Teaching · Speech & Language

Learning English, or a language disorder: lay the evidence side by side.

Record the student’s language history, mark each skill in the home language and in English, and note how the student compares with similar peers and responds to brief teaching. The summary sorts what fits learning English from what points toward a possible disorder, and lists what is still missing.

Start a reviewWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
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Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Speech & Language toolkit, $79 for 72 items.

The evidence review

One review per student. Use initials or a code, never a name. The example is made up.

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What you get

Teaching · Speech & Language$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
For each student, language history, a skills grid for both languages, peer comparison, response to teaching and the features seen, with the evidence sorted both ways and the gaps named.
Who it is for
Speech-language pathologists, English learner teachers, school psychologists and the teams who consider referral for multilingual students.
Format
Browser form with a keyboard grid. Several saved records; printed with the summary or as a blank form; CSV with one row per review; export and import a file.
Access
$12 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 Speech & Language toolkit ($79) 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 Speech & Language space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
Drawn for this page. A student still learning English may look behind in English while the home language is strong. A disorder shows in every language the student speaks.

How to use it

  1. Start a record with the student’s initials or a code.
  2. Enter the language history and English learner services.
  3. Mark each skill in the home language and in English, using the family or an interpreter for the home language.
  4. Compare with peers of similar background, try a brief test-teach-retest, and ask the family.
  5. Mark the features seen, then read the evidence side by side.

Start a review

What the review is for

Difference or disorder

A language disorder affects every language a student speaks; a language difference shows mainly in the language still being learned. That is why the home language matters most here, why a student is compared with peers who share the same language background and schooling, and why mixing languages, a quiet listening period and errors that follow the home language’s grammar are normal parts of learning a second language.

Response to teaching

Dynamic assessment tests a skill, teaches it briefly, and tests again. A student who learns a new word or pattern quickly is showing strong learning ability whatever their current English; a student who learns little even with good teaching gives the team a reason to look further.

What this form is not

It organizes evidence; it does not identify a disability. Federal rules require that a student not be found eligible when the determining factor is limited English proficiency, and that assessments be given in the language most likely to yield accurate information. Records use a code, never a name, and stay in this browser.

Sources

  1. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Practice Portal: Bilingual Service Delivery, and Multilingual and Multicultural Considerations (asha.org/practice-portal).
  2. Paradis, J., Genesee, F., & Crago, M. B. (2021). Dual Language Development and Disorders (3rd ed.). Paul H. Brookes.
  3. Peña, E. D., Iglesias, A., & Lidz, C. S. (2001). Reducing test bias through dynamic assessment of children’s word learning ability. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 10(2), 138–154.
  4. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act regulations, 34 CFR 300.304(c)(1) (assessments in the child’s native language or other mode most likely to yield accurate information) and 300.306(b)(1)(iii) (limited English proficiency may not be the determining factor).
  5. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 34 CFR Part 99.

The example student is made up. The review sorts evidence for a team; it does not identify a disability or decide eligibility. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.