The plethora of accommodations that can be implemented when an ELL is identified as LD should provide the support needed not only when completing testing, but within the classroom. With a background of a Masters in K - 12 Special Education and 28 years' experience, I have seen the benefits of using appropriate accommodations/modifications as being the piece needed for individual learners to reach their goals. Of course, the balance is providing just the needed support to provide an equitable educational opportunity.
The adult ELL identified as LD should follow suit, but with only a few years working with adults, I have not had any students identified as such. Within the public school system, all the resources needed to obtain the needed support were easily available and visible within the working system of teachers, staff, and administration. The special education support piece is not as visible in the adult education world. This is probably due to the cost that was mentioned within the course.
Comments
Assistive technology is the newest instructional strategy, due to the use of technology is determined by the educational geographical area an instructor is working in.
The most important part of this study to me is the emphasis on being able to accurately identify an ELL adult that has the requirements to need an LD determination. Then to actually get the process started to provide the needed support is unknown to me in the adult setting requiring more research.
The specific strategies currently being implemented with my adult ELLs include audio books/Readers within Burlington English, BE, program using stories written in English with the assistive technology of text to speech. A relatively new student was introduced to the Readers in-class and was so excited to receive a BE account that he immediately started reading at home regularly.
Additional strategies my students enjoy are conversations in groups with a partner to purposefully learn new vocabulary. The use of wait time is valuable as ELL use the time for think time in formulating their native language thoughts into English. The planned use of the strategy ("Think Aloud") in presentations is a part of the scaffolding using the ELP standards. Finally, immediate feedback on progress is much appreciated and allows for self-correction.
The screening procedures are not clear to me at this time.
Hi, Pamela -
Thanks for sharing your takeaways from the L2A instructional strategies. Screening is a challenging for many programs, but I want to share a resource from the LINCS collection that you'll find helpful.
Screening for Learning Disabilities in Adult Basic Education Students offers a perspective on how screening can be incorporated into programs, pros and cons of several screening tools, and the role of adult educators in the identification process.
I hope you find it helpful and welcome any follow-up questions or comments you have to share with us.
Best,
Mike Cruse
LINCS Moderator
michaelcruse74@gmail.com
Dear Pamela, we really enjoyed your post. Would you be available to contribute any input to a re-design of the L2A modules that focuses on UDL? We would love to be in touch. Please complete our short form at https://forms.gle/hNhSUVWF2J1LxuY79 if you are interested!
https://forms.gle/hNhSUVWF2J1LxuY79