Bilingual Special Education Research Articles

Descriptive Inquiry at the Margins

In this autoethnographic article, I describe the ways in which I have used and adapted Descriptive Inquiry and the descriptive processes to further understand and support the needs of marginalized populations across three settings: a bilingual special education classroom in an urban school district, a research study with Spanish-dominant mothers, and a professional learning community in a racially integrated suburban school district. Using each setting, this article will describe the way Descriptive Inquiry and the processes have been adapted for use within (1) multitiered support systems for multiply marginalized learners, (2) research studies to elicit narratives from adult participants, and finally, (3) professional learning communities to unpack and understand teacher and student positionality in cross-racial relationships. Throughout the article, I show these adaptations/modifications were in keeping with Patricia Carini’s and Descriptive Inquiry’s core values and beliefs. The article closes with thoughts on how to honor, sustain, and grow Carini’s work while also attending to issues of injustice and inequity in education.

Teaching-learning Physics in Bilingual Education Schools for the Deaf

With the objective of investigating the challenges and contributions presented about the physics teaching-learning process in bilingual schools and special education schools for the deaf, a bibliographic review was conducted in the annals of three of the biggest national events that cover physics teaching: the National Symposium on Physics Education (SNEF), the National Meeting of Research in Science Education (ENPEC), and the Meeting on Research in Physics Teaching (EPEF). This was a qualitative study that employed content analysis to analyze the data. Only five articles were found to bring teaching-learning aspects within this context. These five articles were discussed within two emerging categories: (i) the challenges and difficulties in teaching-learning physics in a bilingual school; (ii) the actions and contributions to the teaching-learning of physics in the bilingual school. Recognizing Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) alongside bilingualism pushes the inclusion and teaching-learning process for the deaf to their full potential. In order to overcome some obstacles, including difficulties related to deaf students’ literacy of the written language or educators’ lack of familiarity with signs specific to physics, more significant investments are needed in the production of bilingual material, in addition to creating and spreading signs and educators’ familiarity with deaf culture.

From Pedagogies to Research: Engaging With Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families of Students With Dis/Abilities

For decades, educational research has focused on centering the experiences of children of color. From this research arose culturally relevant pedagogies (CRPs) and culturally sustaining pedagogies (CSPs). However, as countless teachers focus on developing more inclusive classroom practices, the cultural needs of parents continue to be ignored. One reason for this is that, while being manifestations of funds of knowledge, CRP and CSP are rooted in the classroom and not the home. As such, there is a need for culturally sustaining research that supports/affirms parents. This article presents how testimonios gathered in Spanish with Spanish-dominant mothers serve as counter-narratives to research that positions them as disengaged. The article also features the ways in which mothers subvert attempts to minimize their parental presence. A preliminary framework for culturally sustaining research is also shared. Participants included 10 Spanish-dominant Latinx mothers from a large immigrant community in New York City. Mothers qualified for inclusion if their child (a) attended a local public elementary school, (b) was in Grades 2 to 6, (c) was classified as having a disability, and (d) was classified as an English language learner by their school. Qualifying children were receiving services in one of three special education settings: bilingual inclusive classrooms, transitional bilingual special education, or monolingual inclusive education. This study employed a combination of qualitative research methods and consisted of two phases. During the first phase, 10 mothers took part in two narrative interviews. For the second phase, three focal mothers, chosen from the larger sample, took part in ethnographic case studies consisting of five additional interviews, two home observations, one communal recollection, and sharing of artifacts. (a) Mothers of emergent bilinguals labeled as disabled (MoEBLADs) are systematically excluded from their child’s education at both the school and district levels. (b) MoEBLADs internalize these experiences and fault themselves for their limited participation in their children’s learning. (c) MoEBLADs subversively make space for themselves in their children’s educational experiences by focusing on contributions they can make outside of school. Research about MoEBLADs typically frames them as unwilling to support and/or incapable of supporting their children academically, signaling that many of the deficit-grounded perspectives MoEBLADs encounter in schools are also present in research. Researchers must address how the language of research contributes to the reinforcement and maintenance of deficit-grounded perspectives calling for a need to shift from inclusive research to culturally sustaining research.

TrUDL, A Path to Full Inclusion: The Intersectional Possibilities of Translanguaging and Universal Design for Learning

AbstractNationally, there is a rise in students who are dually classified as emergent bilinguals and students with disabilities. While conversations around disproportionality and the over‐representation of emergent bilinguals in special education are important, that discourse does not address the needs of students currently classified. Overwhelmingly, educators continue to approach linguistic and disability needs as the amalgamation of two separate entities which results in segregated and/or piece‐meal instructional experiences for students. In this paper, I offer an integrated pedagogical stance bringing together translanguaging practice with universal design for learning (UDL). I provide a brief overview of translanguaging as both a theory and a pedagogical practice. I also provide an overview of Universal Design for Learning. Grounded in my experiences as a bilingual special education teacher trained in UDL and a CUNY‐NYSIEB team member who researched translanguaging uses in special education settings, I present the ways in which translanguaging and UDL intersect both theoretically and pedagogical, offering up possibilities for attaining greater inclusion and increased opportunities to learn for Emergent bilinguals labeled as dis/abled (EBLADs).

A Bilingual Special Education Teacher Preparation Program in New York City: Case Studies of Teacher Candidates’ Student Teaching Experiences

ABSTRACT There is a need to better prepare teachers for bilingual classrooms that have students with and without disabilities. This inspired the creation of a new graduate teacher preparation program for the inclusive bilingual classroom in NYC. The program aims to help candidates understand theories and research across bilingual/bicultural education and the teaching of students with disabilities, and how the intersectionality of differences in ability, culture, and language impact learning. This study reports on two candidates’ student teaching experiences. It highlights ways in which the candidates reflected on the intersectionality of differences through teaching, as well as the multi-layered positive reactions of students and classroom teachers to their teaching, describing the emotional connections and manifold learning outcomes that resulted. The findings from this study provide valuable information for mentor teachers and teacher preparation programs interested in promoting equity in education through the preparation of inclusive bilingual educators, and has implications for policy development.

Advancing Bilingual Special Education: Translanguaging in Content-Based Story Retells for Distinguishing Language Difference from Disability

Abstract Many existing assessments for deciding the potential special education needs of emergent bilingual youth are either normed on monolingual students or normed on bilingual students through m...

Advancing Bilingual Special Education: Translanguaging in Content-Based Story Retells for Distinguishing Language Difference from Disability

Abstract Many existing assessments for deciding the potential special education needs of emergent bilingual youth are either normed on monolingual students or normed on bilingual students through monolingual data collection (Hamayan, Marler, Sánchez-López, & Damico, 2013; Otheguy, García, & Reid, 2015; Perkins, 2005). To address this issue, we describe a recent study using translanguaging in dynamic assessment with six middle school emergent bilingual youth. Using bilingual language sample analysis of content-based story retells, coded with the Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts software, we demonstrate how emergent bilingual youth are able to produce more language and content knowledge when given the freedom to translanguage. These quantitative data may improve decisions distinguishing language difference from disability and address issues of disproportionality in special education.

Dis/ability labels and emergent bilingual children: current research and new possibilities to grow as bilingual and biliterate learners

ABSTRACTChildren who learn at the crossroads of multiple identities are at risk of experiencing inequality at multiple levels. Intersectionality frameworks have illuminated the relationship between cultural and language differences and dis/abilities, but they can also help us surface the effects dis/ability labels have on language choices for emergent bilingual (EB) children. With the primary objective of assisting the field of Bilingual Special Education (BiSPED), and related fields, move forward, this narrative literature review addresses: (1) How does a dis/ability label impact EBs’ opportunities to become fully bilingual/biliterate in their two languages? (2) What does existing research tell us about the learning of bilingual children with dis/abilities in bilingual programs? Findings show that emergent bilinguals have fewer opportunities than their peers to learn in bilingual programs when they have dis/abilities, even though research suggests they can learn bilingually at no additional cost. Implications for researchers and educators are discussed.

The intersectional gap: how bilingual students in the United States are excluded from inclusion

ABSTRACTAt the onset of nearly every American civil rights movement there are two pivotal messages: the first is the group’s claims of exclusion from the life that the privileged lead and the second is a demand to be included. In all cases the first step in creating sustainable change has been the recognition that society was functioning on a multi-tiered system that grants access to some but not to all. Currently there is a civil rights movement taking place that focuses on the integration of students with diverse ability levels. In the United States this movement is called Inclusion. Unfortunately, the primary focus of inclusion is on the integration of students with disabilities; thus children who represent intersectional identities are often passed over and continually left on the margins of inclusive classrooms, schools and society. This paper will focus on a subgroup of students who are currently being left behind in this movement: bilingual special education students. Due to the fact that separate policies exist to address their linguistic and academic needs bilingual students with disabilities fall into what can be considered an intersectional gap. This paper addresses how this gap came to be as well as offering recommendations for mending it.

Special ways of knowing in science: expansive learning opportunities with bilingual children with learning disabilities

The field of bilingual special education is currently plagued with contradictions resulting in a serious underrepresentation of emergent bilinguals with learning disabilities in professional science fields. This underrepresentation is due in large part to the fact that educational systems around the world are inadequately prepared to address the educational needs of these children; this inadequacy is rooted in a lack of understanding of the linguistic and cultural factors impacting learning. Accepting such a premise and assuming that children learn in unexpected ways when instructional practices attend to culture and language, this study documents a place-based learning experience integrating geoscience and literacy in a fourth-grade dual language classroom. Data sources include transcribed audio-taped conversations from learning experience sessions and interviews that took place as six focus children, who had been identified as having specific learning disabilities, read published science texts (i.e. texts unaltered linguistically or conceptually to meet the needs of the readers). My analysis revealed that participants generated responses that were often unexpected if solely analyzed from those Western scientific perspectives traditionally valued in school contexts. However, these responses were also full of purposeful and rich understandings that revealed opportunities for expansive learning. Adopting a cultural historical activity theory perspective, instructional tools such as texts, visuals, and questions were found to act as mediators impacting the learning in both activity systems: (a) teacher-researcher learning from children, and (b) children learning from teachers. I conclude by suggesting that there is a need to understand students’ ways of knowing to their full complexity, and to deliberately recognize teachers as learners, researchers, and means to expansive learning patterns that span beyond traditional learning boundaries.

What About Bilingualism? A Critical Reflection on the edTPA With Teachers of Emergent Bilinguals

Amidst the debates surrounding teacher quality and preparation programs, the edTPA (education Teaching Performance Assessment) has emerged to assess future teachers through a portfolio-based certification process. This study offers the perspective of three faculty members who participated in an experimental configuration of edTPA implementation for student teachers in Childhood Bilingual Education, Bilingual Special Education, and TESOL in a large teacher education program. This article highlights implications of the edTPA for bilingual education and TESOL students and faculty. The findings reveal how the edTPA does not directly address teaching bilingually and the resulting ramifications of teacher candidates’ clinical experience and preparation to work with emergent bilinguals.

Intersectionality as a Framework for Transformative Research in Special Education.

Multicultural and bilingual special education scholars have long advocated that research and practice situate (dis)ability in its social, cultural, racial/ethnic, linguistic, historical, legal, and political contexts. Still, the special education literature reflects more restricted conceptualizations of culture, language, and diversity than required to understand how these mutually influence an individual’s, family’s and/or community’s response to (dis) ability and how organizations address the needs of diverse populations. We propose that an intersectionality framework offers a starting point for conceptualizing, developing and conducting transformative research related to disability and difference. We begin by defining intersectionality and exploring related assumptions, followed by implications for two key aspects of such research: deep understanding of the intersections among multicultural/ multilingual students, communities and schools; and researcher reflexivity.

Intersectionality as a Framework for Transformative Research in Special Education

Multicultural and bilingual special education scholars have long advocated that research and practice situate (dis)ability in its social, cultural, racial/ethnic, linguistic, historical, legal, and political contexts. Still, the special education literature reflects more restricted conceptualizations of culture, language, and diversity than required to understand how these mutually influence an individual’s, family’s and/or community’s response to (dis) ability and how organizations address the needs of diverse populations. We propose that an intersectionality framework offers a starting point for conceptualizing, developing and conducting transformative research related to disability and difference. We begin by defining intersectionality and exploring related assumptions, followed by implications for two key aspects of such research: deep understanding of the intersections among multicultural/ multilingual students, communities and schools; and researcher reflexivity.

Minority Recruitment and Retention for Universities: Bilingual Special Education Faculty

Recruitment and retention of minority faculty in bilingual special education is a perilous task. Research has shown that minority faculty/teachers are able to provide emotional support, mentor students, serve as role models, create a positive climate, provide diverse views, increase collaboration among faculty and teachers, and work with minorities. This article presents strategies for recruiting and retaining (particularly in developing resiliency) minority bilingual special education university faculty. Faculty in bilingual special education must adapt, recover, and persevere in order to best serve the interests of students with disabilities who are culturally and linguistically diverse. Strategies for developing resiliency are provided.

Preparing Culturally Diverse Special Education Faculty: Challenges And Solutions

This paper describes why more bilingual culturally responsive special education faculty are needed to meet the needs of the increasing number of culturally and linguistically diverse students with disabilities in the United States. In addition, the paper presents the successes and challenges in the journey to prepare university faculty leaders in bilingual multicultural special education. The NAU Faculty for Inclusive Rural-multicultural Special Educators (FIRST) program is a bilingual/multicultural special education program which prepares doctoral students from Latino and Indigenous backgrounds to become highly qualified university faculty in the areas of teaching, research, technology, and cultural/linguistic diversity.

Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners With Disabilities in Urban Settings

English-language learners with disabilities are capable of learning and are entitled to high-quality educational experiences. Their academic and social needs should be considered from multiple perspectives. To be effective, bilingual special education programs must implement best practices. This article highlights findings from research devoted to examining the influence of language on teaching and learning.

Cultural considerations with response to intervention models

Reading Research QuarterlyVolume 41, Issue 1 p. 108-117 Cultural considerations with response to intervention models JANETTE K. KLINGNER, JANETTE K. KLINGNER University of Colorado at Boulder, USA Janette K. Klingner is an associate professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She was a bilingual special education teacher for 10 years before earning her doctorate in reading and learning disabilities from the University of Miami. She won the American Educational Research Association's Early Career Award in 2004. Research interests include reading comprehension strategy instruction for diverse populations and disproportionate representation. She can be contacted at University of Colorado at Boulder, School of Education, 249 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0249, USA, or by e-mail at [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorPATRICIA A. EDWARDS, PATRICIA A. EDWARDS Michigan State University, Lansing, USA Patricia A. Edwards is a professor in the Teacher Education Department at Michigan State University and the vice president of the National Reading Conference. Edwards is a recognized national authority on family literacy and role of parents in the learning-to-read-and-write process. She can be contacted at 304 Erickson Hall, Teacher Education Department, East Lansing, MI 48824-1034, USA, or by e-mail at [email protected]Search for more papers by this author JANETTE K. KLINGNER, JANETTE K. KLINGNER University of Colorado at Boulder, USA Janette K. Klingner is an associate professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She was a bilingual special education teacher for 10 years before earning her doctorate in reading and learning disabilities from the University of Miami. She won the American Educational Research Association's Early Career Award in 2004. Research interests include reading comprehension strategy instruction for diverse populations and disproportionate representation. She can be contacted at University of Colorado at Boulder, School of Education, 249 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0249, USA, or by e-mail at [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorPATRICIA A. EDWARDS, PATRICIA A. EDWARDS Michigan State University, Lansing, USA Patricia A. Edwards is a professor in the Teacher Education Department at Michigan State University and the vice president of the National Reading Conference. Edwards is a recognized national authority on family literacy and role of parents in the learning-to-read-and-write process. She can be contacted at 304 Erickson Hall, Teacher Education Department, East Lansing, MI 48824-1034, USA, or by e-mail at [email protected]Search for more papers by this author First published: 09 November 2011 https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.41.1.6Citations: 158 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume41, Issue1January/February/March 2006Pages 108-117 RelatedInformation

Ecobehavioral Assessment of Instructional Contexts in Bilingual Special Education Programs for English Language Learners at Risk for Developmental Disabilities

This article presents empirical data using The Ecobehavioral System for the Contextual Recording of Interactional Bilingual Environments to examine the instructional context, teacher behavior, and academic engaged behavior for English language learners at risk for developmental disabilities in general education and bilingual special education programs. Thirty-six English language learners at risk for developmental disabilities were observed for 6 full school days each, for a total of 213 days and 1,491 hours, within 4 elementary-level school settings and 26 different classrooms. The results revealed that (a) the most frequently taught subjects were math (20%), reading (18%), and language arts (16%); (b) English was the most frequently used language of instruction (58%); and (c) students were actively engaged in academic behaviors for slightly less than half of a typical school day (44%).

The stories we must tell: Developing a research agenda for multicultural and bilingual special education

Disproportion in special education based on race, ethnicity, language, and class persists. In this paper, we argue that to address this and other perpetual problems of underachievement for culturally and linguistically diverse children and youth requires examination of disability within its full sociocultural context and inclusion of the stories of those who are most affected by educational research, policy, and practice. We conducted a qualitative analysis of the existing professional literature of multicultural and bilingual special education published over 27 years in major special education journals to document omissions in the empirical research and conceptualize a research agenda around four themes: authenticity, legitimization, and multiplicity of voices; validation of culturally and linguistically responsive special education service delivery models and intervention; multicultural preparation of special educators; and underserved populations in special education.

Becoming a Reader and Writer in a Bilingual Special Education Classroom

In too many schools Diego would have been placed in a restrictive special education setting, but as part of the Ole Project, the resource-room support he received was based on a carefully organized framework of linguistic and cultural factors that resulted in 3.4 years of reading growth during 1.5 years of study as a 4th/5th grader.