Critical Issues in the Training of Bilingual School Psychologists
- PDF / 540,198 Bytes
- 15 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 9 Downloads / 172 Views
Critical Issues in the Training of Bilingual School Psychologists Bryn Harris 1
&
Desireé Vega 2 & Lisa S. Peterson 3 & Kirsten W. Newell 4
Accepted: 12 November 2020 # California Association of School Psychologists 2020
Abstract There are over five million bilingual learners in the US public school system as reported by the National Center for Education Statistics (2020) and this number has increased dramatically over the past several decades. Shortages of well-trained bilingual school psychologists (BSP) can negatively influence the provision of culturally and linguistically responsive services, contribute to potential misidentification or delayed special education identification of bilingual learners, and reduce home-school collaboration among bilingual families. The training of BSPs is complex, and there are currently no professional standards for competencies required for this specialized profession. This article provides a research-based review of recommended training components for BSPs. Most importantly, a foundational training in cultural responsiveness, advocacy, and equity must permeate all training. BSPs must also have advanced language proficiency in another language that aligns with the provision of school psychology practice. Recommended competencies for BSPs in the areas of assessment, counseling, intervention, and consultation are provided as well as suggestions for supervision and field-based experiences. Implications for the field of bilingual school psychology are provided as well as areas for future research. Keywords Bilingual school psychology . Language . Equity . Bilingual learner . School psychology training
The USA has long been a country of linguistic diversity. The findings of the 2010 US Census report detailed a dramatic decrease over time of English-only households in the USA (89.1% of the population in 1980 to 79.7% in 2010). Persons age 5 and older that speak a language other than English rose from 11 to 20.3% during that same time period. Over two-thirds of the people that report speaking another language identify as Spanish speakers (Rumbaut and Massey 2013). Children are more likely to live in a linguistically diverse household than adults, and 22% of children in the USA (ages 5–17) report speaking Spanish (the most common language spoken second to English) in the home.
* Bryn Harris [email protected] 1
School of Education and Human Development, University of Colorado Denver, 1380 Lawrence Street #1114, Denver, CO 80204, USA
2
College of Education, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
3
College of Education, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
4
College of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
Furthermore, there are more than 350 languages spoken in the USA (United States Census Bureau, 2020). Research indicates that public school systems are also experiencing these trends; there are now over five million bilingual learners in the US public school system (National Center for Eduation Statistics 2020). P
Data Loading...
