Almost two-thirds of bilingual students in New York City who are entitled to special education services have not received all their mandated support.
Thousands of NYC students entitled to bilingual special education services were not in receipt of them in 2022, according to figures released in the city’s education department’s Annual Special Education Data Report. The information raises some important questions about the inclusion landscape, and what provision can be made when support personnel aren’t available—and how these learners might be affected by the gap in support.
In the report (delayed from November 1st, 2022), it is apparent that very few of the candidates who were required to be in receipt of bilingual special education services received the correct allocation of support from a certified bilingual teacher in a learning environment where there was an appropriate ratio of staff to students.
The data reported that:
· Only 36% of the candidates required to be in receipt of bilingual special education services received them
· Only 13% of the candidates entitled to receive bilingual speech therapy sessions received them
How many learners have been affected?
Around 3,100 students are thought to be missing out on their required bilingual special needs provision. The number may well be higher, and set to rise too: roughly 5,500 new students have enrolled in the city’s public schools since July 2022, many of whom are classed as ‘high needs’ and are English language Learners (ELLs). Most hail from Spanish-speaking South American countries where fluency in English varies from expected to rare. It’s been suggested that in order to provide the right support for this intake alone, an extra $34 million would be required.
The problem is ongoing, and growing—meaning solutions have to be found and implemented swiftly in order not to compromise the standard of education these bilingual special education learners are receiving.
Why is there a gap in the support framework?
There’s a lack of bilingual teachers in New York City. There’s a lack of bilingual teachers in the US as a whole, especially when it comes to those who are fluent in both Spanish and English. Bilingual and ELL-specialist educators often command higher salaries, which poses problems for schools and districts where resources have to be allocated carefully—leading to many establishments employing fewer bilingual educators than they need when they can find them. The same goes for multi-language education resources: everything costs money, and many schools are finding that budgets are having to go further year on year.
The lack of provision can have very negative effects on learners, and often they’re suffering socially, as well as academically. School becomes an isolating experience where language barriers are in play.
There are also issues of geography to consider. In the report, education officials noted one reason students may not receive all their allocated bilingual special education provision may be that families are unable to relocate their children to schools where full provision is available. Due to parental job commitments, housing, transport links, and the upheaval related to moving institutions, many parents are reluctant to switch schools—meaning learners are ‘cut off’ from their support allocation.
How do we resource ELL and bilingual special needs support in 2023?
The NYC Department of Education are working with superintendents across 9 of the city’s 32 districts to foster a greater provision of bilingual special education classes. They’re also using federal relief funding to offer small group provision, as well as trying to speed up special education evaluations.
However, this still doesn’t do as much as we need to address the scale of the issue at hand. Bilingual special education students are isolated and not learning in classrooms where multi-language support isn’t available, but access to multi-language support personnel is gated by elements like availability and financial resourcing. Luckily, we live in an age where the right tech for the job is available to step in and alleviate some of the strain on educators and help learners who need support.
Educators are at the forefront of supporting bilingual and English Language Learners, but there are some limits to the individual support they can give. Many are time-poor, in charge of large numbers of students, and may be struggling with multiple-language instruction and support. That’s where tech can step in to alleviate some of the day-to-day strain and provide learners with constant, dependable language and reading tools.
C-Pen Reader 2 is an assistive reading support that uses AI-led text-to-speech tech to nurture developing readers. It’s as simple as scanning a sentence on the page and hearing it spoken through the earbuds—as well as being able to look up dictionary definitions, store words to file, and customize both speaking speed and language for a fit that works for the user.
How can C-Pen Reader 2 benefit educators, bilingual learners and ELLs?
✅ Unlock reading with award-winning Text-to-Speech tech
✅ Foster vocab growth with built-in dictionaries
✅ Preserve educator bandwidth and boost learner confidence
✅ Make the most of tight budgets with permanent, easy-access support solutions
✅ Portable and rechargeable for school and home use
✅ Use anytime, anywhere—no need for Wi-Fi!