Helping people see different perspectives and analyzing the lens we each look through to view the world.
Steve started his career as a school psychologist in a district with a large ELL population. There he realized how little he had learned about language learners prior to this experience.
Over the years, he completed graduate work in ELL studies, eventually creating the ELL Critical Data Process. As of writing this, Steve has trained over 20,000 educators on the process across the country and guests from multiple other countries.
Ushani is a writer, artist and trainer who has worked for major corporations as a training manager. Ushani has been instrumental in the writing of our books, working diligently to ensure that the writing speaks to a wider audience.
“When you sit through one of Steve’s Data Matrix trainings, it becomes extremely clear how much school districts have lacked the expertise and methods for carrying out referrals and evaluations on students who are English Language Learners. I personally learned more in the 2-hour session about English Language Learners than I ever did in graduate school or my own practice. His work is thorough, eye-opening, and most importantly, practical.” AG, School Psychologist
Books
The ELL Critical Data Process - 3rd Edition
Distinguishing between disability and language acquisition
This book provides teams with the processes and materials to complete the ELL Critical Data Process for K-12 and preschool students including a data analysis process for districts to better understand their issues. Knowing the critical data to gather, the staff to involve, and having a process to follow can increase the likelihood of appropriate intervention. The result is a pictorial image, the matrix, that represents the discussions of the team. This resource kit contains resources and guiding documents to help understand whether targeted interventions or a special education referral is appropriate. The discussions and work help the team to know the root cause of the presenting problem.
Evaluating ELL Students For the Possibility of Special Education Qualification - 2nd Edition
The evaluation of language learners for possible special education services is a difficult process at best, with a long history of errors represented in disproportionate qualification. The goal of this book is to help practitioners correctly identify language learners who truly have disabilities, whose disabilities are impacting their ability to access their education and who need specially designed instruction.
Special Education Referral or Not
Using Data to Determine Between Interventions and Referral
This book, like the book on the ELL Critical Data Process, guides educators through a process to collect data, have critical conversations, and document their decisions in a matrix one data point at a time. The key difference between the two books is that this book is not ELL student specific. The result is a pictorial image, the matrix, that represents the discussions of the team. This helps the team to determine whether to implement interventions, add more interventions, or make a special education referral. The discussions and work help the team to know the root cause of the presenting problem.
ELL Teachers and Special Education
A Self-Study or Group Study
This book is a self-study or group study course for ELL teachers to learn more about special education. The hope of the authors is that this information will help ELL teachers in their day-to-day work with special education staff, leading to better results for our students. The content for this book came from asking special education staff what they want ELL teachers to know, presenting this information to ELL teachers at a conference, and then asking them what they still wanted to know. The book follows a modified KWL processing for learning, a question and answer section, and includes case study type activities.
Examining Beliefs, Biases, and Reality Through Stories
Our perspective is created through our acculturation and the knowledge we gain in our lives. What if our perspective is leading to poor results? Perspective is not reality and this disconnect can lead to difficulties in solving problems. This book uses stories and reflections to explore this problem and propose solutions. These stories and reflections were written by successful educators on topics close to their hearts. The stories let the reader see another way to look at an issue and can be used for personal growth or for professional development purposes. This book also includes an appendix that focuses on belief systems issues and an appendix that focuses on a new way to examine problems in skills development that children may face.
The ELL Special Education Evaluation Workbook
Companion and Training Document for the ELL Critical Data Process
Sample report for integrating ELL Critical Data Process factors into special education evaluation reports. This is a companion workbook for the ELL Critical Data Process book.
Lessons Learned while Evaluating ELL Students for Potential Special Education Qualification
The process of evaluating a language learner for the possibility of special education eligibility provides many challenges. This book is the culmination of 30 years of working on increasing the likelihood of finding the students who truly have disabilities, versus the students whose struggles are primarily related to language acquisition. This book provides practical steps to achieve this. It also provides practical advice on how to help others, strangers to the situation, understand how the decision was made and what evidence was used. In the end, is the determinant factor language acquisition or language acquisition with a disability?
Training
Please carefully read the content on the trainings page, because things have and are changing.
Let's Chat.
Please carefully read the content on the training page, because things have and are changing. Also, please carefully check your email address. I reply to all messages, but several “bounce back” per month due to incorrect email addresses.