Event Date: Thursday, December 12, 2013, 3:00–4:30 p.m. ET

Location: Webinar

Description: Multi-Tiered Systems of Support that deliver high-quality, research-based instruction and interventions can support the growing English language learner population in general and in special education. On this Bridge Webinar, Claudia Rinaldi, Assistant Director of the Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative at EDC, and Julie Esparza-Brown, Assistant Professor and Project Director for Portland State University’s Bilingual/Special Education Program, present research on a culturally and linguistically appropriate model for MTSS and provide examples of instructional planning, assessment, and intervention across the tiers. Rinaldi and Esparza-Brown will present concrete examples of preventive assessment measures, collaboration structures, data-informed problem solving, and instruction and intervention planning and delivery to support ELLs. The presenters will highlight the importance of collaboration and joint responsibility among ELL, special education, and general education educators in meeting the needs of all English language learners, including those with disabilities.

Research Alliance: English Language Learners Alliance

Audience: District-level ELL, special education, and response to intervention (RTI) directors and coordinators, as well as teachers with English language learners in their classrooms.

Speakers:

• Claudia Rinaldi, Assistant Director, Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative, Education Development Center
• Julie Esparza-Brown, Assistant Professor; Project Director, Bilingual/Special Education Program, Portland State University
• Maria-Paz Avery, Facilitator, English Language Learners Alliance
• Carrie Parker, Researcher, English Language Learners Alliance

Report(s) Citation:

The Webinar will be based on the following selected sources; primary sources are in bold.

Brown, J.E., & Doolittle, J. (2008). A cultural, linguistic, and ecological framework for response to intervention with English language learners. Boulder, CO: National Center for Culturally Relevant Educational Systems.

Echevarria, J.J., & Vogt, M.E. (2010). Response to intervention (RTI) and English learners: Making it happen. Lebanon, IN: Pearson.

Fien, H., Smith, J.L.M. Baker, S.K., Chaparro, E., Baker, D.L., & Preciado, J.A. (2011). Including English learners in a multiitiered approach to early reading instruction and intervention. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 36(3), 143-157.

Gersten, R., Baker, S. K., Shanahan, T., Linan-Thompson, S., Collins, P., & Scarcella, R. (2007). Effective literacy and language instruction for English learners n the elementary grades, An IES practice guide. Washington, DC: Institute for Educational Sciences, Department of Education.

Higgins-Averill, O. & Baker, D., & Rinaldi, C. (2013). Research Brief: The nexus of response to intervention (RTI) and the identification of specific learning disabilities (SLD): guidelines for district-level implementation. Urban Special Education Leadership Cullaborative, Waltham, MA.

Richards-Tutor, C., Solari, E.J., Leafstedt, J.M., Gerber, M.M., Filippini, A., & Aceves, T.C. (2012). Response to intervention for English learners: Examining models for determining response and nonresponse. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 38,173-185.

Rinaldi, C., Higgins, A.O., & Stuart, S. K., (2011). Response to intervention: Educators’ perceptions of a three-year RTI cullaborative reform effort in an urban elementary school. Journal of Education, 19(2), 43-52.

Stuart, S.K. & Rinaldi, C. (2012). Response to intervention for English language learners. The Journal of Multiculturalism in Education, 7(4), can be retrieved from (http://www.wtamu.edu/journal/vulume-7-number-4.aspx)

Wikson, K.K., & Lipson, M.Y. (2012). Between the CCSS and RTI in literacy and language. The Reading Teacher, 65(6), 387-391.