Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Special Education topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
MCPS pilot targets overidentification of Hispanic/Latine emergent multilingual learners in special education
Summary
MCPS described a targeted MSDE competitive grant to reduce overidentification of Hispanic/Latine emergent multilingual learners in special education with interpreter training, culturally responsive assessments, training for new teachers, and a four‑school pilot. MCPS plans an online repository and train‑the‑trainer model to sustain the work after the grant ends.
Montgomery County Public Schools briefed the committee on a state‑funded grant to reduce overidentification of Hispanic/Latine emergent multilingual learners for special education services.
Brenda Brown, assistant to the associate superintendent for special education, said MCPS partnered with experts (including Dr. Samuel Ortiz and collaborators at the University of Texas at Austin and other consultants) to train 55 interpreters through a University of Georgia asynchronous program, provide professional learning to school psychologists and speech‑language pathologists, and deliver language‑acquisition training to 353 new teachers.
The district described a four‑school pilot (Watkins Mill High School, Montgomery Village Middle School, Neelsville Middle School and Belmont Elementary School) that began in the month of the briefing. MCPS said it will gather data and lessons learned using consultants in situ, create an online repository of tools and process maps, and deploy a train‑the‑trainer approach so the work continues after the grant ends.
Why it matters: committee members noted long‑standing concerns about both overidentification and underidentification in special education and welcomed targeted work that focuses on culturally and linguistically responsive practice and parent engagement during IEP meetings.
What’s next: MCPS said it will monitor pilot outcomes, capture lessons for scale, and return with findings to inform countywide special education practice.
