**Time:**10 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Eastern Time
Location: Regional 15 Central Office 286 Whittemore Rd. Middlebury, CT 06762
Description: English learner students are engaged in both learning English and learning academic content, and the majority of them do so quite successfully. When English learners appear to struggle with either English or content, however, educators often have difficulty determining whether the issues are due to a learning disability or are part of the typical developmental process of doing the double work of learning academic content, mastering English, and in some cases navigating new cultural and social landscapes. This may lead some students to be inappropriately provided with special education services and others to not receive services that can benefit them. In this presentation, we describe how four Connecticut districts address these challenges. We report on district policies and teacher practices related to cross-staff collaboration, cultural responsiveness, data use, and implementation of scientifically based reading instruction. The presentation will include a discussion of specific strategies that district and school leaders can use to ensure that English learner students succeed in general and special education.
Partnership or Research Alliance: English Learner Research Alliance
Audience: The intended audience for this workshop will be practitioners from across Connecticut districts that are interested in learning more on policies and practices used to identify disabilities among English learners in four Connecticut districts.
Speakers: Todd Grindal, Ed.D., REL Northeast and Islands, SRI
