Response: Each district or LEA must establish policies and procedures to designate the staff responsible for reclassification of English learner students. While the IEP team may be the most appropriate group of professionals to make reclassification decisions for English learner students with disabilities, it is important to note that an English learner specialist with specialized knowledge on second language acquisition should be present when reclassification decisions are made. Question: A Spanish-speaking student whose family recently arrived in the US has enrolled in our middle school. She was referred for a special education evaluation right away and identified for special education services. She is now receiving her services the majority of the day in a “special day class.” While she was quite social before, she has become sullen and withdrawn. What should I do, as her general education art teacher? Response: Any staff member with concerns about a student may convene an IEP team meeting. This includes the special education case manager and school psychologist. The IEP team can review the student’s assessment results and air the concerns of a general education teacher. Key questions to consider are: 1. Was the student given a psycho-educational assessment to determine eligibility? in both her primary language and English? What were her cognition skills in her primary language as compared to English? 2. Is she receiving appropriate ELD instruction, and if so, what has her response been to this instruction? 3. Would it be appropriate to re-assess in both languages, considering best practices for bilingual assessment, to determine if she should be placed with true peers? If not, would the team be open to more inclusion in general education classes with support from the English learner and special education specialists? Did the health history reveal any additional needs? Reclassification Records Copies of all reclassification documentation must be filed in the student’s cumulative/EL Folder. The EL folder is a Federal Program Monitoring audited item. If a student falls slightly short of the performance criteria, a Language Assessment Team will determine if factors other than English language proficiency are responsible for the low performance and whether it is reasonable to reclassify the student. Reclassification Process Although an English learner can be reclassified at any time during the school year, the district may identify reclassification candidates at the following two periods: 1. FALL: [October - November] This time frame allows enrollment to stabilize at the school; gives schools time to review their annual state standards assessment data from the previous spring
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