I work with English Language Learners (ELLs) at a school with a large bilingual population as a support teacher. This year, like many years, we have new students who are in intermediate grades (3-5) and read at a kindergarten or first grade level, and their math skills often correspond. These students come from areas where school is not necessarily available. Clearly, the classroom teacher cannot meet all the student's instructional needs, but then neither can I in a half hour or forty-five minute block. Luckily, we should have an instructional assistant to work with this particular ethnic group this year and their time can be focused on the most struggling students.
Last year we had a student who in their third year of schooling in the US was still unable to decode the first hundred sight words, or read a first grade text accurately and independently. After a year of working with the student personally, the resource teacher assessed the student for a overlay and suggested that the student be tested for a reading disablity the next year. (Referrals typical don't occur in May, especially if we expect the parents will resist.)
I felt greatly conflicted about such testing all year since we didn't have any student to compare this one to for a norm or average of sorts. With our bilingual students we must ensure that we are providing appropriate instruction and interventions before we consider referals or retention. It isn't appropriate to compare many ELLs to grade-level expectations while they are doing the enormous task of learning a new language.
Unfortunately, I fear that students with limited formal schooling may never catch up, if we don't catch a learning disability quickly. If we were provided with more data we might be able to make more informed decisions and compare students with similar language and educational backgrounds to help create an adjusted norm. But as I tackle this challenge once again, there are simply no easy answers.
