Volume 6 (2015) Bilingual Special Education: Exploring Pedagogical, Research, and Policy Implications

Implementing effective practices to address the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse learners with disabilities in Pre K-12 schools is a challenge for many educators and school systems. However, developing effective and efficient practices in a multilingual classroom creates opportunities for a 21st century teacher to be a major catalyst for social change.

Current Bilingual Special Education demands comprehensive understanding of various key issues including, but not limited to: the nature of diversity in special education and distinguishing between language differences and disorders; bridging schools with special education programs and the multilingual families and community of the students they serve; strategic methods to support multilingual learners as a way to preventing under- and over-representation in special education; and special education within an international context.

Given these knowledge needs, the overarching theme of JMER’s special themed issue on bilingual special education is: Exploring the pedagogical, research, and policy implications of the most current research in bilingual special education for this field in the 21st century.

This issue of JMER focuses on bilingual special education, an educational field that works with students from diverse culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds with special needs.