Diversity in Special Education

What is Diversity Diversity is about difference – students in special education vary in many ways, and those in regular education are no different Diversity in the context of education refers to the recognition that minority groups, those not similar to the main stream, have been marginalized The fact that some students have a disability makes them different from most people

Sense of Self nationality religion sexual orientation language social class ethnic group disability race gender ? self

Disproportionality We begin with the premise that for most disabilities, we expect the proportion of minority groups with the disability to reflect proportions in the population

Question: overrep 6% of the students in a Northwest state belong to the federal Asian/Pacific Islander group. If there are 5% of them in special education – are they under- or over- represented in special education?

Under- and Over-representation WhiteBlackAsian / Pac. Islands HispanicAmerican Indian Percent in school Percent in special ed

Question;african american Members of which ethic group are most likely to be identified as having mental retardation?

National Overrepresentation African-American children are – 2x more likely than Whites and American Indians/ Alaskan natives to be identified as having mental retardation – 1.5x more likely than White students to be classified with emotional disturbance.

Post-school Outcomes Unemployed 2 years out of high school Still not employed 3-5 years out of school 75% African-American students 47% White 52% African-American young adults 39% White young adults

Response – identification of gaps in education – finding causes and solutions to erode these gaps We need to ask questions like I.Where are the differences? II.Why are there differences? III.What do we need to change to be fair to all students

I. Where are the differences? California and SDUSD

Total Enrollment – CA

Question: how many white in sped 49% of the CA population is Hispanic. What proportion of the SPED population do you think is Hispanic? 30% of the CA population is White. What proportion of the SPED population do you think is white?

SPED Enrollment – CA

Question Remember that Hispanic students were about 49% of the student population in California. What proportion of students labeled gifted are Hispanic?

Gifted Enrollment – CA

Question MR Which ethnic group is most over-represented in the MR category

MR Enrollment – CA

Question MR Which ethnic group is most over-represented in the ED disability?

ED Enrollment –

SDUSD We can similarly look at the district level

SDUSD Enrollment –

SDUSD SPED Enrollment –

SDUSD MR Enrollment –

SDUSD ED Enrollment –

II. Why are there differences? QUESTION: Why are members of some minority groups more apt to be identified as disabled?

II. Why are there differences? 1.Misidentification 2.Poor instructional resources 3.Insufficient resources 4.Teacher quality 5.Poverty 6.Stereotyping or prejudice

III. What needs to be changed? QUESTION: To address inequities, what can we do?

III. What needs to be changed? Textbook Solutions Strong academic programs for all students Appropriate sped policies in early intervention, referral, assessment, eligibility, classification, placement, and reevaluation Increased home-school-community integration and support (Hallahan & Kauffman, p.91)

III. What needs to be changed? Diversify the Curriculum Perhaps a more diverse curriculum is appropriate – A culturally responsive curriculum embraces difference as a strength – The National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME)

III. What needs to be changed? Diversify the Curriculum A new attitude: – Disability is not a weakness – Speaking a second language is not a weakness – Coming from a minority group is an advantage in a curriculum that values differences

What does IDEA have to say? Sections and

§ Overidentification and disproportionality. – The State must have in effect, consistent with the purposes of this part and with section 618(d) of the Act, policies and procedures designed to prevent the inappropriate overidentification or disproportionate representation by race and ethnicity of children as children with disabilities, including children with disabilities with a particular impairment described in § 300.8

§ Disproportionality. (a) General. Each State that receives assistance under Part B of the Act, and the Secretary of the Interior, must provide for the collection and examination of data to determine if significant disproportionality based on race and ethnicity is occurring in the State and the LEAs of the State with respect to— – (1) The identification of children as children with disabilities, including the identification of children as children with disabilities in accordance with a particular impairment described in section 602(3) of the Act; – (2) The placement in particular educational settings of these children; and – (3) The incidence, duration, and type of disciplinary actions, including suspensions and expulsions.

§ Disproportionality. (b) Review and revision of policies, practices, and procedures. In the case of a determination of significant disproportionality with respect to the identification of children as children with disabilities, or the placement in particular educational settings of these children, in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section, the State or the Secretary of the Interior must— – (1) Provide for the review and, if appropriate revision of the policies, procedures, and practices used in the identification or placement to ensure that the policies, procedures, and practices comply with the requirements of the Act. – (2) Require any LEA identified under paragraph (a) of this section to reserve the maximum amount of funds under section 613(f) of the Act to provide comprehensive coordinated early intervening services to serve children in the LEA, particularly, but not exclusively, children in those groups that were significantly overidentified under paragraph (a) of this section; and – (3) Require the LEA to publicly report on the revision of policies, practices, and procedures described under paragraph (b)(1) of this section.

The Approach of IDEA (‘04) States must monitor LEAs’ levels of disproportionality States must annually report under a 6-year State Performance Plan (SPP) on – % of districts with DR of racial and ethnic groups, in special education and related services, and in specific disability categories, that results from inappropriate identification – Specific categories are mental retardation, specific learning disabilities, emotional disturbance, speech or language impairments, other health impairments, autism

The Approach of IDEA (04) Page (237) of Part B IDEA ‘04 - § § The state determines the criteria for what level of disproportionality is significant If there is significant disproportionality, – states must review and revise (if appropriate) policies, procedures, and practices used in identification or placement of children – States must publically report in this process IDEA requires LEAs to use 15% of Part B funds for early intervention, particularly for children in groups who are overrepresented

In review There is a gap We know why there is a gap The feds and the state are going to make districts close the gap