related needs when evaluating and teaching these students? How do these students fit into and benefit from current teaching approaches? How can schools create more collaboration between language-related and disability-related services in meeting the complex needs of ELLs with disabilities? And, for their parents, how do the special education and English as a second language systems work, what are their child’s options and rights, and what is the family’s role in Individualized Education Programs and other aspects of their child’s education? This Impact offers some responses to these questions and others from people around the country who are helping our education system respond to the needs of this growing student population.
The goals of the publishers are as follows: “Through collaborative research, training, and information sharing, we improve policies and practices to ensure that all children, youth, and adults with disabilities are valued by, and contribute to, their communities of choice.” This site does an excellent job of providing numerous papers related to the specific topic of ELLs with disabilities. It adds value by bringing related information to the reader in one easy accessible location. Numerous papers which are reasonable in length, well-organized and accessible in presentation to make them useful resources for those looking to gain further understanding and insight into this topic. This is an excellent site that provides timely and relevant information and guidance for those looking for answers to questions stated in the summary of this resource. As noted in summary, this resource adds to growing knowledge of how to educate ELLs with learning disabilities.