Meeting the Needs of All Students: How Can Educators, Leaders and Education Systems Better Attend to the Intersection of Language and Disability for Multilingual Learners Artwork

Budgeting for Educational Equity

How can dedicated teams of leaders, school business officials, educators, and entire school communities allocate resources to better meet the needs of all students? That’s the story we’re sharing in this new limited series presented by CASBO and WestEd. Each episode, our host Jason Willis welcomes education leaders and practitioners to discuss funding, educational improvements and advancing resource equity across all levels of California's public education system. We'll explore their motivations, the tools they’re using, and what’s working and what they’ve learned. Join us to tap into the experiences of guest experts and colleagues who are doing the work every day of ensuring a more equitable allocation of resources. It's valuable insight you won't want to miss!Want to learn more ways to put what you hear about resource equity into action? Check out our episode companion briefs, available via WestEd at https://www.wested.org/budgeting-for-educational-equity-podcast-series/

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Budgeting for Educational Equity

Meeting the Needs of All Students: How Can Educators, Leaders and Education Systems Better Attend to the Intersection of Language and Disability for Multilingual Learners

March 26, 2024 • CASBO and WestEd • Season 2 • Episode 9

This episode we’re bringing attention to an important but still under-examined subject: the need for schools and school systems to better attend to the intersection of language and disability for young multilingual learners.

Focusing on multilingualism and disability offers insight into a larger and more persistent question we’ve dug into throughout this series—that is, how can district leaders, including superintendents and school business officials, make decisions and take actions that more effectively identify and meet the needs of all their students?

Host Jason Willis is joined by two WestEd colleagues, Jamey Burho and Elizabeth Burr. Both have worked extensively on policies and practices that support the needs of multilingual learners, particularly those with disabilities. In the past couple of years, Jamey and Elizabeth have co-authored key studies, including a 2022 report, “Resourcing Supports for Young Multilingual Learners with Suspected Disabilities in California,” and in Dec. 2023, "Pre-Referral Processes in California State Preschool Programs: How Practitioners Decide to Refer Multilingual Children for Special Education Evaluation" along with Alyssa Perez.

More About Our Guests

As a Senior Research Associate on the Research-Practice Partnerships team at WestEd, Elizabeth Burr coordinates research projects, including policy analyses, literature reviews, and syntheses with the Regional Educational Laboratory West. She authored Guidance Manuals for Educators of English Learners with Disabilities: Ideas and Lessons from the Field, and was a lead author of California Practitioners’ Guide for Educating English Learners with Disabilities. Currently she is working on a comprehensive toolkit for educators of English learners with disabilities. Prior to joining WestEd in 2007, Elizabeth was a Project Director at the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University, and a Project Director at Policy Analysis for California Education.

Jamey Burho is a Senior Research Associate with the English Learners Services and Migrant Education (ELMES) team and the Special Education Policy & Practice (SEPP) team at WestEd. Her expertise focuses on students identified as English Learners with disabilities, or dually identified students. As part of WestEd’s Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) program, Jamey routinely leads professional development sessions across the country for educators on how to support multilingual students. Prior to joining WestEd, Burho was a postdoctoral fellow at Oregon State University. She began her education career in Washington, D.C. as a special education teacher. She holds a BS in international relations from Georgetown University, an MA in teaching (special education) from Trinity Washington University, and a Ph.D. in special education from University of Maryland.

Jason Willis serves as Director of Strategic Resource Planning and Implementation for WestEd, and he is a former chief business official in several California school districts.

Budgeting for Educational Equity is presented by CASBO and WestEd. The series is written and produced by Paul Richman and Jason Willis. Original music and sound by Tommy Dunbar. Alyssa Perez and Hannah Jarmolowski at WestEd provides research and develop the written briefs that go along with episodes.