Silvia Lenhof DeRuvo has been committed to equity for students with disabilities and other struggling learners throughout her teaching and technical assistance career. DeRuvo, a daughter of refugees displaced after WWII, has experienced the inequities that come from being a child of immigrants who were not literate in English, and as an English learner, recognizes the cultural difficulties of learning to navigate the American education system. The second child to graduate from high school and the first to attend college, Silvia recognizes the need for culturally sensitive instructional and family engagement practices that promote equity for all children from diverse backgrounds.
DeRuvo utilizes her experience as an English learner and expertise in teaching students with disabilities to inform her work around English learners and English learners with disabilities. As a primary author of the California Practitioners Guide for Educating English Learners with Disabilities and the New Mexico Identifying and Serving English Learners Guidance Manual, Silvia recognizes the need for policies and practices that drive instruction that ensures that all students are given the opportunity to master the grade level content within an environment that recognizes English language development needs and learning differences related to disability. In this area of English learners with disabilities she has been a champion in developing professional development to support teachers and other practitioners in identifying pre-referral instructional practices that support struggling learners including English learners, culturally and linguistically sound special education evaluation practices, linguistically appropriate Individualized Education Program (IEP) development and instructional practices that support
dually identified students.
As a technical assistance provider to states through the IDEA Data Center (IDC) and the Mid-Atlantic Equity Center (MAEC), she supports state agencies in their efforts to improve equity and educational outcomes for students with disabilities through the development and refinement of policies, practices and procedures that address equity issues including those related to English learners with disabilities.
Working with WestEd since 2005, DeRuvo has worked extensively with schools and districts across the nation through professional development and coaching in the implementation of inclusive practices for students with disabilities in the general education classroom, supporting students at the intersection of disability and English language learning and building equitable MTSS frameworks to support all struggling learners.
Prior to coming to WestEd she was an instructor at California State University, Sacramento, the Teachers College of San Joaquin, and Project Pipeline alternate teaching credential program. She has authored and co-authored books related to disability, instructional practices and Response to Intervention and has been a national speaker for the Bureau of Education and Research on Standards-based IEPs and MTSS implementation. She began her career as a special educator in the Central Valley of California working primarily with English learners.
DeRuvo received her MA in communicative disorders from California State University, Fresno.