Minority Recruitment and Retention for Universities: Bilingual Special Education Faculty

Recruitment and retention of minority faculty in bilingual special education is a perilous task. Research has shown that minority faculty/teachers are able to provide emotional support, mentor students, serve as role models, create a positive climate, provide diverse views, increase collaboration among faculty and teachers, and work with minorities. This article presents strategies for recruiting and retaining (particularly in developing resiliency) minority bilingual special education university faculty. Faculty in bilingual special education must adapt, recover, and persevere in order to best serve the interests of students with disabilities who are culturally and linguistically diverse. Strategies for developing resiliency are provided.

The Roles of Bilingual Special Educators in Creating Inclusive Classrooms

One group of students whose unique needs present a challenge to educators seeking to create inclusive general education classrooms is learners who are learning english as a second language. The purpose of this article is twofold: (a) to distill from the literature of bilingual special education, bilingual education, and special education a description of the roles of bilingual special educators in cooperative teaching endeavors designed to educate second language learners in general education classrooms; and (b) to offer the observations of a bilingual special educator who worked as part of a cooperative teaching team.