Disproportionate Representation of African American Students in Special Education: Acknowledging the Role of White Privilege and Racism

Blanchett, Wanda J.

doi:10.3102/0013189x035006024

Cited by 305 publications

(210 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…However teachers and professionals such as psychologists assessing the student may view special education as a positive goal (Harry & Klinger, 2006;Skiba, Simmons, Ritter, Kohler, Henderson, & Wu, 2006). These views may be a function of practitioners struggling with inadequate preparation, an inappropriate curriculum and pedagogy (Blanchett, 2006) as well as inadequate resources.…”

Section: Implications For the Conceptualisation Of Disproportionalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education in an English Population

Strand

Lindsay

2008

J Spec Educ

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Differences in the proportion of students identified as having Special Educational Needs (SEN) across different ethnic groups has historically been of concern both in the UK and US. However the absence of student level data has hindered the investigation of the reasons for such disproportionality. This paper presents an analysis of the 2005 Pupil Level Annual School Census for 6.5 million students aged 5-16 in England. Logistic regression analyses were completed to calculate the odds-ratios of having an identified SEN both before and after adjusting for the influence of age, gender and socio-economic disadvantage (poverty). Poverty and gender had stronger associations than ethnicity with the overall prevalence of SEN.However, after controlling for these effects significant over-and under-representation of different minority ethnic groups relative to White British students remained. The nature and degree of these disproportionalities varied across category of SEN and minority ethnic group and were not restricted to judgmental categories of SEN. 25.1.08 3

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Section: Implications For the Conceptualisation Of Disproportionalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education in an English Population

Strand

Lindsay

2008

J Spec Educ

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“…These changes raise questions about the usefulness of current practices and long-held traditions, and they raise questions for educators and decision makers about the continuation of traditional practices, practices that have privileged the status quo (i.e., White, middle-class students) and disadvantaged culturally different students (Blanchett, 2006;McIntosh, 1990). These student changes also raise questions about teachers' multicultural or cross-cultural efficacy in working with students from different backgrounds.…”

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confidence: 99%

Creating Culturally Responsive Instruction: For Students' and Teachers' Sakes

Ford¹,

Kea²

2017

Exceptional

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The field of education faces a number of issues regarding how to improve the quality of school life and educational outcomes of culturally different 1 students-namely African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and American Indians. All of the issues (high dropout rates, high suspension and expulsion rates, high rates of school failure, low test scores and grades, low academic engagement, poor student-teacher relationships, etc.) fall under the umbrella of three broad areas: the achievement gap, gifted education underrepresentation, and special education overrepresentation. Educators, administrators, and policy makers grapple daily with ways to resolve these issues and subissues but have yet to see much success on a large-scale and consistent basis.Many studies and theories, along with personal speculation, have been advanced to explain the differential school performance of the aforementioned culturally different students. Likewise, a number of interventions, strategies, and recommendations have been put forth. A strongly advocated recommendation, especially by culturally different scholars, is that educators avoid colorblind/cultureblind approaches and philosophies and, instead, give more credence to creating culturally responsive classrooms (CRCs) for the culturally different students listed above. MAY 2009The term culturally responsive can have numerous meanings and interpretations. At its core, it means responding proactively and empathetically to appeals, efforts, and influ-. ences. When we are responsive, we feel an obligation, a sense of urgency, to address a need so students will experience success. When teachers are culturally responsive, they are student centered; they break down barriers to learning and, hence, provide keys that open doors to students' success. Thus, to be culturally responsive means that teachers work proactively and assertively to understand, respect, and meet the needs of students from cultural backgrounds that are different from their own. Cultural responsiveness is the recognition that students are similar to, but also different from, each other.1 In this article we adopt the term culturally different rather than culturally diverse. Everyone has a culture; every group is culturally diverse. Instead, we propose that cultural differences are what contribute to misunderstandings, tensions, and frustrations.

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“…Nondominant youth are defined as Black and Latino young people under the age of 18 who have been historically racialized (classified by race), marginalized, silenced, and segregated in schools and society (Fine, 1990(Fine, , 1991Fine & Weiss, 2005;Gutiérrez, 2008;Nasir & Hand, 2006;Oakes et al, 2006). Nondominant students are continuously failed and penalized by conventional attempts to reduce the achievement gap, the discipline gap, and the school-to-prison pipeline (Blanchett, 2006;Monroe, 2005). As reported in the literature, multiple risk factors disproportionately impact the vulnerability of nondominant youth for academic failure and dropping out of school.…”

Section: Background To the Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As reported in the literature, multiple risk factors disproportionately impact the vulnerability of nondominant youth for academic failure and dropping out of school. For example, nondominant youth are (a) three times more likely to live in poverty (Cash, 2004); (b) disproportionately diagnosed with behavioral, learning, and reading disabilities (Blanchett, 2006); and (c) disproportionately suspended or expelled from school-56% Black, 38% Latino, versus 28% White-for exhibiting disruptive and/or antisocial behavior (Foley & Pang, 2006;Smink, 2004).…”

Section: Background To the Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Banking education presumes that knowledge is predetermined by an authority and delivered to passive students; teachers are distributors and enforcers of decisions made by an outside authority. Banking education in alternative education is more stringent as noted in public discourse (Applied Research Center, 2001;Blanchett, 2006). Public discourse sustains a cultural deficit orientation, the belief that alternative education students possess unalterable (and often distinguishable) cultural deficits in intelligence and behavior.…”

Section: Conformismmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Relationship between Classroom Interactions and Exclusionary Discipline as a Social Practice: A Critical Microethnography

Pane¹

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Rocco, whose guidance was crucial for developing my research method, dissertation writing and thinking skills, collegiate attitude, publication agenda, and professional fortitude. Her prompt responses, care for me as a student, dissertation peer review group and dissertation group meetings, and wittiness during the entire dissertation process were priceless. Another special thank you is extended to my major professor, Dr. Joan T.Wynne, whose kindness and solidarity supported and guided me in the direction of my final research topic and research design. I also wish to express my sincere appreciation to dissertation committee member Dr. Angela Salmon for her willingness to guide and work with me in research and publication endeavors. To Dr. Lynne Miller, thank you for introducing me to the love of literacy, writing, and research. To Dr. Erskine Dottin, thank you for your wisdom and concept of friendship between professors and students. This research contributes to the knowledge base on teacher-student classroom interactions, specifically in relation to exclusionary discipline. Understanding how the themes and varying power relations influence their decisions and actions may enable teachers to reduce use of exclusionary discipline and remain focused on positive teacherstudent academic interactions.

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Disproportionate Representation of African American Students in Special Education: Acknowledging the Role of White Privilege and Racism

Cited by 305 publications

References 15 publications

Evidence of Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education in an English Population

Evidence of Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education in an English Population

Creating Culturally Responsive Instruction: For Students' and Teachers' Sakes

The Relationship between Classroom Interactions and Exclusionary Discipline as a Social Practice: A Critical Microethnography

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