Teaching · Related Services

Language difference or disability? Check before the scores decide.

Record the student’s language and schooling background and work through the checklist. The summary puts the gaps that leave the IDEA question open at the top, and says what the background means for the scores.

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Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Related Services toolkit, $99 for 152 items.

The considerations checklist

One record per student evaluation, dated. The example is made up.

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What you get

Teaching · Related Services$5 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A record of how language and culture were considered for one evaluation, with the gaps that block an eligibility decision listed first.
Who it is for
School psychologists, speech-language pathologists, English learner specialists and evaluation team members.
Format
Browser checklist. One saved record per evaluation; printed with its summary or as a blank form; CSV; export and import a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Related Services toolkit ($99) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Related Services space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
check it in both languages
Drawn for this page. A difficulty that shows up in both languages tells a different story from one that shows up only in English.

How to use it

  1. Take the language history from the family, with a trained interpreter if needed.
  2. Fill in the background: languages, status, years in English and schooling.
  3. Work through the before-testing items while you plan the battery.
  4. Finish the during-and-after items as you score and write.
  5. Close every gap at the top of the summary before the eligibility meeting.

Start a checklist

What the checklist rests on

The determinant-factor rule

IDEA says a student must not be found to have a disability if the determinant factor is a lack of appropriate instruction in reading or math, or limited English proficiency (34 CFR 300.306(b)). Tests must also be given in the language and form most likely to yield accurate information (300.304(c)(1)(ii)).

Why years in English matter

Research on second-language learners finds conversational English often develops in one to three years while academic English takes five to seven years or more. A student a few years into English instruction may score low on English-language tests for reasons that are not a disability.

What it is not

It does not choose tests, decide eligibility or replace state guidance on English learners in special education. It keeps the team’s considerations visible and in one place.

Sources

  1. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 34 CFR 300.304(c)(1) and 300.306(b): nondiscriminatory evaluation and the determinant-factor rule.
  2. U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition. English Learner Tool Kit, chapter 6: Addressing English Learners with Disabilities.
  3. Cummins, J. (2008). BICS and CALP: Empirical and theoretical status of the distinction. In Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Springer.
  4. Ortiz, S. O. (2014). Best practices in nondiscriminatory assessment. In Best Practices in School Psychology. National Association of School Psychologists.

The example student is made up. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.