An Investigation of Collaboration Among School Professionals in Serving Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students with Exceptionalities

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate and report the perceptions, practices, and needs of educational professionals as they relate to service delivery to culturally and linguistically diverse and exceptional (CLDE) students. For this study, the Collaborative Survey for teachers working with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse and Exceptional students (CS-CLDE) was developed and completed by a sample of 125 educational professionals (25 English as a Second Language teachers, 25 general educators, 25 counselors, 25 speech pathologists, and 25 special education teachers) in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. Quantitative data were analyzed utilizing descriptive statistics and frequencies. Qualitative data were analyzed and formulated into themes and then into clusters. The majority of the participants' responses indicated that they had the training and skills to work with CLDE students. However, they did not know the roles, responsibilities, and practices of other school professionals who worked with CLDE students, they did not receive appropriate training on ways to collaborate, and they did not have adequate support from the administration in order to collaborate with other school professionals in serving CLDE students. The qualitative analysis indicated that there is a need for professional training on collaboration, support from the administration, and time for collaboration, resources related to CLDE students, and information on the other school professionals' roles and responsibilities.