How to do multilingual evaluations as a monolingual therapist (with Meg Morgan)

Doing a quality evaluation when you’re assessing things like language can be a challenge because there isn’t one “magic bullet” test that gives us what we need.  What is even more challenging is when you get a referral to evaluate a client that speaks two or more languages; especially when they’re languages you don’t speak.  Unfortunately, monolingual clinicians get referrals for multilingual evaluations all the time.  That’s why I invited Meg Morgan, Speech-Language Pathologist and Clinical Assistant Professor from the University of New Hampshire to episode 108 of the “De Facto Leaders” podcast to talk about multilingual evaluations. This episode will be extremely valuable to you for ALL language evaluations; even monolingual clients.  In this interview we discuss: ✅The biggest myths about bilingualism and language proficiency, and why it’s not as simple as we think ✅How to prepare yourself to evaluate a client who speaks a language you don’t speak ✅How to gather evidence to share with your team, even if you don’t have formal test scores ✅Why doing a thorough evaluation saves you time in the long run; and how to streamline the process You can connect with Meg on LinkedIN here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meg-morgan-039778144/ You can also watch her presentation Multilingual Evaluations by Monolingual SLPs on speechpathology.com here: https://www.speechpathology.com/slp-ceus/course/multilingual-evaluations-by-monolingual-slps-9364                                                                                       (paid membership is required to view this training) Meg mentioned the following resources in this episode: Bilinguistics - Click here to read more: https://bilinguistics.com/ The Leaders Project - Click here to read more: https://www.leadersproject.org/ SALT - Click here to read more: https://www.saltsoftware.com/ In this episode, I mentioned the Ultimate Guide to Sentence Structure, my free guide for clinicians that outlines common sentence types that support comprehension in students who are learning English or who have disabilities that impact language learning. You can sign up for a free copy here: https://drkarenspeech.com/sentencestructure In this episode, I mentioned my Executive Functions Implementation Guide that shares how school therapists can lead their IEP teams in providing mental health, behavioral, and social skills support for K-12 kids. You can download this free resource here:  https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/efschools     Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks, IXL and Renaissance:Learn more about Renaissance:As a global leader in education technology operating in more than 110 countries, Renaissance is committed to providing educators with insights and resources to accelerate growth and help all students build a strong foundation for success. We believe that technology can unlock a more effective learning experience, ensure that students get the personalized teaching they need to thrive, and help educators and administrators to truly, fully, See Every Student. Learn more at renaissance.com.We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.