Reading Elementary

Rosa is an eight year old female in the third grade. Her teacher reports that she is struggling with

the curriculum. Rosa moved with her family from Mexico and was non-English speaking when

she entered kindergarten. She did not attend pre- kindergarten. Rosas home language is Spanish.

Her parents speak very little English and are illiterate in both Spanish and English. Rosas

teacher reports that she does well with math computation, but is having difficulty with all other

subjects including reading. She appears to decode well, but struggles with curriculum measures

such as unit tests in the reading curriculum. Rosa has been promoted every year since

kindergarten. She received ESOL services from K-2nd grade, but passed the IDEA Proficiency

test (an English language proficiency tests administered to non-native speakers) at the end of

2nd grade so she no longer receives these services. Rosa has never been referred for Exceptional

Education Services.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1Y_Kfquqt6-SVhvbUxEbUdQSFU/view
TAC 89.1040 students have to receive a battery of RTI in order to be considered for qualification

for special education.

TAC 89.1011

Students must have received all possible remedies to make progress in the classroom

This young girl has received Response to Intervention for a time now. Considering that she is

ELL, this sweet girl is more than likely not ready to receive full English instruction as of yet. She

is learning English at a phenomenal rate, however, the school committee charged for making

decisions needs to consider many factors for her not progressing. Research shows that ELL

students will learn the second language academically in about 5-7 years and fluent by 10 or more

yrs.

Let us consider the language of instruction and the services she currently receives. The student

has never been considered for and type of bilingual education. From this scenario, it is hard to

tell if the school even has bilingual education. If the school in fact does have bilingual education,

then this sweet girl was exited too soon. Early exit bilingual programs are not effective. Dual

language programs are replacing and changing bilingual programs positively.

So to remedy this scenario, let us consider how this child clearly has received rigorous phonics

and reading intervention, but she was exited too soon from RTI. ELL students fall in a more

special category when considering release from RTI. Learning environment and language are the

two major factors. Vocabulary is the number one factor for not succeeding in the upper grade

levels. The older the student gets, the less questions they ask. So, it is imperative that we

consider RTI plans very carefully. What does the child need the most? If vocabulary is an issue,

then daily class intervention for 15-20 minutes is not going to show the needed progress we
expect. Parents need to be involved in this process. Home mandates should be set as well.

Parents need to be aware of the interventions in place. Parents are not usually informed.

The IDEA Proficiency test cannot be the sole screener for English language learners. The

Woodcock-Munoz Assessment can also be used. The issue with testing ELLs is that many

schools do not have the bilingual personnel nor the resources to test ELLS. Many Title I schools

with a high population of Hispanic students do not receive the necessary funding.

Paper and pencil unit tests for this students may not be in the best interest of this students. There

are other formative assessments available that do not require a paper and pencil test. Test the

STAAR test will be administered paper or pencil, however she could possibly take the STAAR

test in Spanish or in English with language accommodations such as bilingual dictionaries or

thesauri. The teacher has to begin the ELL language accommodations early in the year for the

student to be able to use these accommodations before testing time.

Services for ELLs need to be specific. What vocabulary skills have been addressed? What

resources were used to address this vocabulary need? How often is this child exposed to rich

vocab. Instruction? Bilingual services might not be available for every school. ESL and ESOL

are mostly used, however, what lessons and needs are being addressed. How often is this child

receiving it? What research based instruction strategies are being planned for this child to be

successful?

RTI was put into place so students are not automatically placed in special education. There are

now specific options to use with students in need. RTI teachers is one option. Working in sync

with classroom teachers well improve this intervention. The small group setting from the RTI

teacher will also benefit. The classroom teacher working one on one for 20-30 minutes coaching
through some vocabulary strategies on an assignment that all students are completing

independently with ease. RTI decision making teams should consider language, environmental,

and resource availability factors when deciding what should be done for ELLs.

To conclude the RTI case, the student needs to receive second language intervention at school

and at home. Parents need to be involved in at home options to assist. Considering that state

assessments in the spring, stamina and fluency are also imperative to consider. Exiting this

student from services was premature. ELL students need more time. Bilingual education should

be considered early in the childs education career. Vocabulary, fluency, comprehension will need

to be addressed. RTI teacher will need to step in for one on one guidance. The student will

respond well when teachers, admins, and parents are clearly told what needs to occur of the

possible options above. Lets use all remedies before referring the student to special education.