Meeting the Needs of English Learners With and Without Disabilities: A Team Approach to Intervention

Educating English learners (ELs) in inclusive classrooms requires a team of educators with diverse expertise and knowledge in culturally and linguistically responsive assessment and instruction. To address the unique needs of ELs, we offered three graduate‐level courses to the educators over a 9‐month period. Teams of three to five educators from various schools were encouraged to apply. This group included administrators, general, and special education teachers, among others. The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to expand research on professional development for in‐service elementary educators working with ELs in elementary schools; (2) to investigate whether the 9‐month team approach to professional development increases educators' knowledge and skills in effective methods for assessing and educating ELs with and without disabilities; and (3) to explore whether a team approach is an efficient way to enhance educators' collaboration while increasing their engagement in the community. In this article, we report on the collaboration among participants (post‐survey means range from 2.32 to 3.47), student engagement ( p < 0.05) and family involvement ( p < 0.05). The results indicate that a team approach in professional development effectively increases collaboration among educators, encourages family participation and improves ELs' academic engagement.