EXAMINING BILINGUAL TEACHERS’ PREPARATION FOR THE INTERVENTION ASSISTANCE TEAM ENGAGEMENT AT AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Abstract

The Intervention Assistance Team (IAT) meetings allow educators to engage in a collaborative, problem-solving process to resolve student problems indirectly, through teacher consultation with a team (Myers & Kline, 2002). However, according to Ghandi (2018), general confusion exists in implementation of the IAT in urban schools in Texas. Ghandi found inconsistent knowledge hampering IAT implementation across schools, noting that “limited evidence of data-driven decision making” was taking place (p. 47). The purpose of this study is to investigate current practices and perceptions of bilingual teachers when considering a bilingual student for special education assessment. This phenomenological qualitative study was designed to understand how classroom teachers’ experiences influenced bilingual students’ referrals for special education, as well as teacher readiness for the IAT meeting. I interviewed five elementary bilingual teachers using face-to-face, audio-recorded, semi structured interviews. The results revealed the following (a) four out of the five teachers expressed that they felt inadequately prepared and trained to teach English language learners (ELLs) (b) all teachers lacked formal documentation to collect classroom data for IAT meetings and (c) all teachers were unable to effectively distinguish between language acquisition and learning disability in ELLs. Consequently, an IAT checklist was developed to assist classroom teachers with data collection and as a formal document to assist in the decision-making process in the IAT meetings. This IAT checklist can be used by school districts to minimize unwarranted special education referrals of bilingual students or ELLs.