Second Grader, Language Difference, and a Premature Special Education Referral
At an elementary school, the student support team reviews Maya, an 8-year-old second grader who moved from Guatemala two years ago and is classified as English proficient level 3. Her teacher reports reading 22 words correct per minute against a 55-word winter benchmark, calling out 8–10 times daily, and leaving her seat. Six weeks of Tier 2 phonics three times weekly and check-in/check-out have produced flat reading scores and only a small behavior change. The teacher says, 'She clearly needs special education for a learning disability and emotional disturbance.' Records show 12 absences, a passed vision screening, and no hearing screening because Maya missed that day. The parents speak Spanish and have not requested an evaluation; the school has never provided them with a Spanish-language explanation of MTSS or procedural safeguards. The team meets tomorrow to decide whether to refer for evaluation.
1. What should the team do before making a special education referral? Justify each step.
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A referral may ultimately be appropriate, but the team cannot defensibly jump to special education tomorrow.
- Review existing data: attendance, health, vision/hearing, language proficiency, classroom observations, work samples, and Tier 2 fidelity and duration. Twelve absences and a missing hearing screening are plausible alternative explanations that must be ruled out.
- Consider English language acquisition: level 3, two years in the country, and Spanish at home mean reading scores may reflect second-language development rather than disability. Compare Maya with true peers and plan bilingual assessment.
- Check intervention fidelity and data quality: six weeks may be too short, but RTI cannot be used to delay evaluation if a disability is suspected. Verify that Tier 2 was delivered as planned and that progress data are technically adequate.
- Communicate with the parents in Spanish about MTSS data and their right to request an evaluation.
- If the team suspects a disability, refer for a comprehensive evaluation in the child's native language, including hearing, language, cognitive, academic, and behavioral measures, plus an FBA if behavior interferes.
Document the data and the decision. The key is to rule out exclusionary factors without using them as an excuse to delay child find.
2. The team wants to label Maya's behavior as emotional disturbance. Analyze whether that is appropriate and propose a better assessment plan.
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Emotional disturbance requires one or more characteristics over a long period and to a marked degree that adversely affects educational performance: inability to learn unexplained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors; inability to build relationships; inappropriate behavior; unhappiness or depression; or physical symptoms. Maya's calling out and leaving her seat may be escape-maintained, language-related, or instructional-not evidence of ED.
The team should not label her to obtain services. A better plan:
- Conduct an FBA: define the behaviors, collect ABC data across settings, identify function, and test a function-based intervention.
- Assess academic skills in Spanish and English, language proficiency, and possible specific learning disability.
- Use multiple informants and settings; rule out cultural and linguistic mismatch and attendance effects.
- Consider whether the behavior improves with appropriate instruction, cues, and language supports.
- Only if behavior persists despite appropriate supports should the team consider ED.
The evaluation must be comprehensive, not a single rating scale. Premature labeling risks misclassification and inappropriate services.
3. How should the social worker handle parent communication and consent?
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Provide prior written notice and procedural safeguards in Spanish, with a qualified interpreter-not a student or machine translation. Explain the MTSS data, the referral decision, the scope of evaluation, and the parents' rights to request an evaluation, consent, review records, and disagree.
Obtain informed written consent for evaluation. If the parents decline, document the discussion and continue appropriate supports, but do not use the lack of consent to avoid child find obligations if the district suspects a disability. Offer to meet at a convenient time and welcome an advocate. Translated documents alone are insufficient if the parents cannot participate meaningfully; communication should be at their language and literacy level, with opportunities for questions.