School administrators face daily challenges in their assignments. The challenge of being asked to evaluate and provide special education services for a limited English proficient student is one that has become more common in the past ten years. The question "How do I find qualified staff to conduct evaluations and provide services?", once asked almost solely in New York City and the Big Four cities, now is being asked in districts of all sizes throughout the State.

This work paper describes State Education Department (SED) standards for personnel evaluating and educating students with disabilities who are English language learners, provides guidelines for meeting the standards, and identifies sources of technical assistance.

Under Part 80 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education, the New York State Education Department issues certificates in teaching, including classroom teaching, special education, school psychology, school social work and school administration among others. All salaried staff working in these categories must hold valid teaching certificates… Bilingual special education service providers must hold a New York State certificate as indicated above with a bilingual education extension to that certificate. (Certification and Licensing of Bilingual Special Education Professionals - June 1997)

School districts are familiar with SED regulations for the use of qualified personnel in conducting evaluations and providing services. Administrators must only use personnel who are certified or under some conditions, licensed, in the areas sought i.e.: psychology, speech. In the case of limited English proficient students, the school district must identify personnel who are certified and/or licensed and in addition speak and understand the student’s language(s). In the case of less frequent languages, the Department has also provided standards for the use of interpreters who "…working under the direction of the psychologist will assist the psychologist in the evaluation of tasks such as the translation or communication of instructions, questions, test items and the interpretation of responses." (Psychologist/Interpreter Work Standards for Conducting Bilingual Evaluations – June 1997)

The first step is the determination of the language(s) in which the evaluation will be conducted. This is accomplished by reviewing the results of the Home Language Survey and subsequent language screening (see Work Paper #2). The next step is to determine the availability of qualified evaluation staff.

Assuming that the district does not have qualified personnel on staff, the first step is to contact the local Special Education Training and Resource Center (SETRC) or Bilingual Education Technical Assistance Center (BETAC) to access lists of available qualified personnel. Larger school districts in the region also may have personnel who could assist in the evaluation process.

Caution on hiring ‘independent contractors’: School districts should not violate licensing law when using personnel from other school districts. The requesting district may contract directly with an individual licensed psychologist or licensed speech pathologist from another district if s/he is qualified to conduct the evaluation.

In the case of a psychologist who is not licensed, but is certified as a school psychologist and holds a bilingual extension, or a speech professional who is not licensed but is certified as a Teacher of the Speech and Hearing Handicapped and holds a bilingual extension, the requesting district must contract with the district for which the individual works rather than directly with the individual for more information see Certification and Licensing of Bilingual Special Education Professionals - June 1997).

In the case of less commonly occurring languages, the initial search may not be successful. In that case, the next canvass should be made of licensed psychologists and licensed speech-language pathologists working in medical facilities or in private practice in the area including those on the faculty of local institutions of higher education. These professionals may be contracted with directly to conduct the necessary evaluation.

If All Else Fails

Because of the difficulty encountered in securing appropriately qualified personnel, SED has developed a cascade of options that can be used when personnel searches are unsuccessful. (see Psychologist/Interpreter Work Standards for Conducting Bilingual Evaluations – June 1997)

It is important that the district document its attempts to secure qualified personnel before using these options.

When reviewing the options, the district will also see the skills that are required of professional personnel as well as bilingual interpreters.

The school district works on a specific timetable when conducting an evaluation for special education. The steps provided above are intended to assist in the case of unanticipated referrals. To be safe, the district should evaluate the likelihood of an ongoing need for similar evaluations and subsequent placements and take appropriate steps such as the following:

Step 1: Review school demographic data to determine the likelihood of future need for services for limited English proficient students both in general education and special education.

Step 2: Search the New York State Inventory of Registered Programs to contact teacher-training programs with registered programs in bilingual education and bilingual special education as a source for consultants as well as future staff recruitment.

Step 3: Advise local Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) of the need for personnel and shared services.

Step 4: Survey all district staff to determine if they are proficient in the target languages that might be needed in the future.

Step 5: Consider requesting approval from the Department for approval of a temporary license (until September 2003) or a transition certificate which will allow the district to use already employed bilingual staff as uncertified teachers while they pursue certification in a registered bilingual education or bilingual special education teacher training program.

Tip on the benefit of hiring bilingual staff: Personnel holding bilingual education extensions may work in an English-only and/or a bilingual (English and another language) setting. A school district may use staff in a monolingual English classroom until the need for a bilingual classroom arises or use the staff to provide services in English and the other language.

VESID has provided and continues to provide incentives to universities to develop teacher-training programs for bilingual special education personnel. In some cases, universities have opted not to request funding because there has not been a voiced need for personnel in their geographic area. School districts should identify their needs and communicate these needs to their local training institutions as well as to BOCES.

New York State Teacher Certification Requirements 

New York State Inventory of Registered Programs

Psychologist / Interpreter Work Standards for Conducting Bilingual Evaluations

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