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 Examining Patterns and Exploring Possibilities (Multilingual Learners with Educational Disabilities Webinar Series)

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The Representation of Multilingual Learners with Specific Learning Disabilities in Special Education: Examining Patterns and Exploring Possibilities (Multilingual Learners with Educational Disabilities Webinar Series)

Audience: Educators, Other District/School Staff | Topic: Multilingual Learners, Special Education | Hosted by: Office of Special Education


Webinar format. The Representation of Multilingual Learners with Specific Learning Disabilities in Special Education: Examining Patterns and Exploring Possibilities (Multilingual Learners with Educational Disabilities Webinar Series)
Webinar format

The Offices of Special Education and Elementary Literacy and School Readiness proudly invite you to join the2025-26 Webinar Series: Multilingual Learners with Educational Disabilities. This engaging series brings together a star-studded lineup of national and Colorado-based researchers and practitioners who are leading the field with practical, student-centered approaches.

Participants will gain fresh insights into this often-overlooked intersectional population, explore evidence-based literacy strategies to strengthen instruction, and consider thoughtful adjustments to referral, evaluation, and programming decision-making.

This series is for Colorado Special Education teams, including ELD Teachers, Literacy Specialists, Directors, and Coordinators in Special Education and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education.

Download the Series Booklet (PDF)

Registration

Registration for each webinar will close two weeks before each respective webinar to ensure accessibility. Zoom links and invites will be sent out two weeks prior to each webinar.

Space is limited, so reserve your spot today

Register for one or more session

About this Session

English remains the predominant language of instruction for mostU.S. students, including for the large and growing population ofMultilingual Learners (MLs). However, MLs come from homes inwhich a language(s) other than only English is used.

This population of learners is designated by schools as coming from a non-Englishlanguage background, independent of their academic English language proficiency. Asubset of MLs—referred to as English learners [(MLs) in Colorado]—are formally identifiedas being in the process of acquiring academic English language proficiency.

Given that reading is language-based, MLs in general and ELs in particular have beenreported to be over- and under-represented in special education, particularly in the high-incidence category of specific learning disabilities (SLD). I discuss the representation ofstudents with SLD by language status, attending to the importance and implications ofassessment considerations for evaluating and supporting language and readingachievement and development among multilingual learners.

About the Speaker

Jeannette Mancilla-Martinez is an Associate Professor in the SpecialEducation Department, as well as Associate Dean of Graduate Education for PeabodyCollege. She holds an M.Ed. and Ed.D. in language and literacy from Harvard University, aswell as a B.A. in liberal studies from Mount Saint Mary's College. Jeannette’s program ofresearch is focused on advancing students’ language and reading comprehensionoutcomes. The studies she is engaged in build on her earlier research in readingdevelopment and focus on the central role of supporting students’ language comprehensionto mitigate later reading comprehension difficulties. Jeannette was appointed to theNational Assessment of Education Progress Standing Committee on Reading in 2017 andserves on the Early Literacy Advisory Council for the Tennessee Department of Education.

The LLD research group is a team of educational researchers and practitioners dedicated tounderstanding and supporting elementary school students' language and literacydevelopment. We collaborate with experts through research-practitioner partnerships withlocal schools, community-based language development programs, and state-levelpartnerships with the Tennessee Educational Research Alliance. Our work aims to informresearch, practice, and policy efforts to help students become independent, successfullearners.

Visit Dr. Mancilla-Martinez's webpage (Vanderbilt University)

Event Date and Time

  • Thursday, September 4, 2025 -
    8:30am to 9:30am

Location

Online

Certificate

Attendees will receive 1 hour of Special Education recertification credit, which satisfies part of the new renewal requirements under Colorado HB 21-1104.

Professional development events offers a certificate

Contact Information

Hunter Smith or Brie Johnson
Smith_H@cde.state.co.us or Johnson_B@cde.state.co.us

     

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