Culturally and linguistically diverse students at the intersection of bilingual education and special education in Texas

This study explored the phenomenon of disproportionality with regard to culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students at the intersection of bilingual education and special education in four districts and thirteen elementary campuses in South Texas. This mixed methods research design included a survey developed to investigate educator perceptions of the problem of over-representation. A total of 439 surveys were completed by educators in the South Texas area. Educator perceptions are compared to existing data from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) on the rates of representation of CLD students in special education. TEA data was used to calculate the composition index, risk index, and odds ratios for CLD students in the state, district and elementary campuses. The study used a concurrent data collection method and data convergence occurred at the data analysis and interpretation stages. Findings show that CLD students are over-represented in special education when data are disaggregated by eligibility category and race/ethnicity at the state, district and campus level. Three-Way ANOVA findings indicate that general education teachers lack familiarity and training in regards to federal policies and programming that directly affect CLD students. Differences were also noted among White and Latina educators in terms of their perceptions of CLD student over-representation and appropriate educational programming practices. Latina educators rated CLD student programming and services to be less than adequate, while White educators felt that special education programming and services were adequate in meeting the needs of CLD students. Educator responses significantly show that over-representation is not seen as a problem and is not consistent with the rates of representation of CLD students in special education (TEA data). Findings support the need for collaboration among all educators (bilingual, special and general education) in meeting the needs of CLD students in order to address the long standing problem of disproportionate representation. The study also finds that a survey of educator perceptions may be a viable method for districts and campuses to focus on the problem of over-representation by investigating educator knowledge, previous experience and perceptions of disproportionality.