SPED 618: Lifelong Integration

Students and CLD

React to these statements in chapter 8

• “Studies have shown that teachers pay more attention to students who are attractive, well-dressed and well behaved, whereas they may ignore or discriminate against students who may have unwashed and worn clothing or who are not so well groomed” (p.291).

• “The basic components for teaching culturally diverse students are the same components used for teaching all students” (p.295).

Background to Students with Cultural and Linguistic Diversity

• Students from diverse populations experience high rates of underachievement, high retention rates, dropout rates, and thus are at-risk for special education placement (Correa et al, 2005)

• There are a disproportionate percentage of African American and Latino students who are categorized as disabled (Artiles, 2003).

• Asian-American students are underrepresented in almost every sped category (Chinn & Hughes, 1987).

• SES and abberant behavior may be contributing factors to special education placement (Artiles, Trent, & Palmer, 2004)

• Do not assume families are literate in their native language.

Second language acquisition

• Lack of preparation in sped, gen ed, and ESL programs (Barrera, 2006)

• ELL (English Language Learners)• LEP (Limited English Proficiency)• Characteristics

– Poor comprehension (listening and reading)– Limited vocabulary– Grammatical and syntactical mistakes– Articulation difficulties

• As such, some argue if LD (identified without assessing processing) can even exist in unison with LEP or ELL (Bender, 1998).

Second Language Acquisition (Correa et al., 2005, 286)

1. Early Phase (preproduction• Mimicking, repetition, and nonverbal

gestures

2. Early Production, Emergence of Speech• Short meaningful phrases

3. Familiarity with English• Moves back and forth between languages

4. Becoming Confident in English• Pronunciation of a native speaker

General Characteristics• Cultural

– Learning Styles• Often non-competitive and collaborative• Field dependent v. field independent

– Behavioral Styles• Conduct functional assessments to learn why students behavior

appears a certain way

• Socioeconomic– Avoid correlating academic success and parents’ wealth– The reason students fail in school is that the school

culture ignores and devalues the students’ own cultural backgrounds and seldom adapts to students’ differences (Gay, 2000)

Instructional Strategies

• Teach students to embrace diversity through discussion and literature

• Keep students actively involved in lessons• Show and involve students in the

relevance of the activity or concept• Reward and positive motivation systems• Incorporate student collaboration and

reciprocal teaching into lessons• Investigate dual language testing

Questions

• Service Delivery Options for ELL – Argue inclusion versus pull-out and ESL programs

• How is one’s knowledge of learning styles useful when planning lessons and instructional units for students with ELL?