Examining Educational Equity: Revisiting the Disproportionate Representation of Minority Students in Special Education

Abstract

Continued concerns about educational equity for minority students require looking beyond analysis of enrollment in primary disability categories to additional issues of educational opportunity for students receiving special education services. This study examined the relationship between student ethnicity and language proficiency status with (a) number and type of disability labels, (b) access to the least restrictive environment, and (c) ancillary services using data from a large southwestern school district. Data quality was also examined as part of this study. The results suggest that minority students and English language learners were disproportionately enrolled in special education and placed in more segregated settings. A trend toward increased disability labels for minority students was also identified. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Investigating Parent and Professional Perspectives Concerning Special Education Services for Preschool Latino Children

“…Problems related to disproportionality have troubled special educators for more than three decades. Although court decisions concerning landmark cases compelled policymakers to revise unfair special education practices (Diana v. California State Board of Education 1970;Mclean 1995), recent studies suggest continued disproportionate placement of Latino children in special education (Artiles et al 2005;De Valenzuela et al 2006). Factors such as how to determine language proficiency, the effectiveness of screening and evaluation measures and professionals' understanding of their purposes, and a lack of meaningful family participation are discussed below as elements contributing to the disproportionate representation of Latino ELL children in special education.…”

The Social Construction of Giftedness

“…Many American scholars have taken up the issue of disproportionate representation of ethno-racial groups in special education programs, abilitybased practices of segregation, as well within disability and gifted identifications, (Erevelles, Kanga, & Middleton, 2006;Annamma, Connor, & Ferri;Reid, & Knight, 2006;De Valenzuela, Parekh, et. al., "The Social Construction of Giftedness" CJDS 7.2 (July 2018) 8 Copeland, Qi, & Park, 2006). Drawing from the theoretical frameworks developed by critical race and critical disability theorists, Canadian researchers are beginning to explore similar issues of equity within the Canadian context (Parekh, 2013;Robson, Anisef, Brown &.…”

Market “choices” or structured pathways? How specialized arts education contributes to the reproduction of inequality

“…Some educators have argued that specialized arts programs support the needs of such students with qualitatively different approaches to teaching and learning (e.g. Davis, 2005). By contrast, we build on our prior research through the Urban Arts High Schools (UAHS) project to argue that the kind of homogeneity that characterizes specialized arts education, as well as the schooling pathways that lead to them, is evidence of persistent structural inequality, rather than the outcome of individual talents and interests in the arts (Gaztambide-Fernández, Saifer, & Desai, 2013;Gaztambide-Fernández, VanderDussen, & Cairns, 2014;Saifer & Gaztambide-Fernández, 2017).…”