SSDIS Webinar: SSDIS Webinar: Individualized Language Plans for Multilingual Learners

Individualized Language Plans for Multilingual Learners: Promises and Pitfalls

This webinar explores the increasing use of Individualized Language Plans (ILPs) to support multilingual learners (MLs) in U.S. K–12 schools. Based on a review of ILPs, this webinar describes the key characteristics and affordances of these documents and then provides recommendations for enhancing their quality. The webinar concludes with a time of open discussion, with participants sharing their experiences and emerging questions about ILPs.

Presenters

Dr. Sara Kangas is an Associate Professor in the College of Education at Lehigh University. Dr. Kangas’ program of research focused on issues of access and equity in K–12 schools for multilingual learners (MLs) with disabilities.  In her research, she investigates how education policies and school conditions shape the academic and bilingual development of MLs with disabilities.  Dr. Kangas’ research has been published in numerous top-tier journals and has been awarded the James E. Alatis Prize.

Dr. María Cioè-Peña is an assistant professor in Educational Linguistics at Penn GSE. As a neurodiverse, bilingual/biliterate researcher, she examines the intersections of disability, language, school-parent partnerships and education policy.  Dr. Cioè-Peña focuses specifically on Latinx bilingual children with dis/abilities, their families and their ability to access multilingual inclusion within public schools. She is also the author of (M)othering Labeled Children: Bilingualism and Disability in the Lives of Latinx Mothers, published by Multilingual Matters.