An Integrative Synthesis of Literature on Disproportionality in Special Education

Abstract

Research studies have historically indicated that students from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds are overidentified for special education, suggesting bias in referral, assessment, and placement practices. Other studies, however, have suggested that students from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds are not overrepresented in special education or may be underidentified for services. There is a perceptual interpretive element in defining the problem of disproportionality, as the use of different data sets and analyses impact how both the problem and results are interpreted. The purpose of this manuscript was to examine the ways in which current studies analyze disproportionality through statistical methods, and to compare those analyses based on the conceptualization of covariates. An integrative systematic review of the literature builds on previous works that examine the issue of disproportionality.

The relationship between behavior at school entry and services received in third grade

“…In general, results support previous research that suggests non‐Hispanic Black children are more likely to be identified as children needing specialized services, especially for behavior (e.g., Donovan & Cross, ; Sullivan & Bal, ) but are contrary to more recent analysis of the issue using an ECLS data set that reported Black children are underrepresented in special education and in ED, specifically (Morgan et al, ). Recent review and commentaries, however, have challenged the validity of their methodology and inferences (for discussion, see Cruz & Rodl, ; Skiba et al, ; Sullivan, ). This could be a result of the additional controls used in their model or the difference in the coding of the outcome in this study.…”

Understanding Disability: High-Quality Evidence in Research on Special Education Disproportionality

“…4 The authors of these studies examined processes, practices, and outcomes related to understanding student ability and disability and special education placements in K–12 school spaces and published their findings in peer-reviewed academic outlets. 5 Additionally, given the large and comprehensive body of research on disproportionality, we draw on existing research syntheses that focus on specific time frames (e.g., literature published before 2006; Waitoller et al, 2010) as well as focused reviews grouping studies based on methodology (e.g., Cruz & Rodl, 2018; Harry & Fenton, 2016; Morgan et al, 2015) and specific demographic categories (e.g., Cooc & Kiru, 2018; Kulkarni, 2017).…”

“…As scholars continue to employ varied disciplinary lenses and approaches to the research, a clear consensus in the field is that disproportionality represents a highly complex phenomenon resulting from multiple factors and features (Artiles et al, 2016; Coutinho & Oswald, 2000; Cruz & Rodl, 2018; Heller et al, 1982; Skiba et al, 2008; Waitoller et al, 2010). This review’s underlying structure enabled us to consider a wide range of research from multiple fields (e.g., psychology, sociology, public health) to uncover lessons for the field of education research on the topic.…”

Race and ‘Disability Passing’ in a Chicago Public School Art Classroom

“…Ultimately, scholarly conclusions on the educational appropriateness of this disproportionate labelling remain elusive (Cruz & Rodl ). But in the IEP meetings I attended, wherein guardians, teachers and specialists would meet to discuss the academic progress of individual disabled students, I would sense a tension among all parties regarding the simultaneous goals of offering focused specialised services and maintaining generalised disciplinary oversight; these difficulties in communication are borne out in scholarly special education literature (Lohmann et al ).…”