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IRIS Center Case Study

English Language Learners: Is This Child Mislabeled?

Objective

Activity

Learn about and discuss some of the issues related to cultural and linguistic diversity,

student assessment, and placement decisions.

Scenario

Serge Romanich, a third-grade student and refugee from Serbia, spoke limited English.

His education had been sporadic at best and the new elementary school he was

attending had tested and classified him as learning disabled.

A week before school was scheduled to start, Harry Simms, the principal at Oakwood

Elementary, was busy at his desk. The school secretary entered his office and said,

“There are some people here to see you. I think they want to enroll a student.”

Harry stood up and welcomed the visitors, two women and an-eight-year-old boy.

“I am Byona Romanich and this is Serge,” said one of the women. The other woman

quickly added, “I am Byona’s sister-in-law, Trina. I am here to interpret for her because

she speaks only French, Russian, and Spanish—very little English. She would like to

enroll Serge in the school.”

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Trina translated as Byona talked. “Serge was born in Serbia and his development was

completely normal, just like the other little boys of the village. He was getting ready to

begin school when the Serbian war began. We went to France and stayed with relatives

outside Vichy. Although Serge was ready to begin school, he was unable to attend until

the next school year due to my extended hospital stay. During his schooling in France,

he did not speak the language very well and received no reading instruction. At that

point, Serge, his sister, and I traveled to America to join my brother.”

Harry did not know how to respond. He decided simply to welcome Serge to Oakwood

and assure Mrs. Romanich the school staff would help him adjust to his new

environment.

Serge was placed in a third-grade class and received additional services from the

Limited English Proficiency (LEP) program. He made very little progress over the next

few months. Serge was essentially a non-reader and showed little aptitude in the LEP

class. His teacher suggested to Mrs. Romanich that perhaps Serge had a learning

disability that should be explored with testing.

Mrs. Romanich rejected that possibility, stating that she felt that her son would catch up

as he became more proficient in speaking the language.

By the end of the year, Serge had not caught up. He was still struggling with the

language and had made very little academic progress. Mrs. Romanich reluctantly

agreed to have Serge tested. When the testing was complete, she met with Serge’s

teachers, the principal, and the school psychologist. The school psychologist read the

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evaluation results. “Serge’s score on the Leiter (a nonverbal intelligence test often used

with non-English speakers) was 105. This score falls within the Average range of

intelligence. On the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Cognitive Abilities, he scored at least 2

standard deviations below the mean in the areas of auditory processing, short-term

memory, comprehension knowledge, and fluid reasoning; tasks that typically measure

an individual’s verbal abilities. He scored in the Average range in: long-term processing,

processing speed, and visual processing; these tasks are mostly perceptual. On the

Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement, Serge scored 2 standard deviations below

the mean in reading, written language, and knowledge. He scored in the Average range

in math.”

The school psychologist then turned to Mrs. Romanich and her interpreter and said,

“This pattern of scores, achievement scores 2 standard deviations or more below the

intelligence score, is indicative of a learning disability. In addition, the equally wide gap

between Serge’s verbal and non-verbal scores supports the proposition that he has a

learning disability. He would benefit from individualized and small-group instruction for

part of the day in a resource room.” Everyone around the table nodded in agreement

except Serge’s mother.

Mrs. Romanich said, “I think Serge is just having trouble picking up the language. At

home he does fine. He seems so intelligent to me.”

“He is intelligent, Mrs. Romanich, but he has a learning disability that is holding him

back. We can help him overcome that disability and achieve his full potential by

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providing more individualized instruction. He will also continue to receive services in the

LEP class,” the psychologist responded. Mrs. Romanich finally agreed to the placement.

Despite his new placement, Serge made limited progress the next year in fourth grade.

However, fifth grade proved to be a true success story for Serge. His new resource

teacher, Mrs. Evans, was in her third year of teaching. She was impressed by the

diversity of the students at the school, including a large population of children of Serbian

descent. She became interested in finding out as much as she could about the culture

and background of her students in order to develop a relationship with them. She

developed an especially close relationship with Serge.

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Mrs. Evans worked with Serge in a resource pull-out program for two hours every day.

She also went into Serge’s classroom three times each week for language arts in order

to provide him with additional support. Serge’s English-speaking proficiency increased

as well as his reading skills. The combination of resource room instruction and an

inclusive language class proved to be effective. Serge progressed from being a non-

reader to reading and speaking English at a second-grade level. His math skills were

even stronger.

Mrs. Evans observed firsthand Serge’s rapid academic achievement. She noted that

when Serge was introduced to a new word and its definition, he was able to retain that

knowledge. Although Serge was still a quiet child and hesitant to become involved in

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detailed English conversations, he was very comfortable when talking socially to his

peers.

Because of his rapid academic growth, Mrs. Evans began to question Serge’s diagnosis

of learning disabled. She decided to check out his records in the school office. As she

read his file, she discovered that the initial testing was done in English and Serbian, but

Serbian was used only if Serge indicated that he did not understand what was being

said. She thought of the gains Serge had made this year. Was he really learning

disabled, or did he simply need more time to learn and feel comfortable speaking

English? Could the testing results simply be a result of poor language skills and not a

learning disability per se? She continued to ponder the situation as she closed Serge’s

file and handed it back to the secretary.

Questions/Discussion Topics

1. Do you think Serge’s skills were assessed adequately? Do you think he was

correctly identified as learning disabled? Why or why not?

2. Do you think a special education placement was appropriate for Serge? Why or

why not? What kind of progress do you think he would have made in a general

education setting without individualized instruction?

3. Mrs. Evans learned about the cultural background of her students. How do you

think this knowledge impacted her teaching?

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Reference:

I. (n.d.). English Language Learners: Is This Child Mislabeled? Retrieved November 18, 2020, from https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/wp- content/uploads/pdf_activities/case_based/IA_Is_This_Child_Mislable d.pdf

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