What is ethnic disproportionality in special education?

Several decades of research document that students from certain racial/ethnic groups, particularly Black/African American students, are disproportionately represented in special education programs (Blanchett, 2006; Harry & Klinger, 2006; U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 2009) and are subjected to higher rates of ...

Why does ethnic disproportionality occur in special education?

For example, research has shown that the following influence disproportionate outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education: (1) discipline policies and practices, (2) interventions and referrals, (3) instruction and assessment, (4) differential access to educational opportunity, (5) ...

What does disproportionality mean in special education?

Disproportionality is the overrepresentation of a specific race or ethnicity identified in one or more of four areas: identification of a disability in general; identification of a specific race or ethnicity in a specific disability category; discipline; and placement.

What is the disproportionate placement of ethnic minorities in special education?

Possible causes of disproportionate special education representation are psychometric test bias, socio- demographic factors, unequal opportunity in general education (the most consistent findings in education research is that students achieve in direct proportion to their opportunity to learn), teacher ethnicity (as ...

What are three factors influencing disproportionality in special education?

“Significant disproportionality” refers to three separate but related trends that impact a student's educational experience: (1) identification for special education (also called eligibility); (2) educational placement (once identified as eligible for special education); and (3) discipline.

It All Adds Up: Racial Disproportionality in Special Ed

What is an example of disproportionality in special education?

The Impact of Disproportionality in Special Education

For example, students of color identified for special education programs often get placed in separate classrooms or receive more discipline than their classmates, as reported by The Century Foundation (TCF).

What is an example of disproportionality in schools?

Being disproportionately represented refers to the unequal or unfair amount of people who are grouped in a category. In special education, there is a disproportionate representation of students of color and those who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

What is ethnic disproportionality?

The over-representation of people from minority ethnic communities in the youth justice system is referred to as ethnic disproportionality.

What is minority disproportionate representation in special education?

Overrepresentation of minorities in special education is a growing problem in schools today. Research indicates that factors such as test bias, poverty, poor general education instruction, and insufficient professional development for working with diverse students can cause this overrepresentation.

Why are minorities disproportionately diagnosed with learning disabilities?

Many researchers are concerned that disproportionate identification of racial/ethnic minorities with learning disabilities is part of the long history of racism and stratification within education (Patton 1998; Skiba et al. 2008). Some attribute disproportionality to blatant educator racism (Anderson 1997; Skiba et al.

How do you fix disproportionality in special education?

How do you determine disproportionality?

Are black children disproportionately overrepresented in special education?

The debate over over representation in special education

The most credible studies allow researchers to control for a rich set of student-level characteristics, rather than using data aggregated to the district level, and firmly establish that blacks are disproportionately under-represented.

What are the racial ethnic disparities in disability prevalence?

Asian (non-Hispanic) adults reported the lowest rates (17.2%) of disability-related health conditions. Black (non-Hispanic) adults (31.8%) and those reporting Other or multiple-race non-Hispanic identity (42.9%) were among those with higher rates.

Why is cultural diversity a concern for special educators?

What are the Challenges of Diversity? One of the first issues of special education is identification of deficits. Children with different racial, ethnic or language backgrounds may have difficulty understanding classroom instruction and may not actually have special needs.

What are the ethical issues in special education?

Fundamental ethical problems in special education include confidentiality and informed permission. In contrast, more complicated challenges include balancing the child's needs with those of their family and community.

What are the major reasons for disproportionate minority contact?

Often DMC is presented as being caused either by differential offending (i.e., youthsof color commit more crimes or commit more serious crimes) or differential treatment (i.e., the juvenile justice system treats youth of color differently).

What is disproportionality and why is it a problem?

This phenomenon is called disproportionality, meaning that “children from racial and ethnic minority groups may be represented disproportionately in the child welfare system or may receive disparate services” (Child Welfare Information Gateway).

What is disproportionate minority representation?

Disproportionate minority contact (DMC) refers to the disproportionate representation of ethnic, racial and linguistic minority youth in the juvenile court system.

What contributes to disproportionality?

Factors contributing to disproportionality include cultural bias, a fearful agency climate, communication barriers, ineffective service delivery, and workforce issues.

What is disproportionality in special education in general why is this a problem what causes this?

Disproportionality in special education placement and school discipline are issues that need to be addressed by educators and policymakers, as students of color—especially students of color with disabilities—are disproportionately subjected to exclusionary discipline and may more often be placed in segregated settings ...

What does disproportionately mean in education?

This term refers to significantly discrepant data, by race and ethnicity, in any of the following areas - identification, placement, or discipline.

Which of the following students are disproportionately overrepresented in special education?

Q 2. The two racial/ethnic groups most disproportionately overrepresented in special education are African American/Black and Hispanic/Latino.

What is the difference between disparity and disproportionality?

While disproportionality refers to the state of being out of proportion, disparity refers to a state of being unequal. Disparity occurs when the ratio of one racial or ethnic group in an event is not equal to the ratio of another racial or ethnic group who experienced the same event.

Which ethnic group is overrepresented for the indicated disability categories?

Additionally, the percentage of students served under IDEA who received services for an intellectual disability was highest for those who were Black (9 percent); the percentages for students of the other races/ethnicities shown ranged from 5 to 7 percent.