Building Culturally and Linguistically Aware Educators Through Culture Competence Professional Development to Provide Multilingual Learners with Equitable Educational Access

Multilingual learners are one of the fastest growing student populations in the United States public school system. Disproportionality in special education among multilingual learners has rapidly increased over the last 10 years, requiring immediate systemic and procedural changes. Research shows that increasing parent involvement, using culturally responsive assessment tools, engaging in culturally responsive RTI, modifying pre-referral procedures, and building educators competencies have a positive effect at reducing special education disproportionality for multilingual learners. A mid-sized city in the eastern part of the United States has overidentified multilingual learners in special education due to weak pre-referral processes and lack of educator cultural competence. Through a 32-hour professional development series spanning the school year, educators at this school will engage in cultural competence training to explore their understanding of their own culture and biases, develop their ability to connect with individuals from diverse backgrounds, have a strong understanding of the diversity within their community, and increase their skills and knowledge of culturally responsive educational practices. Development of strong cultural competence will ensure educators understand the diversity of their students and the importance of culturally responsive educational practices. A deeper understanding of culturally responsive educational practices will translate into equitable instruction, interventions, and services which are research-based solutions to disproportionality and further lead to a decrease in inappropriate referrals to special education for ML students.