Australian schools are experiencing an increase in enrolments for students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Many of these students, who are frequently from migrant, refugee or asylum-seeker backgrounds, progress academically, but a small number experience learning challenges. In these circumstances, practitioners (school psychologists and guidance counsellors) assess the students to determine underlying factors contributing to limited academic progress, and ways in which the student’s learning can be supported and enhanced. However, formal assessment can be challenging due to language and cultural barriers. Considering the gaps in the research and training, the present article proposes an assessment framework and highlights strategies that can be adopted by practitioners at schools to enrich their decision-making and assessment process. Two case studies are used to highlight factors that can impact students’ academic difficulties. Further interview protocols and assessment measures that can be used to assist these students and their families are discussed. Ways in which school authorities can guide and support these students in the classroom and in the school are examined.

澳大利亚学校正在经历来自不同文化和语言背景的学生入学人数的增加。这些学生中有许多经常来自移民、难民或寻求庇护者的背景，他们在学业上有所进步，但少数人遇到了学习挑战。在这种情况下，从业者（学校心理学家和辅导员）会评估学生，以确定导致学业进步受限的潜在因素，以及支持和增强学生学习的方式。然而，由于语言和文化障碍，正式评估可能具有挑战性。考虑到研究和培训方面的差距，本文提出了一个评估框架，并强调了学校从业人员可以采用的策略，以丰富他们的决策和评估过程。两个案例研究用于突出可能影响学生学业困难的因素。讨论了可用于帮助这些学生及其家人的进一步访谈协议和评估措施。研究了学校当局在课堂和学校中指导和支持这些学生的方式。