1. OVER-IDENTIFICATION OF STUDENTS FOR SERVICES: Special education
Jennifer Castro AND Leah Segar
Virginia Commonwealth university

2. Outline
I. Scenarios
II. Overview of Eligibility Process and Interventions
III. Gaps in Eligibility  
IV. Placement
V. Presentation of research articles, scenarios and videos

3. I. SCENARIOS

4. Consider Student A and Student B
Who is more likely to be referred for special education services by the general educator?
Avoids work
Tends to be off task/looks busy
Does not complete classwork/no homework returned
Comes for extra help, information not retained
Teacher sees visual processing
Receives small group instruction
Acts out,
Belligerent/No impulse control
Off task mainly/not teacher redirected Defiant
not referred through BIP process

5. terminology Special Education Specific Learning Disability Eligible
Identified
IEP- Individualized Education Program
Least Restrictive Environments (Self Contained vs. General/Inclusion Classrooms)
Other Health Impairment
General versus Special Educator
RTI- Response to Intervention

6. Consider the following quote
This quote does not seem to reflect that there is a discrepancy in the identification of students for services when comparing the total number of students to the general population, but a break down of the types of students referred and trends in referral process reveal opportunities for improvement.

7. Most common ways students are marginalized in special education
RACE
GENDER
SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUND
RESOURCES AVAILABLE IN SCHOOL DISTRICTS
QUALITY AND EXPERIENCE OF TEACHERS

8. Demographics of students enrolled in public school setting
Pay special attention to the Black, Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native students. Currently, students who identify as White make up 51 percent of the public school setting (elementary and secondary), but- flip slide

9. Demographics of students identified, by race
Although one could compare the percentage of white students identified to that of Indian and Black children, when looking at the overall percentage of students representing all American classrooms, these subcategories are disproportionately high.

10. Composite of students by disability
Explain that the rationale can still be speculative, but growing body of research helps to support this frame of mind. Explain what SLD classification means. Explain the range of students identified under OHI- focus on these disabilities as “gray areas” for the overidentification of students for services.

11. A Discussion on gender in Special education
QUICK FACTS
US Department of Education 2006 report
• Nearly 75 percent of students with specific learning disabilities are male.
• Seventy-six percent of students receiving special education services under the category of emotionally disturbed are male.
• More than 50 percent of students receiving speech/language therapy services are male.

12. II. ELIGIBILITY AND PROCESS

13. Identification issues a matter of subjectivity
VIDEO Interview by University of Illinois at Chicago Assistant Professor, Federico Waitoller, Ph.D.

14. III. GAPS IN ELIGIBILITY

15. Behavior and discipline
30 Years of data collected by researchers for the US Department of Education concluded that:
• Minority students have higher rates of office referrals, suspensions and expulsions from school (Cartledge, et al., 2002).
• Low income Black males receiving special education services have the highest suspension rates of any subgroup (Skiba, et al., 2003).
• Black males are more likely to receive more severe punishment than White students do for the same type of behavior (Cartledge, et al., 2002).
Students with disabilities who were from Black, Hispanic and American Indian backgrounds were 67 percent more likely to be removed from school by a hearing officer on the grounds that they were dangerous during the school year than their White peers (Osher, Woodruff , & Sims, 2002).

16. Need for differentiated instruction prior to referral (SPED)
VIDEO The importance of looking at students’ learning styles

17. Lowering referral (SPED) rates through culturally responsive teaching

18. IV. PLACEMENT

19. Least restrictive environment (based on disabilities)
Options for placement
Least restrictive environment (based on disabilities)
IEP states that this can be a:
General education classroom in a Collaborative/Inclusive Setting
Pull out services in a General Education classroom
Self-Contained classrooms
Varies based on the individual, disability, subject matter, and complexity/manifestation of disability

20. Issues with placement
What is the process of placement?
A 2002 study by researchers Fierros and Conroy for the US Department of Education found:
• Fifty-five percent of White students with disabilities spend 80 percent of their school day in general education classrooms.
• Only one-third of Black students with disabilities spend 80 percent of their day in general education classrooms.
One must ask what the process of placement is for students who are identified for special education services. Because the reauthorization of IDEA calls for an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) that is reinforced with a team of teachers, counselors, administrators, experts to be used on an “individualized” basis, not much justification is needed for the placement of certain students in educational settings versus others.