Defensible Special Education Evaluation:
Accurate Assessment of English Learners/Multilinguals

What does equitable evaluation look like for English Language Learners?

In this session, Dr. Sam Ortiz — Chief Clinical Officer at Marker Learning and a national leader in equitable assessment — breaks down what IDEA actually requires for evaluating English Learners and multilingual students. Despite clear federal guidance, many districts struggle with nondiscriminatory evaluation due to gaps in training, uncertainty among monolingual evaluators, and limited assessment tools.

Dr. Ortiz highlights how linguistic diversity, evaluator language proficiency, and traditional assessment practices can compromise validity and compliance. He also shares practical, research-supported strategies districts can use to conduct fair, accurate, and legally defensible evaluations for all students.

‍In this webinar, you’ll learn:

• What IDEA requires for nondiscriminatory evaluation — and why most practitioners haven’t been trained to meet those expectations
• How language, culture, and assessment design contribute to inequitable or inaccurate outcomes
• Practical steps districts can take to implement fair, valid, and legally defensible evaluation practices for every student

Fill out the form to the left to access the full recording and take a critical step toward more equitable, defensible special education evaluations.