Why is disproportionality an issue in special education?

Research suggests that a child's race and ethnicity significantly influence the probability that he or she will be misidentified as needing special education. This mis-identification can have immediate and long term negative effects.

Why is disproportionality a problem in special education?

Due to bias within the education system (including within assessments and academic and other policies), students of color can be misidentified as needing special education, and are then placed in more restrictive settings and experience harsher discipline because of the intersectionality of race and special education.

What are the consequences of disproportionate representation in special education?

There are many potential consequences of the disproportionate representation in special education. It can lead to lower graduation rates for those students. Another consequence is that it prevents the students from reaching their full academic potential because it limits the opportunities that are given to them.

What is disproportionality and why is it a problem?

Disproportionality occurs when students are: Overrepresented in special education services due to inappropriate referrals to special education. Overrepresentation can occur in classification, placement, and suspension.

What is the issue of disproportionate representation in special education what should educators be mindful of regarding this issue?

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 ...

Is Racial Disproportionality Still An Issue? | Education Week | Special Education

What is the idea of disproportionality in special education?

Within the context of this training session, disproportionality refers to situations when the percentage of students from a specific racial or ethnic group in special education programs or specific special education categories is noticeably greater than (or markedly less than) the percentage of their enrollment in a ...

What are three factors that contribute to the disproportionate representation of minorities in special education?

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.

How do you address disproportionality in special education?

Action plans for preventing and addressing significant disproportionality should include: Starting with a data review that assesses whether all students have access to high-quality, engaging instruction and are treated equally, regardless of race or disability.

Why is disproportionality important?

Disproportionality is important because, in some cases, it may signal the presence of bias in the identification of children with disabilities; and inappropriately identifying children as disabled is harmful.

What are the factors contributing to disproportionality?

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

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.

What is the concept of disproportionality?

The term disproportionate means unequal or out of proportion. Although there are discrepancies in many areas, disproportionality in special education is generally referring to racial and ethnic discrepancies that exist in the identification, placement, and discipline of students with disabilities.

What happens if there is a determination of significant disproportionality?

Once identified as Significantly Disproportionate, the LEA is required to take mandatory actions including, but not limited to, reserving 15 percent of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funds to develop and implement a Compliance and Improvement Monitoring (CIM) for CCEIS action plan and provide ...

How can we reduce disproportionality in special education?

One strategy for preventing disproportionality is to bolster prevention efforts by ensuring provision of high- quality, rigorous curriculum and behavioral supports, conducting universal academic and social-emotional screening to identify students at risk for difficulties, and providing evidence-based interventions ...

What contributes to disproportionate representation of diverse students 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 ...

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.

How do you determine disproportionality?

What is an example of disproportionality?

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 problems do minorities face in education?

Research shows that compared with white students, black students are more likely to be suspended or expelled, less likely to be placed in gifted programs and subject to lower expectations from their teachers.

What are the barriers to education for minorities?

Many Black students in the United States face distinctive challenges when it comes to completing postsecondary programs. Barriers to completion include the high financial cost of higher education and implicit and overt forms of racial discrimination that cause many to stop out or never enroll in the first place.

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.

What is disproportionality in discipline in education?

Zero-tolerance discipline policy and punitive procedures are often associated with racial and ethnic disproportionality. Proactive behavior management involves setting clear expectations and recognition systems so that students know what behavior is considered acceptable.

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 is the significant disproportionality regulation?

States have an obligation under IDEA both to identify significant disproportionality, based on race and ethnicity, in the identification of children as children with disabilities and to ensure that LEAs implement child find procedures appropriately and make a free appropriate public education available to all eligible ...

What are the factors that cause a school district to be identified as having significant disproportionality?

We understand that overrepresentation of one racial or ethnic group that rises to the level of significant disproportionality may occur for a variety of reasons, including over-identification of that racial or ethnic group, under-identification of another racial or ethnic group or groups, or appropriate identification, ...