Assessment and Intervention for English Language Learners. Translating Research into Practice

Abstract

At least one in every five children in US and Canadian public schools speaks a different language at home than at school. Yet many school psychologists lack adequate training to work with this population. Our ethical principles say that we should not operate out of our bounds of competency. Many practitioners feel most competent when using standardized tests in assessing children. Often English learners are not represented in the norming samples of these tests. These conditions create a maelstrom in which school psychologists and other educators are in a state of turmoil and, sometimes, paralysis. At the eye of the maelstrom is the child. A learning disorder does not wait to start to affect an English learner until the child has learned sufficient English to be tested with the instruments we like to use. The learning disorder starts to affect the child the minute he or she walks through the door of the school. The consequences of educators being reactive rather than proactive can be devastating for these children—years of frustration, loss of self-esteem, and, for many, failure and dropping out of school.