Considering a Student’s Limited English Proficiency in the IEP

A resource for IEP Teams
December 2010

PDF version

This checklist is intended to help IEP teams consider the education and disability-related needs of students with limited English proficiency who also have disabilities. The checklist is included as a Resource for Trainers in Theme D of NICHCY’s Building the Legacy training curriculum on IDEA. It was adapted from the Nebraska Department of Education’s Nebraska IEP Technical Assistance Guide (1998, September). That document is no longer available online, but a 2014 updated version is, at:
http://www.education.ne.gov/sped/technicalassist/Setting%20Goals%20Achieving%20Results%203-11-14.pdf

Developing the IEP

In developing an IEP for a student with limited English proficiency, the IEP Team must consider the student’s level of English language proficiency. It’s important to know that second language conversational skills are acquired in one to two years, but academic language proficiency is acquired over a longer period of time of five to seven years. Therefore, the IEP Team must consider the student’s level of English language proficiency to support and strengthen implementation of the IEP goals.

The IEP Team may find it helpful to ask the following framing questions:
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1. Has the dominant language in the home been considered?

__ Yes __ No

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2. Has the child’s primary language of communication been considered?

__ Yes __ No

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3. Have the cultural values and beliefs of the parents been considered in planning for the child’s education?

__ Yes __ No

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4. Does the instructional plan incorporate a variety of instructional strategies?

__ Yes __ No

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5. Is there a member of the IEP Team who has expertise regarding the student and understands how language develops as well as strategies that can be used when educating a student with English as a second language?

__ Yes __ No

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6. Does the IEP Team have access to assessment data that is accurate and unbiased?

__ Yes __ No

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7. Does the assessment information use a variety of methods and environments?

__ Yes __ No

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8. Does the “present levels” statement in the IEP address both how the student uses his or her native language and how the student uses English?

__ Yes __ No

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9. Do progress monitoring activities measure progress toward the mastery of English?

__ Yes __ No

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10. Do the goals delineate in which language they will be addressed and who will be responsible for measuring the outcomes?

__ Yes __ No

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11. Is there collaboration between general and special education as well as English as a Second Language and bilingual education if appropriate?

__ Yes __ No

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12. Is an interpreter for the parents and the student present at the IEP meeting?

__ Yes __ No

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13. Are the IEP Team members trained in how to use an interpreter?

__ Yes __ No

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14. Is the evaluation process that will be used carefully defined in the native language and in English during the reviews and reevaluations?

__ Yes __ No

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15. Are the behaviors that are being measured carefully defined in the native language and in English during the reviews and reevaluations?

__ Yes __ No

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16. Is the setting that the language is being measured in defined?

__ Yes __ No

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17. Is the type of language that is being measured defined?

__ Yes __ No

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