Cardinal School Psychology

Cardinal School Psychology

Fundamental Insights, Clear Direction

Cardinal School Psychology · Evaluation planning

Does this multilingual learner need a bilingual evaluation?

Enter what you know about the student’s time in U.S. schools, language proficiency, instructional history, and intervention data. The tool returns a recommended evaluation approach, who should conduct it, which tools to consider, and what the report has to document.

The question you are actually answering

Are this student’s difficulties in school likely attributable to variations in culture, language, and/or educational access? When controlling for those variables, does this student present with a disability?

Time and program history

How long has the student been in U.S. schools?

Count continuous enrollment. Interrupted years do not count as full years.

Home language (optional)
Program history
Home language use

Proficiency

Proficiency in the home language

From parent interview, teacher report, language sample, BVAT, or Ortiz PVAT.

Most recent ACCESS or WIDA screener, overall composite
ACCESS growth trend

A minimum growth rate of 0.5 per year is the expectation.

Pre-referral data

Where do the difficulties appear?
Compared to MLL peers with similar language exposure and life circumstances
MTSS delivered with fidelity and progress-monitored?

Monitored in both languages where possible, with 6–8 data points before an instructional change.

Limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE)?
Recent arrival, trauma, family separation, or other upheaval?
Concerns beyond language — behavior, social-emotional, adaptive, motor, or medical?

District capacity

Bilingual evaluator available in that language?

Credentialed in the discipline and proficient in the language of assessment — not a staff member who happens to speak it.

Trained educational interpreter available?

A real interpreter — not a family member, a student, or a bilingual staff volunteer.

0 of 14 answered

Decision support for evaluation planning. It does not determine eligibility, replace team judgment, or constitute legal advice. Branch logic adapted from the New Britain CT Public Schools CLD Committee decision tree (June 2007). Prepared by Cardinal School Psychology.