Preparation of Special Education Teachers to Serve English Learners with Disabilities

The need for current and future teachers who require ongoing support when teaching English learners (Els) with disabilities is clearly important and critical for the increasingly diverse student population. The extant research provides a very limited account of the content and process for preparing teachers. The purpose of this qualitative study was designed to learn from the perspectives of the 13 special education teachers who are serving ELs regarding their planning, instruction, evaluation, and their preparation program. Specifically, I explored how practicing special education teachers address the needs for ELs with disabilities. Special education teachers who currently teach ELs with disabilities were recruited to participate in the study. A series of semi-structured interviews using a set of open-ended questions for each round of interviews was completed. Questions were designed to learn how participants plan, teach, and evaluate ELs with disabilities. Qualitative analysis was used to discern patterns and themes from the data. Implications for teacher preparation were derived from the results. The questions addressed in this study were the following: (a) How do special education teachers describe their planning, instruction, and assessment of students with learning disabilities who are also English Learners? and (b) How do special education teachers who teach emergent bilinguals with learning disabilities describe the professional development process that has prepared them to effectively teach ELs with LD?