Lynn DeBolt Schroeder
Challenges of Identifying Students Who Are Both English Language Learners/Emerging Bilingual and Special Education Students The face of education has changed drastically over the years. We currently live in a highstakes testing environment that has educators concerned for their future as well as the future of their students. Any student who is considered to be at risk for unsatisfactory performance on the state-mandated testing often becomes the focus of their teacher’s concern. Students’ unsatisfactory performance can reflect poorly on their teacher’s performance reviews which could ultimately jeopardize their employment. One such group of students is the population referred to in federal legislation as Limited English Proficient. So as not to portray these students from a deficit viewpoint, in this paper they will be referred to as Emerging Bilinguals (EB). The term Emerging Bilingual focuses on the positive aspect of second language acquisition. Our global economy depends on employees who are fluent in more than one language. The students who come to us fluent in a language other than English, have the potential to graduate from our public school system with communication skills surpassing those of our monolingual students. While EB students have varying degrees of proficiency in their use and understanding of the English language, there is great concern that their inability to use academic vocabulary and academic language will hinder their performance on standardized tests. In addition to the concern regarding high-stakes testing, Artiles and Ortiz (2002) state that a student who has been identified as a limited English proficient student is 15-20% more likely to drop out of school prior to receiving a high school diploma than their peers. Kena et al. (2016) report that 9.3% of students in the United States are served as EB students. Another group of students who are of great concern are those who the teacher suspects might qualify for special education services. Although federal legislation identifies students receiving special education students as disabled, this article will use the term special needs so as not to focus on deficits. The term disabled or disabilities will be used if it is part of a federally defined category or is the term used in an article or website. According to Kena et al. (2016), approximately 13% of all students enrolled nationwide during the 2013-14 school year were identified as having special needs. Of this group, 35% were served under the category of specific learning disability. Stetser and Stillwell (2014) report that in 2011-2012 only 61% of students with special needs completed their high school education within four years. Students who are English language learners/emerging bilinguals and qualify for special education services are at high risk for dropping out of school, often due to academic failure (Ormrod, 2008). The purpose of this inquiry is to examine the over- and under-identification of EB students who qualify for special education services. This inquiry will then look at the
