This article describes a Collaborative Intervention Project designed to prepare preservice teachers to develop, implement, monitor, and evaluate interventions for English learners (ELs) in need of academic and/or behavioral supports. Faculty from two departments, one preparing bilingual education (BE) elementary school teachers and the other preparing special education (SE) teachers for prekindergarten through 21 generic certifications, developed a process to enhance preservice teachers' preparation to collaboratively address the cultural and linguistic characteristics and educational needs of ELs. The authors describe the process through which faculty designed and implemented the project, share resources for project replication, and discuss faculty and student responses.

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which diverse schools engage in culturally responsive beliefs and practices within response to intervention (RTI). Eight diverse elementary schools participated, and 200 general and special education teachers in grades K–5 completed surveys. Areas surveyed included culturally responsive teacher practices, culturally responsive school practices, successes, barriers, and needs to implement culturally responsive practices within RTI. Key findings showed a high proportion of teachers agreed to employing all of the culturally responsive practices except one. An equally high proportion of teachers perceived their school as employing all of the culturally responsive practices except one. Answers to open-ended questions supported and refuted these findings. The findings, including the implications for future research, are discussed.

This study examined how explicit instruction in semantic ambiguity detection affected the reading comprehension and metalinguistic awareness of five English learners (ELs) with learning difficulties (e.g., attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, specific learning disability). A multiple probe across participants design (Gast & Ledford, 2010) evaluated instructional effects on (a) number of correct replacements (CR) on maze tasks and (b) percentage accuracy with applying targeted metalinguistic awareness skills on researcher-developed semantic ambiguity detection probes. During the baseline condition, guided reading was the primary instructional method. During intervention, explicit instruction focused on identification and interpretation of multimeaning words, production and interpretation of riddles, and close reading of authentic text to interpret nonliteral language. Results-revealed performance increases relative to baseline levels on instructional-level reading comprehension and semantic ambiguity detection assessments. Participants rated the intervention favorably. Limitations and implications for meeting literacy needs of ELs with learning difficulties are presented.