For Other Professionals
English Language Learners with
Learning Disabilities
Featuring bilingual speech-language pathologist Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan. This webcast discusses effective assessment and instruction strategies for English language learners with learning disabilities, as well as ways to help encourage the active involvement of parents of ELLs with LD in their children's schools.
This free webcast is available online anytime.
It is made possible by AFT Teachers, a division of the American Federation of Teachers, as part of a Colorín Colorado partnership between AFT and Reading Rockets.
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Program description
Featuring bilingual speech-language pathologist Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan. This webcast discusses effective assessment and instruction strategies for English language learners with learning disabilities, as well as ways to help encourage the active involvement of parents of ELLs with LD in their children's schools.
Moderator
Delia Pompa is the moderator of this webcast. She is the Vice President of the Center for Community Educational Excellence, at the National Council of La Raza.
Presenter
Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan is a bilingual speech-language pathologist and director of Valley Speech Language and Learning Center in Brownsville, TX, and the author of Esperanza Program, a Spanish multi-sensory reading, writing, and spelling program. Dr. Cárdenas-Hagan was co-principal investigator of a longitudinal study funded by NICHD and IES examining the oral skills and literacy development in both English and Spanish of Spanish-speaking children. She is a founding member of Brownsville Reads, a nonprofit organization offering literacy awareness and training to educators, parents, and members of the community.
Dr. Cárdenas-Hagan is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Leadership Texas. She serves on the State Board of Examiners for Speech Language Pathology and Audiology and is a member of the American Speech Language and Hearing Association and the International Dyslexia Society.
Recommended resources
Articles and books by our presenter, Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan
- Biliteracy Instruction for Spanish-Speaking Students chapter in Multisensory Teaching of Basic Language Skills
- The Cross-Linguistic Transfer of Early Literacy Skills: The Role of Initial L1 and L2 Skills and Language of Instruction
- Effectiveness of a Spanish Intervention and an English Intervention for English-Language Learners at Risk for Reading Problems (2.3M PDF)*
Other resources
- Teaching English-Language Learners with Learning Difficulties
- What Is Comprehensible Input?
- Special Issue: Learning Disabilities Research and Practice
- Special Issue: Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools
- The ELL Outlook
- English Language Learners With Special Needs: Effective Instructional Strategies
- Helping Children From Other Cultures With Possible Learning Disabilities
Related links from Colorín Colorado
- Recognition and Response: An Early Intervening System for Young Children At-Risk for Learning Disabilities (executive summary)
- What's 'Normal,' What's Not: Acquiring English as a Second Language
- Improving Mathematics Problem Solving Skills for English Language Learners with Learning Disabilities
- Bilingual Students With Disabilities Get Special Help
- English Language Learners with Special Needs: Effective Instructional Strategies
- Early Reading Intervention for English Language Learners At-Risk for Learning Disabilities: Student and Teacher Outcomes in an Urban School
- Colorín Colorado's Research and Reports: Learning Disabilities
Related links from LD OnLine
- Learning Disabilities in English Language Learners
- Improving Mathematics Problem Solving Skills for English language learners with Learning Disabilities
- Effective Reading Instruction for Struggling Spanish-Speaking Readers: A Combination of Two Literatures
- A Guide to Learning Disabilities for the ESL Classroom Practitioner
Related links from Reading Rockets
Related products from LearningStore
The Source for Bilingual Students with Language Disorders
Focus on teaching vocabulary and phonological awareness skills mdash; the most important skills your bilingual students need for overall English proficiency and literacy.
More >>
Multisensory Teaching of Basic Language Skills
For students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities, creative teaching methods that use two or more senses can dramatically improve language skills and academic outcomes. Every educator needs this definitive guide to multisensory teaching.
More >>
English Language Learners in Your Classroom
An authoritative reference for teachers facing an increasingly diverse school population that provides pre-service and in-service teachers, curriculum specialists, teacher mentors, and administrators with the necessary tools to meet the educational needs of English language learners in an inclusive classroom.
More >>
Please visit our English language learners/Bilingual and Learning Disabilities sections of LearningStore to discover the best research-based practices for teaching ELLs with learning disabilities.
Discussion questions
- Share something that you learned from the webcast that was new to you. Then, talk about ways you see yourself using that information within your school setting.
- How does your school work to identify and teach ELL students with LD? After listening to Dr. Cardenas-Hagan, what changes might you propose?
- Describe the challenges your school would face in trying to assess students in both languages.
- From what you heard today, how does effective instruction for ELL learners with LD differ from just plain effective instruction for all students?
- Besides this webcast, what types of professional development would help you work with the ELL learner with LD population more successfully?
The Reading Rockets Professional Development Webcast Series is a production of WETA. The Reading Rockets project is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs.
This program was produced by WETA/Reading Rockets, which is solely responsible for its content. The views expressed in the program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of WETA/Reading Rockets, our funders, or our partners.
