Students With Overreproportionate Placements In Special Education

It is abundantly clear, after reading this article, that minorities students are overrepresented in special education classrooms. One point that really stuck out for me from this article was how students are placed in special programs and provided with special services because of their results on early elementary testing. “Diverse learners are more likely to be referred for additional testing and placement in special education programs because achievement tests typically do not assess literacy skills that they may have acquired outside school, and these skills often differ from the ones these children are expected to have when they enter school” (pg. 2). As educators

The data provided shows that an overrepresentation of minority students exists in special education. One of the main reasons for this overrepresentation has to do with the variation of studies on this topic. Differences have been noted in

The July 22, 2010 Examiner article The overrepresentation of African American students in special education, the author suggests “Atlanta public schools and the State of Georgia is not improving when it comes to the overrepresentation of African American students in special education” (Fanion, 2010). The headline “The overrepresentation of African American students in special education” implies that in 2010, African American students still are disproportionately placed in special education. “Data reported by the Georgia Department of Education demonstrates a silent epidemic is plaguing many metro Atlanta school districts. In some districts the disproportionate number of African American students identified as having emotional and

The problem of disproportionate numbers of minority students in special education can be attributed to a report by Lloyd Dunn in 1968 (as cited in Skiba et al., 2008) even though discrimination was evident long before that in America. The phenomenon of disproportionality as it relates to students from minority backgrounds being placed in special education refers to the percentage of students receiving services being a higher rate than is expected or that differs significantly from other races. Skiba et al. (2008) discuss the history of various aspects of the civil rights movement as they pertain to the issue of disproportionality of students from minority backgrounds in special education, the measurement tools used to determine the need for special education, the current status of disproportionality, and what factors have contributed to the discrepancies in numbers. Finally, recommendations are offered by the authors on how the existence of disproportionality of students from a minority background can be rectified.

Some students are subject to unequal representation at school, particularly those in a minority group. In the past, there were vast amounts of racial biases that spread across the United States. Unfortunately, racial bias still exists today, in the 21st century. There are those who feel that certain groups of people should not be given equal opportunities based on their skin color or how they may talk. They are not given the same opportunities as many others are given, and in this case, are assigned an impediment on their education. This paper will illustrate what disproportionality is; some factors that play a part in it; and what can be done and what is being done about it. This memo is being written in the hopes that it will be viewed by the U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, and that he will see what has been happening over the years and do his best to provide more advances in making a change.

For centuries the debate have been about the overrepresentation of minorities inside of special education. Analyst have called on the recount of misrepresentation of displaced students in special education labeling .An equivalent factor of minority is due to poverty, test bias and education process leading to achievement gap. Economic impoverishment and lack of exposure to general education curriculum contributes to life experience to take standardize testing. Poverty is the sole or even the crucial driver of racial ethnicity in a specific educational program. Ethnic students are subject to be isolated in educational settings and not exposing the student to the proper test material leading to test bias.

Among the most longstanding and intransigent issues in the field, the disproportionate representation of minority students in special education programs has its roots in a long history of educational segregation and discrimination. Although national estimates of disproportionality have been consistent over time, state and local estimates may show varying patterns of disproportionality. A number of factors may contribute to disproportionality, including test bias, poverty, special education processes, inequity in general education, issues of behavior management, and cultural mismatch/cultural reproduction (Skiba, et al., 2008).

Over the past 30 years, the U.S. public school system has faced a significant issue of disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education programs. According to Salend (2002), disproportionate representation is defined as the presence of students from a specific group (e.g., race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, language background, gender, etc.) is higher or lower than one would expect based on their representation in the general population of students. Although there have been many efforts to reduce the disproportion in special education, the trend of minority overrepresentation is ongoing. The federal government tried to rectify it with provisions made in the 1997 reauthorization of

In 2006, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights reported that African American students represent 17.13% of the total public school population while they account for more than 26% of the children served in special education classrooms (Banks, J. j., & Hughes, M. S. 2013). Across all ethnic groups, African American students are at the highest risk of being placed in special education (Harry & Klinger, 2006). According to researcher Banks, once labeled as having a learning disability, African American students are less likely to be given the opportunity to be tested out of the remedial classes. (Banks, J. j., & Hughes, M. S. 2013)

A child’s race can influence whether or not that he or she will be misidentified as needing special education. Disproportionality refers to the overrepresentation and under- representation of particular demographic groups in special education programs in relation to the overall student population (Disproportionality, 2008). Studies show that there is an overrepresentation, but also an under-representation of African Americans in special education. Although, this paper argues that disproportionality can impact and have negative effects on a child, counter claims suggest that special education services can be beneficial, if effective interventions are provided and available to African American students when necessary.

Under IDEA (2004), Disproportionality continues to exist in several categories listed, especially the categories of the Specific Learning Disability (SLD), Emotional Disturbance (ED), and Intellectual Disability (ID) ,(Gamm, 2007). Disproportionality is defined as the “overrepresentation” and “under-representation” of a particular population or demographic group in special or gifted education programs relative to the presence of this group in the overall student population (National Association for Bilingual Education, 2002). So many factors are responsible for this disproportionality, but the key factors, as apparent from researchers are; (1) gender difference, (2) overrepresentation of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse CLD population, (3) unsuccessful teaching approaches, (4) poor classroom management skills, and (5) assessment policies and practices.

In the United States of America, disproportionality is a growing problem in the field of education. Disproportionality is the over- or under-representation of a group of people. This over- or under-representation can be ethnically, socioeconomically, racially, based upon gender, and many more. These factors can lead to the misidentification of a student. This misidentification can lead to the inappropriate placement of the student into a special education program. Being misidentified and inappropriately placed can have a devastating impact on the student (Web). Students who experience this first-hand are restricted in the core education that they receive and are removed from their peers and placed in a more isolated setting. This has extraordinary

Although in many cases teachers have the students’ best interest at heart and hope to benefit them from a referral for an evaluation, inappropriate labeling can bring serious consequences for pupils. As noted on Truth in labeling: disproportionality in special education (2007), once admitted into the special needs program, students tend to remain in special education classes, they are more likely to encounter less rigorous curriculum and lower expectations, they often face social stigma, and have less contact with academically able peers.

Among the contribution to the misidentification of minority students for special education, students are classified with disabilities. Students with disabilities often have poor classroom instruction previous to the transfer to special education, are exposed to inconsistent or subjective placement policies and procedures, and are put into special education based on income and social class due to the lack of schooling opportunities

Pupils who exhibit gifted characteristics along with another disability are referred to as ‘twice-exceptional students' (Morrison, 2001; Nielsen 2002). This term is used in the article that I have chosen to review, which analyses the responses and perceptions through interview, of one particular individual (Andrew) who was identified as being gifted and talented (G/T) and who had emotional and behavioural disabilities (EBD). What the researchers aimed to accomplish through this analysis was a clearer understanding of Andrew's community and school experiences, as they stated that