Online Survey on Instructional Strategies for English Language Learners with Disabilities. Report 13

The current study, an online survey about instructional strategies for English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities, was designed to build on the findings of the previous study about educator perceptions of instructional strategies. Although the current study did not use consensus building methods, it was similarly designed to obtain educators' perspectives about instructional strategies for reading, mathematics, and science. This survey, in contrast to the previous study, included a broader range than only middle school level educators. Because of the study design, the authors opened participation to any educator of ELLs with disabilities in reading, mathematics, and science across special education, ESL/bilingual education, and general education settings. It is one study of a project designed to identify and test effective instructional strategies for ELLs with disabilities. For this survey, the goal was to use an online environment to learn more about the influences shaping educators' use of certain strategies in the classroom (e.g., state or district mandates, professional development training, etc.). Among the influences that were explored were student and setting characteristics. The primary research question that was addressed centered around discerning the instructional practices that teachers recommend for delivering grade-level, standards-based instruction to English language learners with disabilities. Additionally, there were two other research questions: How do educators who report working with ELLs with disabilities rate the importance and use of strategies; and what do educators report as being the most influential factor in their choice of strategies overall? Finally, the authors gathered other supporting interpretive information about the respondents' familiarity with standards, educator demographics, and reported student characteristics. (Contains 11 tables and 5 figures.)