Abstract
The authors collaborated and shared equal responsibility in all aspects of the development of this project that reviews current research and best practices for assessing English Learners (ELs). The practice of assessing ELs for special education continues to be a problematic issue, as there is an over-representation of ELs in the special education population. The purpose of this project is to provide school psychologists, administrators, and teachers with current research and resources useful in making informed decisions regarding the need and appropriateness of assessing ELs. The workshop will provide information about ELs regarding: English Learners in schools, the over-representation of ELs in special education, EL special education evaluations, the process of acquiring a second language, promises of utilizing a Response to Intervention (RtI) method while assessing ELs, and possible problems and solutions. Those who attend this workshop are expected to gain insight into the over-representation of ELs in special education, the issues incorporated with utilizing traditional assessment methods with ELs, and the potential benefits of using a RtI approach to assess ELs. The prepared project is a five hour PowerPoint training workshop for school psychologists, administrators and teachers. Materials provided as a support to the workshop include: a presenter’s manual, related handouts, and presenter notes with each PowerPoint slide. This presentation is created so that implementation can occur by any school psychologist. The workshop is expected to introduce the topic of assessing ELs, provide current research, discuss the process of language acquisition, and offer an alternative to traditional assessment methods via a RtI approach.