According to the Virginia Department of Education website, Virginia’s school divisions

are serving over 117,000 English Learner (EL) students in the 2023 school year. The National

Center for Education Statistics reports that in Virginia in 2020, 75.5% of English Learners

reported that Spanish is their first language. In the past three years I have received at least two

students who are new to the country and speak virtually no English and still others who are still

attending EL classes with the EL teacher. Although I enjoy learning about various cultures and

their people, not everyone does. What happens to these students if they get placed with a

teacher who cannot relate to them or who does not care to give these students patience and a

little extra time?

Solange Lopes-Murphy and Christopher Murphy conducted a study which was published

in 2020. In the study, they reported, “The representation of the EL population in special

education in areas of speech language impairment, emotional disturbance, and intellectual

disabilities exceeds the national percentages for the non-EL population receiving similar

services in urban localities,” (Lopes-Murphy et. al., 2020). They go on to identify that there are

behaviors that the EL students exhibit that seem to mirror a student with intellectual disabilities,

but as it turns out is a cultural behavior. The study also reports that “Hispanic students have a

higher probability of being served under IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) for

special learning disabilities, (Lopes-Murphy et. al., 2020). The result of a student who is working

to acquire a new language and attempt assignments in a new language is being placed in

special education.

A similar study done by Emily Ferlis and Yaoying Xu appeared in the 2016 International

Journal of Multicultural Education. They reported that “Latino students have the highest dropout

rate in U.S. public schools,” (Ferlis et. al., 2016). They continue to say that there is a significant

gap between the reading achievement scores of Caucasian students and Latino students. Ferlis

and Xu go on to describe the Response to Intervention (RtI) process and how it is meant to

assist students instead of simply placing a student into the special education program.
Unfortunately, teachers in past years were deemed “unwilling or unable to implement the

research-based intervention,” (Ferlis et.al., 2016).

The results of both the Murphy and the Ferlis & Xu studies is that the teachers are not

trained to know what to do for EL students. Teachers have not received the proper training to

understand when an ELs behavior is a cultural response and not a learning disability. Teachers

do not necessarily have the tools that are needed to help a student who does not speak english.

As a reading specialist, I will be able to draw from my own personal experiences as a classroom

teacher and my toolbox as a reading specialist to help teachers assist their EL students in

becoming successful readers. I would use EL students as my professional development topic in

order to make sure that teachers have the training and information that is necessary to help

these students. It is a goal of mine to make a dent in closing literacy gaps because many of

these students just need a chance.

When I taught seventh grade, I had a student who was in my inclusion class. It was not

the most settled class and the female students would make comments to try to provoke this

student. I was invited to attend her Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meeting. It was in that

meeting that I discovered that the student had only been in the country for a few years after her

family left Senegal. She arrived not speaking English and had been placed in special education

classes. The story was shocking to me. I asked the guidance counselor to move her into my

Honors section which only had 11 students in it. I was able to devote time and patience to this

student. By the end of the year she had made progress. Her grades turned around and her

confidence was noticeably improved. During her senior year of high school, she returned to the

middle school to find me and thank me for helping her. She was applying to college and wanted

me to know that it was because I had helped her. I advocate for these students because they

just need the opportunity to do well. They need someone who cares and offers encouragement

and gives them the skills to succeed.

 Works Cited

Ferlis, E.; Xu, Y. (2016). Prereferral process with latino english language learners with

specific learning disabilities: perceptions of english-as-a-second-language teachers.

International Journal of Multicultural Education, 18(3), 22–39.

Lopes-Murphy, S. A., & Murphy, C. G. (2020). English learning and learning disabilities:

has research made its way into practice? Mid-Western Educational Researcher, 32(4),

304–330.

National Center for Education Statistics (n.d.). Fast Facts: English Learners. Retrieved

April 13, 2024, from https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=96#:~:text=Spanish

%20was%20the%20most%20commonly%20reported%20home,most%20commonly

%20reported%20home%20language%20(128%2C600%20students).

Virginia Department of Education (n.d.). English Learner Education. Retrieved April 13,

2024, from https://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching-learning-assessment/specialized-

instruction/english-learner-education#:~:text=Divisions%20across%20the

%20Commonwealth%20of,%2C%20background%20knowledge%2C%20and

%20experiences.