The growing number of English Learners (ELs) in American schools has led to increasing referrals of these students for special education, including speech-language services. These ELs are frequently overidentified as having a language impairment (LI) due to biased assessment practices that are not legal or grounded in research promoting best practices. This article describes a comprehensive preassessment process that should be used with ELs before formal testing takes place. This process consists of four steps: (a) assess language proficiency in all languages, (b) gather a case history with a focus on language development milestones in the first language, (c) interview multiple individuals in the child’s school setting and ascertain whether or not they agree that the student is manifesting any of the universal indicators of LI, and (d) implement a comprehensive response to intervention (RtI) process to determine the student’s ability to profit from instruction. Use of a comprehensive preassessment process will accomplish two objectives: help reduce the overidentification of ELs as having LI and other special needs and promote academic success for these students.

中文翻译：

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利用综合预评估程序区分英语学习者的语言差异和语言障碍

美国学校越来越多的英语学习者 (EL) 导致这些学生越来越多地转介到特殊教育，包括语音服务。由于不合法或以促进最佳实践的研究为基础的有偏见的评估实践，这些 EL 经常被过度认定为有语言障碍 (LI)。本文描述了一个全面的预评估过程，应该在正式测试发生之前与 EL 一起使用。这个过程包括四个步骤：(a) 评估所有语言的语言能力，(b) 收集案例历史，重点是第一语言的语言发展里程碑，(c) 在孩子的学校环境中采访多个人，并确定是否或者他们是否同意学生表现出 LI 的任何普遍指标，(d) 实施对干预的综合反应 (RtI) 过程，以确定学生从教学中获利的能力。使用全面的预评估过程将实现两个目标：帮助减少 EL 被过度认定为具有 LI 和其他特殊需求，并促进这些学生的学业成功。