No student being assessed for special education eligibility and services should be discriminated against or assigned to special education classes based on his limited ability to speak English. As in Larry P., the tests administered to students must be non-biased and culturally valid. Therefore, the rulings in Diana and Larry P., coupled with federal and state assessment protections, reinforce the obligation of school districts to meet the linguistic and cultural needs of ethnic and language minority students in the assessment process, as well as in the provision of special education services.

Currently, there are very few specially designed special education assessments for other ethnic and language minority students. Special education assessment is usually conducted with the common tests that are administered to most students. Therefore, for the English-limited (EL) student, it is essential that the assessor be proficient in the student’s native or primary language.