Preventing Special Education Referrals in a Dual-Language Classroom Through Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching

• In Event: Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Teaching in Special Education

Abstract

Educators are often unable to distinguish students whose academic struggles are caused by the language acquisition process from those whose challenges are associated with a disability (Baca & Cervantes, 2004; Ortiz et al., 2011). Consequently, emerging bilinguals (EBs) have historically been inappropriately referred to special education (Artiles & Ortiz, 2002; Sullivan, 2011). Bilingual special education scholars consistently highlight that bilingual education (August & Siegel, 2006; Slavin & Cheung, 2005), as well as an implementation of culturally and linguistically responsive teaching (CLRT; Brown & Doolittle 2008; Klingner, Soltero-Gonzalez & Lesaux, 2010) are best practices for preventing unnecessary special education referrals. Dual Language (DL) programs afford opportunities to instruct and assess bilingually, while maintaining a commitment to multicultural education (Howard, et al., 2018), thus offering an ideal setting for EBs who struggle academically. However, there is little existing scholarship on the implementation of CLRT– a key tenet to multicultural education – for EBs in this context. In this paper, I explore the use of CLRT in a DL setting and how it engaged Latinx EBs who were struggling academically in classroom activities and prevented special education referrals.

The analysis was grounded in Critical Race Theory, Disabilities Studies in Education, and a Holistic Bilingual perspective and sought to answer the research questions: What CLRT strategies are used in a 5th Grade DL classroom for supporting EBs who struggle academically? How does the use of CLRT support these students? This paper draws on data from a yearlong case study that took place at a DL (Spanish/English) urban public elementary school in the southwest. The school was selected for this research because of its commitment to both bilingualism and Response to Intervention (RTI; Fuchs & Fuchs, 2006), a multi-tiered approach aimed at supporting students at the earliest signs of academic struggle. Data sources included recorded classroom observations, interviews with teachers, and instructional artifacts and were analyzed using multiple rounds of descriptive and values coding (Saldaña, 2013) to uncover the CLRT approaches the teacher used and their impact on EBs who struggled academically.

Findings offer explicit examples of how one exemplar teacher, with support from a university-researcher, created equitable learning opportunities for Latinx EBs through CLRT practices. These approaches supported student learning, prevented special education referrals, and included (a) use of multicultural texts with diverse perspectives, (b) dynamic bilingual practices and (c) positive constructions of ethnic identity. For example, the teacher included novels that served as “counter-stories,” or narratives that challenged the dominant negative discourses surrounding immigration (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002), an especially important finding given Latinx students’ experiences during the 2016 presidential election.
Furthermore, the teacher encouraged students’ use of two languages in classroom activities, highlighting bilingualism as an asset and thus promoting positive identities as Latinx EBs. Lastly, the collaboration between the researcher and teacher proved beneficial in supporting these students.

These findings extend and enhance the existing scholarship by highlighting the promise of DL education as a context for implementing CLRT approaches to benefit Latinx EBs who struggle academically.

Author

• Vanessa Santiago Schwarz, University of Colorado - Boulder