Bilingual Special Education: Looking Toward the Future

• In Event: Bilingual Special Education for the 21st Century: Reimagining the Future

Abstract

As we consider the issues presented and other challenges facing the field of bilingual special education, we must think ahead so that 40+ years from now we don’t find ourselves re-fighting the same battles (Colón & Alsace, 2022). In this final paper we present a vision for the future of the field that recognizes and embraces the natural intersections across bilingual, special, and general education at all levels. It is through communication, collaboration, and advocacy from the macro to the micro levels of research, policy and practice that we can meet in the middle to truly provide our multilingual learners of varying abilities with an educational system equipped to capitalize on the strengths they bring and support them to meet the challenges they face. When all stakeholders recognize and accept the role they each must play in order for multilingual students with and without disabilities to reach their full potential, they can then act in ways that make a difference and advocate for others to do the same.

Authors

• Gliset C. Morales, Buffalo State University - SUNY

• Tamara O. Alsace, Independent Scholar