About the Authors

Janette K. Klingner

—See Dedication Page

John J. Hoover

is associate professor of research at the University of Colorado Boulder and a former K–12 special educator, teaching diverse students representing multiple languages and cultures in western, southwestern, and midwestern states. He earned a BA in elementary and special education (intellectual disabilities), an MA in learning disabilities and emotional disorders with an emphasis in reading, and a PhD in curriculum specializing in special education. His research agenda for the past two decades has focused on the topic of culturally and linguistically responsive special education referral and assessment of English language and other diverse learners. He is currently principal investigator/PI on three, multiyear grant-funded projects addressing ELs and multi-tiered supports, special education referral and assessment of culturally and linguistically diverse learners, and graduate-level teacher preparation for teaching English language and other diverse learners with and without disabilities. Select recent or in-development coauthored/coedited books include: IEPs for ELLs, and Other Diverse Learners (in development, Corwin); Linking Assessment to Instruction: Selecting Reading, Writing and Mathematics Interventions (Pearson); Differentiating Learning Differences From Learning and Behavioral Disabilities: Teaching Diverse Learners Through Multi-Tiered Response to Intervention (Allyn & Bacon); and Methods for Teaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners (Pearson Merrill). He also is coauthor of a nationally normed reading test, Early Reading Assessment (Pro-Ed), and of a research-based educator self-assessment and professional development tool, Core ESL Instructional Practices (CEIP) Guide. Recent refereed journal publications include “Increasing Usage of ESL Instructional Practices in a Rural County Elementary School,” Rural Educator (in press); “Culturally Responsive Special Education Referrals of English Learners in One Rural County School District: Pilot Project,” Rural Special Education Quarterly (2015), for which he was awarded the 2015 Research Article of the Year Award by the American Council on Rural Special Education (ACRES), and “Reducing Unnecessary Referrals: Guidelines for Teachers of Diverse Learners,” Teaching Exceptional Children (2012).

Leonard M. Baca

is professor emeritus at the University of Colorado Boulder. He earned an EdD from the University of Northern Colorado and has been a professor of education at the University of Colorado Boulder since 1973. He has taught courses in bilingual and bilingual special education and served as the program chair. Professor Baca is founder and executive director of the BUENO Center for Multicultural Education where he has directed and managed millions of dollars in grant-funded projects promoting the education of ELs and students with disabilities. He is author or coauthor of numerous publications dealing with English learners with and without disabilities, including the Bilingual Special Education Interface (Merrill) and Methods for Teaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners (Pearson).