Staffs’ April 2023 BSPD Digest

Week 1 – April 4^th, 2023 Theme: OSEP Fast Facts: Students With Disabilities Who Are English Learners (ELs)

Did you know that English Learners were more likely to be identified with SLD and speech or language impairment than all school aged students served under IDEA, Part B? For this and other facts, check out this OSEP Fast Facts sheet that contains data for students with disabilities who are English learners.

https://sites.ed.gov/idea/osep-fast-facts-students-with-disabilities-english-learners

Week 2 – April 11^th, 2023 Theme: Confronting Discrimination Based on National Origin and Immigration Status

Did you know that public school districts may not deny access to an education to any child based on immigration status? For this and more information, check out this document by OCT and DOJ Confronting Discrimination Based on National Origin and Immigration Status: A Resource for Families and Educators. https://www.justice.gov/crt/page/file/1425321/download

Week 3 – April 18^th, 2023 Theme: Inclusion of Language Development Goals and Best Practices to Ensure Appropriate EL Instruction

For information on best practices to ensure schools provide appropriate instruction to English learners with disabilities, see Policy Letter: Nov 15, 2021 to Boals. This letter references that “the IEP Team must ‘[i]n the case of a child with limited English proficiency, consider the language needs of the child as those needs relate to the child’s IEP.’” https://sites.ed.gov/idea/idea-files/policy-letter-november-15-2021-to-boals/

Week 4 – April 25^th, 2023 Theme: Schools’ Civil Rights Obligations to English Learner Students and Limited English Proficient Parents

For a summary of information to Ensure English Learner Students Can Participate Meaningfully and Equally in Educational Programs, please visit this USDOE site which has several resources and information available in 12 languages. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/ellresources.html