Advancement to postsecondary education for English language learners (ELLs) can be seriously constrained by a lack of academic preparation during high school. Currently, ELLs lag behind their non-ELL ...peers in their level of access to advanced college-preparatory courses. Through a qualitative case study of ELL education at a large public high school, we examine the educational practices that result in ELLs' restricted curricular choices. The findings expose the way in which ELLs' chances for rigorous academic preparation are systematically reduced and point to the importance of providing ELLs with high-level academic curriculum while also supplying linguistic scaffolding that makes such learning possible.
Inadequate and incomplete educational services for English learners (ELs) with disabilities is a common civil rights issue in the U.S. K-12 education system. Although the federal government has ...documented that schools are instituting policies of providing only one set of services, such as special education or EL supports, there is litde understanding as to why this practice persists in spite of educational laws and policies. Through a qualitative comparative case study that draws on two complementary theories, intersectionality and the language planning and policy onion, this study examines two schools' service provision practices for ELs with disabilities. The findings reveal that educators' beliefs about the differential weight of federal special education and EL laws and policies resulted in practices that bar ELs with disabilities from receiving the dual services to which they are legally entitled. The findings underscore the significance of bolstering school leaders' knowledge of federal language education laws and policies, while also instituting greater protections for ELs with disabilities, to safeguard these learners' educational opportunities and rights.
Despite increased attention to the academic progress of English learners (ELs) with disabilities as a result of the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, research has yet to investigate the educational ...opportunities of these students in secondary grades. This qualitative embedded case study examined the curricular access of 10 ELs with disabilities in middle school. Utilizing deficit thinking for its theoretical underpinnings, the analysis illuminated that ELs with disabilities were consistently placed in lower academic tracks through a number of mutually reinforcing institutional and perceptual factors. The findings have exigent implications for expanding opportunities to learn of ELs with disabilities through reform to placement criteria and provision of special education and linguistic support across a range of academic tracks.
In United States K-12 schools, the question "Is it language or disability?" is one often asked about students dually identified as "English learners" (ELs) and "students with disabilities." In this ...article, the author provides a brief historical overview of how and why this question arose in educational praxis. The author then explores the ways in which the question has evolved into a pervasive and troubling filter through which educators attempt to make sense of the academic performance, linguistic development, and even behaviors of ELs with disabilities. This "language-or-disability" filter, however, as the author argues, inordinately focuses on language and disability alone while ignoring the systemic contributors to the academic difficulties ELs with disabilities encounter. By attributing disability or language as the sole source of a wide range of "problems," the filter reinforces a deficit mindset rooted in ableism and monolingualism. The author concludes the article by offering alternatives to "Is it language or disability?" that account for and shift attention to the systemic disadvantage ELs with disabilities experience in their schooling.
Background: English language learners (ELLs) with special needs remain an underresearched student population. Although providing services to these students proves to be a daunting task, bilingual ...schools are uniquely poised to meet the educational needs of ELLs with special needs. Yet, research has not explored service provision practices in bilingual contexts for ELLs with special needs. Purpose of Study: This study examined the service provision practices of a bilingual school for ELLs with special needs and how these practices shaped the educational opportunities of these students. Research Design: This study is an ethnographic case study of a charter bilingual elementary school. Data Collection and Analysis: Fieldwork lasted for a majority of one academic year with the following data collected: classroom observations, interviews with staff, participation in meetings and informal conversations with staff, and school artifacts. The data were analyzed through an intersectionality framework, examining how disability and primary language resulted in multiple disadvantages for ELLs with special needs. Findings: That data analysis revealed how providing services to ELLs with special needs is fraught with challenges and compromises. Specifically, despite the school's commitment to bilingualism, ideological and material conditions in the school worked in concert to restrict the access of ELLs with special needs to bilingual and academic support. The findings also illuminated how in an attempt to provide services, the school was enacting a de facto policy that both disregarded the bilingual development of ELLs with special needs and misappropriated effective models of bilingual and special education. Conclusions/Recommendations: The study argues that when schools prioritize language and special education services in parity, educational opportunities for ELLs with special needs will improve. This study also asserts that the educational opportunities of ELLs with special needs are contingent upon the implementation of bilingual and special education programs with fidelity. Thus, to best prepare schools to serve ELLs with special needs, teacher education programs need to dedicate more attention to developing in-service and preservice teachers' interdisciplinary knowledge about these students and their educational needs and rights.
One of the affordances of the Every Student Succeeds Act (Every Student Succeeds Act. Pub. L. No. 114-95. 161 Stat. 1177(ESSA), 2015) was that it mandated U.S. districts and schools to take a closer ...look at the academic performance of English learner students with disabilities (ELSWDs), who constitute 14.3% of all English learners (ELs; National Center for Education Statistics, 2020). ESSA allows education stakeholders to understand how ELSWDs are faring academically -- a requisite step toward enhancing these students' educational opportunities. Yet, across research -- inclusive of my own -- and reporting on ELSWDs, these students' voices have been markedly absent (see Kangas, 2014, 2017b). To understand the academic achievement and experiences of ELSWDs, however, empirical inquiry must turn to the students themselves. What are the educational experiences of ELSWDs? How do they make sense of their own academic achievement and opportunities? What do they see as their capabilities and strengths? This study seeks to answer these questions, which have yet to be investigated, despite the fact that ELSWDs are critical stakeholders in their own education. Through an ethnographic case study at two middle schools, this study foregrounds the lived experiences of ELSWDs, demonstrating how their perceptions of themselves and their schooling countered the broader narratives produced by educators and in scholarship.
Educational change efforts that prioritize equity for multilingual learners (MLs) require attention to several interconnected components of the education system. We build on prior literature and our ...collective research to clarify the concept of shared responsibility for ML students and to operationalize the concept at the school, district, and state levels. Drawing on institutional theory and a racialized organizations lens, we argue that shared responsibility is embedded in the mindsets, norms, and structures that shape education systems. We also attend to the complexities of fostering shared responsibility in practice, such as grappling with pervasive educator burnout and developing innovative strategies that span levels of the system. We conclude with directions for future research, including studies examining effective approaches for shifting the mindsets, norms, and routines comprising shared responsibility, and recommendations for researchers to play a more active role in shaping shared responsibility for ML students.
Research has documented that service provision for English learners (ELs) with disabilities is a complicated endeavor in K–12 schools. Recent studies have examined how English language development ...and special education services are often in tension with one another, as logistical and ideological barriers hinder efforts in schools to provide these dual services. Despite these findings, studies to date have solely investigated elementary contexts, leaving scarce understanding of service provision in secondary grades. This qualitative embedded case study examined dual service provision for 12 ELs with disabilities across two middle schools. Utilizing intersectionality for its theoretical framework, the analysis revealed that dual service provision policies and academic tracking structures melded in ways that resulted in interrelated social, linguistic, and academic oppression for ELs with disabilities. The findings highlight the importance of examining schools’ de facto language education policies and learning environments to ensure equitable opportunities for the academic and linguistic development of ELs with disabilities.
In the United States, individualized language plans (ILPs) have gained traction across K–12 schools. Much like the Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) used in special education, ILPs outline ...individualized goals, accommodations, and services for multilingual learners for their language development; however, unlike IEPs, ILPs are developed at the local level with no federal oversight or guidance. While scholars have recently called for the implementation of ILPs as a mechanism for promoting systemic change, there is a scarcity of scholarship that critically discusses or examines ILPs. In response to this gap, in this Teaching Issue article, we draw upon a combination of prior research, policy guidance, and our own review of ILP templates mandated or recommended in various states across the United States, to identify the characteristics, affordances, and constraints of ILPs. After discussing the promises and pitfalls of large‐scale implementation of these tools, we close this paper with two recommendations for teachers and policymakers who may consider adopting ILPs: to emphasize instructional support and a multiplicity of data and voices.
English learners' (ELs') opportunity gap in U.S. K-12 schools is well known. While many of us in the field of applied linguistics are committed to achieving greater parity for ELs, the field as a ...whole has a propensity to approach this opportunity gap by addressing ELs' linguistic needs. This response, however, is siloed in nature, resulting in tunnel vision that reduces ELs into a single identity-that is, language learners-when in fact they are also at the intersection of multiple identities, such as students of color, low-income students, and students with disabilities. By applying an intersectionality lens to three examples from research and practice to illustrate how ELs' intersectional identities create inequalities beyond language barriers, we urge those in the field of applied linguistics to collaborate with educators, policymakers, and researchers in other fields to address the linguistic and nonlinguistic barriers that ELs face in their educational journey.
