HOW CAN SPECIAL EDUCATION AND BILINGUAL EDUCATION BE COMBINED?
Developers of bilingual special education programs need to weigh three factors for each student: degree of disability; level of language proficiency in both English and the primary language; and intellectual capacity. The student’s placement on each of these three continuums will determine the nature of instruction and the educational placement. Students’ degree of disability must be considered for program design, along with their intellectual capacities and their proficiencies in English and their other languages (Baca & Payon, 1989). For example, a student of average intelligence who has a high level of language proficiency in Spanish, a minimal level of ability in English, and limited visual acuity will require curricular services and placement different from those of a student who is linguistically limited in both languages, exhibits lower intellectual performance, and is severely language delayed. WHAT VARIABLES SHOULD INFLUENCE PLACEMENT DECISIONS? Program placement should be the
