Bakken, J. P., & Smith, B. A. (2011). A blueprint for developing culturally proficient/responsive school administrators in special education. Learning Disabilities -- A Contemporary Journal, 9(1), 33-46. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Introduction
Nationwide, schools are being faced with a rapid increase in the number of students of color, culturally and linguistically diverse students, students with learning disabilities, students from low-income families, and students from non-traditional and single parent families. As a result, determining how schools can adapt to meet the needs of these vast demographics, as well as how the varied demographics can play a role in the education of these students, has become more than just a topic of conversation and research for academic professionals, educators, researchers, and practitioners. Literature and research point to educational reform by improving school systems to foster multicultural educational environments. Specifically, school leadership and professional development are closely looked at as driving factors in which to achieve this educational reform. In their article “A Blueprint for Developing Culturally Proficient/Responsive School Administrators in Special Education,” Bakken and Smith (2011) focus on the need for school administrators to be culturally responsive/proficient in the special education arena particularly in order to better meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students who have learning disabilities (LD). Bakken and Smith highlight research that explains why school administrators should prepare themselves and their staff to work with CLD students of various races, ethnicities, languages, beliefs, and expressions of cultural individuality and the importance in doing so. The authors utilize a conceptual framework that outlines how school administrators can become culturally