Culturally Responsive Special Education

Abstract

Families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds often feel disrespected, unheard, misunderstood, and undervalued. Extant research demonstrates that CLD families have considerably lower levels of participation in their children's education. The incongruence between families and the educational system's cultural values and practices may result in barriers limiting families' agency in educational decision-making. Families from nondominant cultures may not ascribe to the practices that guide the special education system, which reflect the dominant culture (i.e., white and middle-class). For families to be active agents in their student's educational decision-making (including special education), the barriers created by the perceptions of power imbalances must be broken down, and the onus of this task falls on the shoulders of those employed by the public school system. Culturally responsive family engagement that incorporates cultural liaisons can empower CLD families to have agency in their child's educational plan.