Questions (see directions) - Essay Example

The paper explains how are wrongly diagnosed as learning disabled without acknowledging the influence of cultural factors. It also emphasises the importance of providing students with appropriate help to improve their academic performance before referring them to special education services.The number of immigrants in the United States is steadily rising with each year and so is the number of students from diverse backgrounds enrolling in public schools. According to reports of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) schools and staffing survey, nearly four million or eight percent of the nation’s students were identified as LEP (Limited English Proficiency) students (Provasnik et al., 2007). In such a scenario, it is the responsibility of the schools and districts to ensure that these students adapt to the classroom environment and are able to make progress in varied subjects like English and mathematics.

In keeping with the needs of students, many schools and districts offer a range of special education services for students with disabilities. Such special education services help them work in a laidback school environment with low expectations and a less competitive curriculum. However, over the years, research showed an overrepresentation of CLD students in disability categories, which spiralled into a national debate and also resulted in federal intervention. Research shows that race and the ethnicity can result in diagnosing a student as ‘disabled’, which can be detrimental to a student’s psyche and performance (NEA policy brief).

Moreover, social stigma attached to special schools can affect self-esteem and deprive the student of the opportunity to compete with his/her peers.This resulted in ushering in changes to the definition of learning disability. Earlier definitions of learning disability were based on a difference between student’s intellectual ability and academic progress whereas now the revised definition emphasises more on the teacher. It is the teacher who must make accurate observations, make notes and interpret them effectively in order to facilitate proper assessment (Case and Taylor, 2005).

Appropriate response to intervention (RTI) models and interventions can be useful to help students overcome academic hurdles and assess the nature of help required in their academic career. Research further shows that it is difficult to classify a learning disabled from an ESL learner because both groups have shared symptoms (Case and Taylor, 2005). From a linguistic perspective, both ESL students and learning disabled students struggle with pronunciation, syntax and semantics. They also experience difficulties with use of figurative language and proverbs where the groups tend to make literal interpretations.

Providing a classroom environment conducive to ESL learners, incorporating varied cultures and languages into the classroom learning will help CLD (Culturally and Linguistically Diverse) students pick up English language and instruction and progress academically. Secondly, teachers must be aware of various cultures to enable them work better with CLD students. This will help them establish a rapport and implement the suitable intervention model to help them overcome their academic hurdles. Such measures will help in reducing the misdiagnosis of learning disability in CLD students since the teacher will refer the student to special education services only if the student does not respond to the intervention models.

These measures will ensure that the students are getting the right help and are being accurately assessed for special education. Thus, through the implementation of suitable models, teachers can determine if a modified classroom environment and instruction help students overcome superficial learning hurdles or if they are genuinely suffering from a disability. References:1. Case Rod and Taylor Shanon (2005). Language difference or learning disability: Answers from a linguistic perspective.

The Clearing house, Jan/Feb 2005, 78, 3 ProQuest Education Journals 2. Provasnik, S., KwealRamani, A., McLaughlin Coleman, M., Gilbertson, L., Herring, W., & Zie, Q. (2007). Status of education in rural America (NCES 2007–040). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. 3. NEA policy brief. National policy brief on Disproportionality: Inappropriate identification of Culturally and linguistically Diverse children taken from De Valenzuela, J.S., S.R. Copeland, C.

Huaqing Qi, & M. Park (2006). Examining Educational Equity: Revisiting the Disproportionate Representation of Minority Students in Special Education. Exceptional Children 72, no. 4: 425-441;