Response to Intervention in a Dual-Language Setting

• In Event: 43.077 - MTCC Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: 43.077-8 - Bilingualism and Special Education: Issues of Dual-Identified Students

Abstract

Although the issue of identifying and educating Emergent Bilingual (EB) students who struggle academically has been a topic of conversation for decades, there continue to be inconsistencies regarding instruction for these students. In this qualitative case study, I investigated the special education process at one Dual Language (Spanish/ English) school. I focused on 5th Grade Literacy instruction and documented the implementation of Response to Intervention (RTI), a three-tiered approach for meeting students’ academic needs. Results indicate that consistent, strong instruction in the first tier, which was the general education classroom, and the second tier, an interventionist setting, as well as Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching benefited struggling EB students and prevented what might have been unnecessary referrals to special education.

Author

• Vanessa Santiago Schwarz, University of Colorado - Boulder