Fund scheduled coplanning time and multidisciplinary team composition for pre-referral, assessment, and referral decisions¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The report recommends that practitioners receive "scheduled and consistent coplanning time to effectively collaborate on behalf of multilingual learners with suspected disabilities," with multidisciplinary teams including special education teachers, ELD teachers, bilingual assessors, general education teachers, related service providers, and administrators. It pairs this with professional learning in culturally and linguistically sustaining Tier 2 and Tier 3 supports and unbiased assessment, and hiring bilingual assessors and family liaisons.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Multidisciplinary teams must include a range of expertise across special education, ELD, general education, and related services

Constraints¶

• The report notes partnerships across special education and ELD disciplines are relatively new and there is limited research on professional collaboration during pre-referral processes

Target Learners¶

• Young multilingual learners (preK through grade 2) with suspected disabilities

Target Learning Goals¶

• Accurate identification of learning needs and prevention of inaccurate special education referrals

Related Strategies¶

• Administrators sustain high-quality Tier 1 Core Instruction by creating conditions, structural supports, and a sitewide culture valuing dual-language learning
• Fund collaborative participatory teams and broaden dissemination to bridge edtech design and research for MLLs
• Train elementary school teachers in APD symptomatology so they can identify suspected cases and serve on multidisciplinary teams

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Burr, E., & Burho, J. (2022). Resourcing supports for young multilingual learners with suspected disabilities in California: Learning collaborative recommendations. WestEd. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED655645