It may be challenging for many teachers to accurately assess the needs of pupils who are English Language Learners. These students may be assigned to special education classes instead of gifted student classes due to misconceptions. One of these is that the linguistic differences of EL students may be deemed as disabilities.
For instance, it may take these kids up to 7 years to acquire academic language proficiency that their peers already possess, thus making the learning process more difficult (Pankewich, n.d.). As a result, they may be perceived as less capable than their peers. Moreover, mistakes can occur because of the structure of assessments, as they are typically created for mainstream English-speaking pupils and can be beyond the academic reach of these children (Pankewich, n.d.).
Furthermore, mainstream culture is the foundation of education most of the time, and teachers often interpret the curriculum through the prism of their own mainstream cultural upbringing (Pankewich, n.d.). However, because they frequently live in a distinct cultural setting, ELLs may be seen and treated as different. Hence, because of their linguistic and cultural disparities, English learners may be assigned to special classes.
To correctly identify gifted EL students, teachers can employ several practices. For example, this can be improved with alternative identification pathways. For instance, achievement tests and native language competency can be used by teachers to identify ELLs who may be gifted. Additionally, they can provide a bilingual school staff list, members of which must be qualified to perform assessments in the student’s mother tongue (“15 Tips”, n.d.).
Swanson et al. (2020) recommend that educators integrate multi-tiered support systems to enhance identification accuracy by distinguishing between language acquisition issues and specific learning disorders. Moreover, teachers can look for the common descriptors of high potential. These may include, but are not limited to, early use of advanced vocabulary, creativity and inquisitiveness, and excellent memory (Beisser et al., 2020). Professionals in bilingual and special education must work together proactively to ensure that giftedness is not overlooked due to language issues and to develop a comprehensive understanding of the student’s skills (Swanson et al., 2020). Hence, by using alternate identification methods and looking for common descriptors of giftedness, schools can find more gifted individuals among ELLs.
References
Beisser, S., Moehring, L., & Sullivan, K. (2020). An early childhood assessment tool to identify young gifted children. Advanced Psychology Services.
Pankewich, C. (n.d.). 17 – Disproportionate representation of English Language Learners in Special Education. University of Saskatchewan.
Swanson, H. L., Kong, J. E., Petcu, S. D., & Pimentel, M. F. A. (2020). Can difficulties in language acquisition and specific learning disabilities be separated among English learners?Exceptional Children, 86(3), 293–309.
15 tips for improving identification of gifted EL Students. (n.d.). National Center for Research on Gifted Education.