The next two weeks bring three chances to participate in free live events offering information either about English-language learners who have disabilities or how to implement “response to intervention” with ELLs. Response to intervention, or RTI, is an approach to providing help to struggling students with an aim of reducing referrals to special education.
Here’s a rundown.
Tomorrow, April 29, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern time, the National Center on Response to Intervention invites you to join a webinar, “RTI for English Language Learners: Appropriate Screening, Progress Monitoring, and Instructional Planning.”
Next Wednesday, May 5, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern time, I’ll be moderating a live chat here at Education Week about implementing RTI with English-language learners. Find more information about that chat here.
Lastly, on May 12, two weeks from today, the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands will host a webinar about identifying learning disabilities in English-language learners. The webinar, scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern time, is based on a report that provided lessons learned on this topic from three school districts in New York.
I recognize that educators are hungry for information about how to discern whether a student who is lagging behind his or her peers has a learning disability or merely needs more time to learn English. If you think your school district has figured this issue out, share what you’ve learned here in the comment section.