ED471719 2002-12-00 Using Culturally

and Linguistically Appropriate

Assessments To Ensure that American

Indian and Alaska Native Students

Receive the Special Education Programs

and Services They Need. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Development Team

www.eric.ed.gov

Table of Contents

If you're viewing this document online, you can click any of the topics below to link directly to that section.

Using Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Assessments To Ensure

that American Indian and Alaska Native Students Receive the

Special Education Programs and Services They Need. ERIC

Digest...........................................................................2

CHARACTERISTICS OF AI/AN STUDENTS IN SPECIAL

EDUCATION............................................................... 2

ADDRESSING LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY...................... 3

CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY APPROPRIATE

ASSESSMENTS AS MANDATED BY IDEA..........................4

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ENSURING CULTURALLY AND

LINGUISTICALLY APPROPRIATE.................................... 5

SUMMARY....................................................................... 6

ERIC Identifier: ED471719

Publication Date: 2002-12-00

ED471719 2002-12-00 Using Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Assessments To

Ensure that American Indian and Alaska Native Students Receive the Special Education

Page 1 of 7
Author: Tippeconnic, John W., III - Faircloth, Susan C.

Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools Charleston WV.

Using Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate

Assessments To Ensure that American Indian

and Alaska Native Students Receive the Special

Education Programs and Services They Need.

ERIC Digest.

THIS DIGEST WAS CREATED BY ERIC, THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

INFORMATION CENTER. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ERIC, CONTACT

ACCESS ERIC 1-800-LET-ERIC

The "American Indian and Alaska Native Education Research Agenda" (Research

Agenda Working Group, Strang, & von Glatz, 2001) represents the most recent formal

call for research leading to improved assessments for American Indian and Alaska

Native (AI/AN) students with special learning needs. Similar calls were recorded at

hearings and published in commissioned papers in the early 1990s (Cahape, 1993;

Johnson, 1991). The disproportionate number of AI/AN students receiving special

education services and identified as "limited English proficient" (LEP) indicates an

ongoing need for this research. This Digest briefly reviews the legislation and literature

pertaining to the influence of language and culture in making referrals, administering

assessments, and providing appropriate services and programs to AI/AN students.

CHARACTERISTICS OF AI/AN STUDENTS IN

SPECIAL EDUCATION

Most (90%) of the approximately 500,000 AI/AN students attend public schools, while

approximately 50,000 attend schools operated or funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs

(BIA) (2001). Although AI/AN students accounted for only 1% of the total public school

enrollment during the 1999-2000 academic year, they accounted for 1.3% of all

students served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (U.S.

Department of Education [USDE], 2001), a 30% higher than expected representation in

special education programs and services.

In addition, among all U.S. students identified as being in need of LEP services 1.9%

were AI/AN (nearly 55,000 students) and of all those reported to be enrolled in LEP

programs, approximately 1.8% were AI/AN students (nearly 48,000) (USDE, 1999).

According to the U.S. General Accounting Office (Shaul, 2001), approximately 20% of

students attending BIA-operated or -funded schools received special education

programs and services, and nearly 60% of the students in these schools were identified

as LEP.

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Page 2 of 7 ED471719 2002-12-00 Using Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Assessments To

Ensure that American Indian and Alaska Native Students Receive the Special Education
Citing the potential for over representation of minority students in special education

programs, the 1997 Amendments to the IDEA required states to begin collecting and

reporting data on the number of students served in special education programs by race

and/or ethnicity (USDE, 2001).

Under IDEA, 13 categories of disability may qualify students for services. According to a

2001 U.S. Department of Education report, AI/AN students were over represented in all

disability categories with the exceptions of developmental delay (0.9%), orthopedic

impairments (0.8%), and autism (0.7%). This over representation was the highest for

the categories of deaf-blindness (2.0%) and traumatic brain injury (1.6%). The largest

numbers of AI/AN students appeared in the categories of specific learning disabilities

(40,208), speech or language impairments (13,080), mental retardation (6,759), and

emotional disturbance (5,171).

ADDRESSING LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY

As mentioned previously, the Office for Civil Rights estimated that in 1997, 54,718

American Indian students needed services to address limited English proficiency

(USDE, 1999). As defined in Title IX of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the term

"limited English proficient" refers to an individual

* who is aged 3 through 21;

* who is enrolled or preparing to enroll in an elementary school or secondary school;

* who was not born in the United States or whose native language is a language other

than English; who is a Native American or Alaska Native, or a native resident of the

outlying areas, and who comes from an environment where a language other than

English has had a significant impact on the individual's level of English language

proficiency; or who is migratory, whose native language is a language other than

English, and who comes from an environment where a language other than English is

dominant; and

* whose difficulties in speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language

may be sufficient to deny the individual (i) the ability to meet the State's proficient level

of achievement on State assessments . . . ; (ii) the ability to successfully achieve in

classrooms where the language of instruction is English; or (iii) the opportunity to

ERIC Resource Center www.eric.ed.gov

Programs and Services They Need. ERIC Digest.
participate fully in society (section 9101).

CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY

APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENTS AS MANDATED

BY IDEA

Citing the need for culturally and linguistically appropriate assessment, the 1997

Amendments to IDEA included provisions for nondiscriminatory assessment/evaluation.

These provisions apply both to pre-placement assessment and to reevaluation of

students currently served by special education programs and services. According to

IDEA

* students must be tested in their native language or primary mode of communication;

* multiple forms of assessment must be used to ensure adequate assessment of a

number of factors including cognitive, behavioral, physical, and developmental factors,

and the results of these assessments are to be used when making placement decisions;

* tests and other evaluation materials are to be selected and administered in a manner

that does not discriminate based on race or culture; and

* students must be assessed in all areas of the suspected disability.

In addition, standardized tests must be

* validated for the purpose for which they are to be used;

* administered by trained and knowledgeable personnel; and

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Programs and Services They Need. ERIC Digest.
* administered in accordance with the instructions issued by the developers of the tests

(adapted from section 614).

Finally, assessments should incorporate tools and strategies that provide relevant

information, which can be used to determine the educational needs of the child.

A strong indication of the need for tests and testing as outlined in the law is the

increasing number of AI/AN students who are identified as LEP (Shaul, 2001). To

ensure that these students are appropriately educated, assessments must be

conducted in a manner that facilitates the identification of and distinction between

"language-related disabilities" and poor academic performance resulting from a "lack of

English language proficiency." According to Rice and Ortiz (as cited in USDE, 2001),

when assessing students who have been identified as LEP, evaluators should obtain a

clear description of the student's "communicative competence in both languages" (i.e.

how well the student speaks and writes in his or her native language and in the English

language). This will assist in determining whether the student has a language-related

disability or if the student's academic difficulties are related to a lack of competence in

the English language.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ENSURING

CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY

APPROPRIATE

ASSESSMENTUse culturally and linguistically appropriate assessments. As discussed,

evaluators should develop and use culturally and linguistically appropriate assessments

to ensure that AI/AN students receive appropriate educational services (Banks, 1997;

Johnson, 1991). Using multiple assessments rather than relying on a single instrument,

such as a standardized test, can help to achieve this. Further, when using standardized

tests, noting the potential for bias is especially important if the test has not been normed

on the population with which it is to be used (Chamberlain & Madeiros-Landurand,

1991; Ishii-Jordan, 1997).

Use authentic or performance-based assessments. Educators should explore the use of

authentic and performance-based assessments, such as the Learning Record (1), to

complement standardized testing. The Learning Record, currently used in a number of

BIA-funded schools, has been characterized as "a performance-based assessment

system that provides teachers with a structured method of tracking students' academic

development and planning instruction to meet students' needs" (Fox, 1999, p. 167).

Authentic or performance-based assessments provide students with opportunities to

demonstrate knowledge of a particular task or set of tasks and ability to perform the

task(s) in a real-life setting (2).

Involve parents and families in the assessment process. According to Bordeaux (as

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ED471719 2002-12-00 Using Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Assessments To

Ensure that American Indian and Alaska Native Students Receive the Special Education

Page 5 of 7
cited in Fox, 1999), "the effort to improve cultural relevance of curriculum and

assessment must be guided by all stakeholders, including parents and other tribal

community members" (p.174).

Be aware of and responsive to students cultural and linguistic differences. When

assessing AI/AN students, remember that there are more than 500 tribes across the

nation, each with its own distinct language and culture.

SUMMARY

Educators must constantly monitor the influence of language and culture on the referral,

assessment, and provision of special education programs and services to ensure that

AI/AN students are appropriately served. As noted in the "Twenty-Third Annual Report

to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,"

educators should understand that "differences in learning, behavior, culture, and

language, either separately or in combination, may exacerbate educational problems

caused by disabilities" (USDE, 2001, Section II, p. 38). This report points out that

educators must also know how to distinguish between a student who has a learning

disability and one whose poor academic performance results in part from limited English

proficiency.

A need for continued research related to the referral, assessment, and provision of

special education programs and services to AI/AN students has long been recognized,

and recently reinforced by the "American Indian and Alaska Native Education Research

Agenda" (Research Agenda Working Group, et al., 2001). Educators and parents face

questions far more complex than whether to place AI/AN students in special education

programs or services. They need good information to determine what service or

combination of services can ensure that AI/AN students receive the free and

appropriate education guaranteed by law.

Continuing to develop, identify, and publish best practices in culturally and linguistically

appropriate assessment will help to produce good information and ensure that AI/AN

students receive educational programs that meet their needs and nurture their talents.

Title: Using Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Assessments To Ensure that

American Indian and Alaska Native Students Receive the Special Education Programs

and Services They Need. ERIC Digest.

Note: Online version includes an annotated bibliography with some links to full-text

documents.

Document Type: Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs)

(071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073);

Available From: ERIC/CRESS, P.O. Box 1348, Charleston, WV 25325-1348. Tel:

800-624-9120 (Toll Free). For full text: http://www.ael.org/eric/digests/edorc02-8.pdf.

Descriptors: Alaska Natives, Alternative Assessment, American Indian Education,

www.eric.ed.gov ERIC Custom Transformations Team

Page 6 of 7 ED471719 2002-12-00 Using Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Assessments To

Ensure that American Indian and Alaska Native Students Receive the Special Education
American Indians, Cultural Awareness, Culturally Relevant Education, Disabilities,

Disability Identification, Elementary Secondary Education, Limited English Speaking,

Parent Participation, Racial Discrimination, Special Education

Identifiers: ERIC Digests, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

###

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