The need for special education teachers from culturally and/or linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds has become a national concern. The majority of school districts nationwide list the recruitment and retention of teachers from diverse backgrounds as a priority. Many cite difficulties with finding adequate personnel, a problem that is complicated by current special education teacher shortages. The authors of this article synthesize research findings on the current demographics of diverse teachers and the impact on student outcomes. They also summarize qualities of teacher preparation programs that successfully prepare CLD teachers according to the following themes: recruitment, retention, alternative certification, and post—teacher preparation. Recommendations for future research are provided.

To promote culturally responsive intervention, mothers recommended that professionals speak Spanish, provide information about the therapy process, and use existing techniques with Mexican immigrant families.

This article describes the experiences of three Mexican immigrant mothers and their young children who were participating in early intervention speech-language therapy. Mother interviews, children's therapy files, observation field notes, and parent journals contributed to the construction of instrumental case studies. Highlighting the potential for collaborative relationships, the authors describe how mothers' concerns, understandings, and participation changed across intervention and how the clinician and mothers developed shared goals and informed one another. The case studies portray mothers' beliefs about language and literacy development, perceptions of their children's abilities, and the mother-child relationship around speech-language therapy. Based on these beliefs and perceptions, avenues for the increased engagement of Mexican immigrant families in their children's early language and literacy opportunities are suggested.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. We describe the goals and curricular content of a teacher education program designed to prepare individuals to teach limited English proficient children with disabilities. As part of this description, we include a discussion of graduates' feedback regarding program strengths and weaknesses. Next, based on this feedback and our experiences as teacher educators in the program, we present critical features of a bilingual special education teacher preparation program. These features emphasize providing social and emotional support to teacher candidates, teaching them how to create culturally responsive classrooms, challenging students to re-think their beliefs about teaching and learning, expanding the notion of collaboration to include community services, and supporting graduates while they attempt to effect change in their classrooms and schools.ing difficulties in school. In 1994, there were 5,085 limited English proficient children with at UNIV OF MIAMI on June 28, 2015 tes.sagepub.com Downloaded from

The sociocultural framework highlights the contributions of children's cultural and linguistic contexts to early language and literacy development. To collaborate with parents in early intervention programs, including speech—language therapy, there must be a sincere commitment to the development of cultural competence. Hispanics are one of the largest and fastest growing minority groups within the United States. The goal of this study was to identify Mexican immigrant mothers' perceptions and beliefs about language development, their children's disabilities, and therapy activities. Additionally, it explored how these perceptions and beliefs inform culturally responsive speech— language therapy with families of Mexican descent.