Premium
Breaking One Law to Uphold Another: How Schools Provide Services to English Learners with Disabilities
Author(s) -
Kangas Sara E. N.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
tesol quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.737
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1545-7249
pISSN - 0039-8322
DOI - 10.1002/tesq.431
Subject(s) - government (linguistics) , education act , special education , law , sociology , political science , federal law , service (business) , pedagogy , public relations , public administration , legislation , business , philosophy , linguistics , marketing
Inadequate and incomplete educational services for English learners ( EL s) with disabilities is a common civil rights issue in the U.S. K–12 education system. Although the federal government has documented that schools are instituting policies of providing only one set of services, such as special education or EL supports, there is little understanding as to why this practice persists in spite of educational laws and policies. Through a qualitative comparative case study that draws on two complementary theories, intersectionality and the language planning and policy onion, this study examines two schools’ service provision practices for EL s with disabilities. The findings reveal that educators’ beliefs about the differential weight of federal special education and EL laws and policies resulted in practices that bar EL s with disabilities from receiving the dual services to which they are legally entitled. The findings underscore the significance of bolstering school leaders’ knowledge of federal language education laws and policies, while also instituting greater protections for EL s with disabilities, to safeguard these learners’ educational opportunities and rights.