Additional Resources

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Assistive Technology

Assistive Technology Fact Sheets:

CADRE (The National Center on Dispute Resolution in Special Education) “Encouraging the use of mediation and other collaborative strategies to resolve disagreements about special education and early intervention programs.”
Vermont State I-Team: Statewide Collaborative Support for Vermont children and youth who require Intensive Special Education

Translated Materials

SPECIAL EDUCATION

Vermont Department of Education: Information from the Vermont Department of Education about Parents Rights in Special Education available in: Arabic, Bosnian, Chinese, English, French, Nepali, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

PACER Center: Translated materials in Somali – information about special education, assistive technology, evaluations, emotional and behavioral disorders, preparing for kindergarten and more.

PACER Center: Translated materials in Spanish – information about special education, assistive technology, evaluations, emotional and behavioral disorders, preparing for kindergarten and more.

National Parent Technical Assistance Center: Translated materials in Hmong, Spanish and Somali – information about special education, transition planning, evaluations and more.

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY): NICHCY offers a wealth of information on disabilities. They serve the nation as a central source of information on disabilities in infants, toddlers, children and youth. Information is available in English and Spanish.

HEALTH

Healthy Roads Media: Health, well being, and mental health information available in video, audio and written formats. Languages available include: Amharic, Arabic, Bosnian, Burmese, English, Farsi, French, Hmong, Karen, Kirundi, Korean, Kurdish, Liberian English, Laotian, Nepali, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.

Medline Plus: Health information in multiple languages. A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (NIH). Languages available: Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, ASL, Bengali, Bosnian, Burmese, Chamorro, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Chuukese, Croatian, Farsi, French, German, Gujarathi, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Hmong, Ilocano, Italian, Japanese, Khmer, Kirundi, Korean, Kurdish, Laotian, Marshallese, Navajo, Oromo, Panjabi, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Samoan, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Thai, Tigrinya, Tongan, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, and Vietnamese.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Information for families, health care providers, early childhood educators and others about children’s development and milestones. Website is available in English and Spanish. Free materials available in: Arabic, Korean, and Portuguese.

USC University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities: USC UCEDD faculty, staff, and trainees have translated the CDC “Learn the Signs. Act Early” Autism Fact Sheet into multiple languages to reach underserved populations in CA. The Autism Fact Sheet provides a one-page tool for clinicians to share with families, to raise awareness about developmental delay, which may be related to autism or other developmental disabilities. The fact sheet encourages parents who have concerns about their child’s development to speak with their doctor. The Autism Fact Sheet is available in: Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese.

EDUCATION

The Center for the Improvement of Student Learning (CISL): The Center for the Improvement of Student Learning (CISL), in partnership with the Migrant and Bilingual Education Programs at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction released the in-depth English/Spanish glossary of education terms in June of 2007. This valuable resource for educators and parents helps to alleviate confusion when translating or reading education documents. When sending a document to a translation service, provide the translator with a link to the appropriate glossary. This will ensure clearer and more consistent translations.

U.S. Department of Education offers a variety of resources in other languages. Resources include, How to File a Complaint, Ensuring Equal Access to High-Quality Education, and a Complaint Form. Available in: Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Hmong, Korean, Laotian, Punjabi, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Urdu and Vietnamese.

U.S. Department of Education Resources in Spanish

Cultural Competence Resources

ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS AND SPECIAL EDUCATION

IDEA Partnership: Provides links to resources related to English Language Learners and education, for example: non-discriminatory assessments, culturally responsive classrooms, preventing disproportionate representation in special education and outreach to parents. http://ideapartnership.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=274&Itemid=111

Learning Disabilities Online: Overview for considering evaluating English Language Learners for learning disabilities. http://www.ldonline.org/spearswerling/Learning_Disabilities_in_English_Language_Learners

Project Forum: English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities. http://www.projectforum.org/docs/ells.pdf

Center for Applied Linguistics: “A Summary of English Language Learners with Special Education Needs” – considerations when working with ELLs in special education. http://www.misd.net/Bilingual/ellsandspedcal.pdf

National Symposium on Learning Disabilities in English Language Learners: There is widespread anecdotal evidence suggesting that ELL students may be either bypassed for consideration as a child with a disability because teachers assume the child is not achieving solely because of his or her language difference, or over-represented on special education rosters due to inappropriate placement based upon inaccurate measures and ill-conceived procedures. In response to these concerns, three federal agencies jointly organized a National Symposium on Learning Disabilities in English Language Learners, held October 14-15, 2003 in Washington, D.C. The goal of this symposium was to determine how best to apply knowledge about identifying and assessing learning disabilities in native English-speaking students to the identification and assessment of learning disabilities in ELL students. In addition, symposium participants discussed ways to distinguish between actual learning disabilities and the challenges associated with learning a new language. http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/upload/ELL_summary.pdf

IRIS Center ELL Learning Module: http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/ell/chalcycle.htm

Think Cultural Health: Advancing Health Equity: https://www.thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov/

DISTINGUISHING LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES FROM DISABILITY

Vermont Department of Education: English Language Learners in Vermont: Distinguishing Language Difference from Disability – A Resource Guide – from the Vermont Department of Education. http://education.vermont.gov/new/pdfdoc/pgm_esl/educ_ell_sped_resource_guide.pdf

Project Forum: English Language Learners with Disabilities: Identification and Other State Policies and Issues (in depth policy analysis). http://www.projectforum.org/docs/EnglishLanguageLearnerswithDisabilities-IdentificationandOtherStatePoliciesandIssues.pdf

FAMILY AND YOUTH SERVICES

Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services: Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services has a variety of webinars, resources, links, publications, events, information about refugees, promising practices, information about family strengthening, youth programs and more.

National Center for Cultural Competence: Publications about cultural competence. Topics range from: guides for planning and implementing culturally competent policies, cultural competency in family support organizations, linguistically appropriate services for children with special health needs and their families, promising practices, and many more.

Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services: Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services, includes publications and links

Working with culturally & linguistically diverse families

Resource Guide for Serving Refugees with Disabilities The Resource Guide for Serving Refugees with Disabilities is written as a how-to for caseworkers and advocates who serve refugees with disabilities. It was developed in an effort to improve access to services for newly arrived refugees with disabilities. With an increasing number of refugees with disabilities resettled in the U.S., there is a greater need for effective and coordinated care. Funding for this project was provided through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement.

HEALTH CARE

Agency for Health Research and Quality: Agency for Health Research and Quality provides tools, events, podcasts, articles, best practices, and research findings related to cultural and linguistic competency in health care.

The Cross Cultural Health Care Program: Resource guides and links from an organization dedicated to building cultural competency in health and human services.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services : The Office of Minority Health has created “A Patient-Centered Guide to Implementing Language Access Services in Healthcare Organizations.” The guide is intended to help healthcare organizations implement effective language access services to meet the needs of their limited-English-proficient patients, and increase their access to health care.

Actionable Health Information Now Available in Spanish

FEDERAL REGULATIONS

Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services: Federal Requirements to Provide Interpretation/Translation in the Schools.

Limited English Proficiency Official Website: Federal guidelines, policy requirements, information about interpretation, translation and resources.

Migration Policy Institute (MPI): The Migration Policy Institute and the National Center of Immigration Integration Policy’s website includes valuable resources around language assistance and language access. Includes a searchable database of resources used to provide services to limited English proficient (LEP) individuals as well as recent research on assessments, translation and interpretation policy, interpretation and translation in health, education, legal, public safety and social service fields.

BEST PRACTICES IN EDUCATION FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

The Education Alliance at Brown University: The teacher’s guide to diversity – invites professional developers, teacher educators, and teachers to examine their beliefs, perceptions, behaviors, and educational practices with respect to diversity in education. http://www.alliance.brown.edu/pubs/teach_guide_diversity/

National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition and Language Instruction: Educational Programs The National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition collects, coordinates and conveys a broad range of research and resources in support of an inclusive approach to high quality education for ELLs. http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/

The National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt): NCCRESt provides technical assistance and professional development to close the achievement gap between students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and their peers, and reduce inappropriate referrals to special education. The project targets improvements in culturally responsive practices, early intervention, literacy, and positive behavioral supports. http://www.nccrest.org/index.html

Center for Applied Linguistics: The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) is dedicated to “improving communication through better understanding of language and culture.” The Center for Applied Linguistics has leading tools and methods based on the latest research related to English Language Learners, Foreign Language, Testing/Assessment, Literacy Education, Dialects, Refugee Integration and International Development. Publications, technical assistance, online resources, links, databases and directories are available on the CAL website. http://www.cal.org/index.html

The Equity Alliance: The Equity Alliance at ASU (Arizona State University) believes in equity “in learning, for life”. The Equity Alliance provides opportunities to network and learn. Website includes research based publications (by category), data maps, equity related frequently asked questions, tools for strengthening equity through policies, professional development and data driven decision-making. http://equityallianceatasu.org/

Communique Online: An online newsletter from the National Association of School Pyschologists (NASP), dedicated to helping children achieve their best. In school. At home. In life. http://www.nasponline.org/publication/cq/39/8/index/aspx

CULTURAL AWARENESS AND DIVERSITY

Channel 17 “Cultural Diversity Series”: Discussion on Diversity and Awareness. http://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/programs/discussion-diversity-and-awareness

Partnerships for Action Voices for Empowerment: Partnerships for Action Voices for Empowerment includes extensive links, resources, national and international resources. http://www.wapave.org/

Center for International Rehabilitation Research Information & Exchange (CIRRIE): CIRRIE offers a database of international research, educational resources related to culture and disability, and lists of conferences, workshops and other events of interest. Among the educational resources, CIRRIE offers a series, “The Rehabilitation Provider’s Guide to Cultures of the Foreign-Born”, which provides specific information on cultural perspectives of foreign-born persons in the U.S., especially recent immigrants. http://cirrie.buffalo.edu/

Teaching Tolerance: A project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, includes an online magazine, professional development tools, classroom activities, teaching kits, a blog, and recommended resources. www.teachingtolerance.org

Do Cultural Competency Interventions work? This new Technical Brief from the National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research (NCDDR), “Do Cultural Competency Interventions Work? A Systematic Review on Improving Rehabilitation Outcomes for Ethnically and Linguistically Diverse Individuals with Disabilities” is available online: http://www.ncddr.org/kt/products/focus/focus31/

Syracuse University opens Disability Cultural Center: Syracuse University will open the doors to a Disability Cultural Center in the fall of 2011. The Disability Cultural Center will function as an umbrella organization under which social, cultural and educational programming related to disability and disability culture will take place. For more information go to: http://insidesu.syr.edu/2011/05/17/disabilities-2/

State Level Findings: Boosting the Nation’s Economy by Improving High School Graduation Rates among Students of Color and Native Students: The Alliance for Excellent Education, with support from State Farm®, has developed an economic model that demonstrates the economic benefits – including increased earnings, home and vehicle sales, job growth, and tax revenue – of improving high school graduation rates among students of color and Native students: http://www.all4ed.org/files/EdEconBrief_sebsoc.pdf

The Educational Experience of Young Men of Color: A new initiative from The College Board seeks to identify existing — and needed — research around the Educational Experience of Young Men of Color. The College Board has conducted an extensive data and literature review to determine what is known about the situation currently facing young men of color; it has also engaged young men directly to understand how they view their experiences, and to add their voice to the discussion of how to better meet their needs. For more information go to: http://youngmenofcolor.collegeboard.org/

Long Term Gains in Minority Education: An Overlooked Success. This blog discusses achievement gains of white, Latino, and African American students on the long-term National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The blog points out that while general trends show a mixed picture of achievement gains over the last four decades, Latino and African American students have made great gains. The blog can be accessed at http://www.cep-dc.org/cfcontent_file.cfm?Attachment=Jennings%5FHuffingtonBlog%5F050811%2Epdf. A table showing the changes in long-term NAEP reading and math scores since the 1970s can be accessed here: http://www.cep-dc.org/cfcontent_file.cfm?Attachment=NAEPTable%5FHuffingtonBlog%5F050811%2Epdf

Striving to Achieve: Helping Native American Students Succeed (National Caucus of Native American State Legislator) This report assesses the achievement of Native American students in the United States and provides recommendations for policymakers to promote higher levels of educational achievement. The report points to findings from a study of Montana schools, in which “the factor most correlated with higher achievement was the school’s effort to engage parents, families, and communities in the school.” For more information go to:http://www.ncsl.org/Portals/1/documents/statetribe/strivingtoachieve.pdf

English Language Learning and Teaching for Students with Disabilities: The June 2011 issue of the AWAY, a journal of the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange focuses on English language learning and teaching for students with disabilities – what works, tips on inclusion in the classroom and much more: http://www.miusa.org/publications/books/altformats/awaytopics4

Federal Requirements to Provide Interpretation/Translation in the Schools: Many school districts and refugee/immigrant-serving agencies are in need of clarification as to when interpretation and translation services are to be provided in public schools. This tool, which is part of a larger schools toolkit, highlights this topic along with “promising practices” and a list of highlighted resources was developed by Bridging Refugee Youth and Children Services (BRYCS). For more information go to: http://www.brycs.org/clearinghouse/clearinghouse-resource.cfm?docnum=4139

Language Portal: A Translation and Interpretation Digital Library. The Language Portal maintains a digital library of over 600 state and local agency language access documents for use by social service and public safety agencies, educators, policymakers, and government administrators to assist with decisions and programs for Limited English Proficient (LEP) individuals. The database offers information on language and translation topics for health, education, social services, and public safety such as fire, police, disaster planning, court system, and employment concerns. For more information go to: http://www.brycs.org/clearinghouse/clearinghouse-resource.cfm?docNum=2508