Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) is an education term used to define students enrolled in public schools whose language and culture do not match the dominant culture. Assessing CLD students has been an ongoing challenge in school psychology for decades. Significant disproportionality includes CLD populations, special education…

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore the lived experiences of seven Mexican American community college philosophy students in their journeys to becoming philosophers in the U.S.-Mexico border, between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Philosophy is one of the least diverse academic fields in the United…

This study examines the instructional decision making of an eighth-grade general education science teacher working with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) students in a heterogeneously grouped class without the support of a specialized English to Speakers of other Languages (ESOL) teacher. To do so, this study employs Erving Goffman's…

The critical shortage of qualified teachers in hard to staff urban schools has been a persistent issue in the U.S. for decades. Teachers and researchers have pointed to the inadequacy of teacher preparation programs to prepare teacher candidates to address the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students and special education students…

The purpose of this study was to understand general and special education teacher perceptions about collective teacher efficacy (CTE), culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy (CRTSE), and culturally responsive instruction outcome expectancy (CRIOE) and the educational success of culturally linguistically diverse students (CLD) with…

This dissertation explores North/South partnerships in higher education, shedding light on their practices and underlying logics. Recognizing the growing importance of these collaborations in addressing global challenges, universities are actively working to strengthen these ties. However, concerns about the potential replication of imperialistic…

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the fastest-growing neurodevelopmental disorder (Baio et al., 2018), yet little information is available regarding the psychometric properties of the most commonly used ASD identification tools in school settings, particularly within traditionally culturally and linguistically minoritized populations (Boyd et al.,…

Spanish-speaking students, also identified as Hispanic or Latino/a/x, have been reported to have lower high school graduation rates, and lower enrollment and retention rates in higher education than their peers. Research exists describing technology and emergency remote teaching (ERT) as widening the achievement gap, however Spanish-speaking…

The prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) has resulted in research on treatment efficacy, lending itself to quantitative analyses. In contrast, ethnographic studies have offered the benefits of analyzing lived experiences and exploring the uniqueness of ASD individuals. Using the Linguistic Ethnography (LE) perspective, this case study…

Family-school engagement has been found to influence students' emotional and mental well-being. Meanwhile, culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) families have often been found to perceive and respond to engagement efforts differently than Euro-American families. The unique needs of emergent bilinguals, a subsample of the CLD community,…

This qualitative dissertation focuses on intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in a video-mediated environment, as ICC is considered to be one of the most vital skills language learners need to have in the 21st century to successfully communicate and interact with their interlocutors. More specifically, the aim of my dissertation research…

Disproportionate representation of culturally-linguistically diverse (CLD) students in special education has been well documented. Existing research has largely focused on the attitudes and beliefs of classroom teachers and the processes that lead to these placements. Few studies have examined how the perspectives of child study team (CST) members…

The racial and ethnic composition of our nation and schools are changing. Yet the demographics of teachers in the United States do not reflect the growing diversity that exists within classrooms today. There have been increases in the culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) student population over the last two decades; however, these changes…

As early as 1954, families of children who had been segregated into separate spaces fought and succeeded in having their concerns heard in the landmark Supreme Court case, "Brown v. Board of Education." In 1975, P.L. 94-142, "Education for the Handicapped Children Act" (EAHCA) was important because it exposed the history of…

The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand working-class parental involvement in the education of Latino secondary students in the U.S. Literature indicates that most Latino parents want their children to enroll in a higher education institution. However, statistics and research show that enrollment rates to a higher educational…