Supporting Educators in Determining Special Education Eligibility of English Learner Students

This slide deck accompanies a Practitioner's Brief, Determining Special Education Eligibility of English Learners, the REL Northeast & Islands recently published. The brief and this slide deck discuss the results of a study conducted with teachers and administrators in K-12 schools across Connecticut. The focus of the study was on strategies used to support struggling English learners (ELs), and how educators can determine whether an EL is struggling due to limited English or if the cause may be a disability. The topics discussed are collaboration, cultural responsiveness, Multi-tiered Systems of Support, data collection, and progress monitoring. Recommendations of strategies for educators to use are presented.