Special Education Trumps ESL: Policy as Practice for ELs with Disabilities

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the educational practices surrounding English Learners (ELs) with disabilities, a unique population of learners who are not only acquiring English as a Second Language (ESL) but also have an institutionally identified disability. Possessing these characteristics, these learners are located at an intersection--the intersection of minority social categories and the intersection of two disciplines, special education and ESL. This intersection is the source of educational ambiguity; namely educators are left wondering how they can possibly target the heterogeneous learning needs of these students within the course of any given school day. Employing ethnographic methodology, this dissertation was designed as a vertical case study of two elementary schools within Pennsylvania. With over a year of observations, 40 interviews, and artifact collection, this dissertation draws on intersectionality for its theoretical underpinnings to investigate the educational practices of service provision for ELs with disabilities. More concretely, it examines how institutional factors and personnel's beliefs construct and even limit the opportunities ELs with disabilities are offered within their learning contexts. It argues that second language (L2) identities are erased during service delivery practices through specific institutional and ideological factors, so that in effect, ELs with disabilities become learners with disabilities. Further, this dissertation questions the de facto policy of eliminating ESL services for special education with the understanding that such practices fail to address the multidimensionality of these learners while simultaneously circumventing educational law.