Date of Thesis

Winter 2025

Description

Students from culturally linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds require equitable access to special education services to support success in school. Overrepresentation and underrepresentation of students from CLD backgrounds are two issues that policymakers and school leaders need to address, and having teachers knowledgeable in these issues is essential. To determine if pre-service teachers are being trained in understanding over-/ underrepresentation issues, researchers conducted a systematic review of state-level teacher competency policies. Pre-service teacher competencies were coded for the presence of nine key elements related to culturally responsive special education identification practices. The results show that relatively few states require comprehensive pre-service training in the over- and under-representation of students from CLD backgrounds in special education, with special education certification requiring more elements overall than other certification areas.

Keywords

pre-service teacher preparation, special education, culturally linguistically diverse students, over-/underrepresentation, education policy, teaching standards

Access Type

Honors Thesis

Degree Type

Bachelor of Arts

Major

Education

Minor, Emphasis, or Concentration

Children's Studies

First Advisor

Janet VanLone

Second Advisor

Ramona Fruja

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