Representation of certain demographic groups in the United States' public school system.
Disproportionality in special education is the unequal representation of certain demographic groups in restrictive placement and discipline, particularly in the United States' public school system. Disproportionality is often displayed as the under- or over-representation of specific racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, or culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) groups in special education compared to their presence in the overall student population. A child's race and ethnicity may significantly influence the likelihood of being misidentified as needing special education services, raising concerns about fairness, equity, and the potential impact on students' educational outcomes.
Identification.
There are various concerns regarding the identification of students in special education. The over-identification of students refers to the concern that students of color, particularly African American students, are placed in special education at a higher rate than their white student peers, which can lead to potential stigmatization and negative impacts on their educational experiences. Student under-identification refers to the situation where students of color are less likely to be identified and receive special education services than their white peers who are demonstrating similar behavior, which can lead to students not receiving the necessary support they need to succeed in school.
Students of color are also at risk for misidentification for special education because they are incorrectly identified as having socially undesirable classifications such as emotional disturbance and intellectual disabilities when they may have undiagnosed disabilities, leading to ineffective interventions and supports for these students.
Due to racial or ethnic background, students are likely to be identified as needing special educational resources. Students who are not assertive in classrooms are often overlooked and referred to special schools, unlike their peers, who are assertive as their teacher are unlikely to see their true learning outcomes.
Monitoring.
Section 300.646 of Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was designed to ensure that each state that receives funding is required to determine if there is disproportionality based on race or ethnicity occurring in the state and Local Education Agencies (LEAs) of the state concerning the identification of children as children with disabilities, the placement in particular educational settings of these children, and the incidence, duration, and type of disciplinary removals from placement, including suspensions and expulsions.
In part B of IDEA, each state receives funding, and the United States Secretary of the Interior must provide 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." In Section 300.64 of the Act, States are required to examine data for significant disproportionality in the following areas:
IDEA mandates that states collect and examine special education data on race and ethnicity at the district level.
State monitoring.
States have monitored and enforced disproportionality in special education through requirements set in IDEA and the Annual Performance Reports (APRs). At the district level, states are mandated to collect and examine special education data on race and ethnicity. They are also required to report on specific indicators related to disproportionality for students with disabilities and the proportion of districts exhibiting disproportionate representation of racial and ethnic groups in special education.
If states identify significant disproportionality based on race and ethnicity, according to Section 300.464 of Part B of IDEA, they must:
States are not required to identify an LEA with significant disproportionality if the LEA has exceeded the risk ratio threshold but has demonstrated reasonable progress in lowering the risk ratio for the group and category of analysis in each of the two prior consecutive years.
Measurement.
Analytical techniques have been used to research disproportionality in special education, including risk ratio, regression, and multilevel regression. Risk ratio includes exposure to odds, odds ratios, relative risks, and risk indices ratios. Regression models estimate the probability of placement or special education service as a function of independent variables. Multilevel regression nests students within schools, districts, or communities to account for within- and between-cluster estimations. Study findings on disproportionality in special education vary widely across studies because of factors that include using different data sets at different levels, including samples of students at different grades and ages, and applying different analyses that may produce conflicting results.
Qualitative research has involved deductive and inductive methods, including the development of codebooks focusing on the conceptual framework and existing literature on education policy and disproportionality. Quantitative research have coded articles based on the analysis used in each study, such as risk ratio, regression or multi-regression.
Effectiveness of current practice.
There are several areas for improvement in the current practice of monitoring disproportionality. There is inconsistency in the interpretation and implementation of the IDEA provisions by the U.S. Department of Education and Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), which leads to confusion at the state and local levels hindering the progress in addressing the issue. There is also state and district compliance with procedural aspects of special education identification rather than addressing the systemic factors that contribute to the disproportionality, which may underestimate the true extent of the problem and hinder interventions for students who need them. Although research documents the overrepresentation of students of color in more restrictive environments, the OSEP does not include educational environments in the monitoring and enforcement of disproportionate representation.
The federal interpretation of IDEA statutory language contradicts consistent findings in special education research. Amendments to IDEA in 1997 and 2004 acknowledged the extent of racial and ethnic disproportionality, but federal interpretations of the 2004 requirement have created confusion at the State and LEA levels. Data suggests that the federal interpretation of IDEA 2004, regulatory guidelines, and the design of indicators for monitoring and enforcement have been ineffective in addressing racial and ethnic disproportionality.
Significant disproportionality.
If significant disproportionality based on race or ethnicity is found, then according to Section 300.646 of Part B of IDEA, the states must provide an annual review of revisions of policies, practices, and procedures regarding the placement of these children in educational settings (including disciplinary actions to ensure they comply with the act and require the LEA to report any revisions.
Significant disproportionality, as per IDEA Section 618(d), refers to a substantial disparity based on race and ethnicity in the state and the LEAs regarding the identification of children with disabilities, their placements in certain education settings, and the incidence duration and type of disciplinary actions. Disproportionate representation, as per IDEA Section 616(a)(3)(C), refers to the overrepresentation or underrepresentation of racial and ethnic groups in special education and related services that is the result of inappropriate identification. The significant disproportionality regulations do not apply to or address the obligation to identify disproportionate representation due to inappropriate identification under IDEA Section 616(a)(3)(C).
IDEA's section 618(d) requires states to collect and examine 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 the identification of children with disabilities, the placement in the particular education setting, and the incidence, duration, and type of disciplinary actions, including expulsion.
If states identify significant disproportionality based on race and ethnicity, they must take several actions according to Section 300.646 of Part B of IDEA:
Racial/ethnic disproportionality.
The root causes of racial and ethnic disproportionality in special education referrals may be attributed to deficit thinking related to conceptions of race and socioeconomic status, inadequate institutional safeguards, teachers' perceptions of students' ability, and lack of policies and interventions in schools. Economic and demographic variables, cultural mismatch, unequal opportunities in general education, and racial discrimination may also contribute to the disproportional representation of minority students. Students from racial, cultural, ethnic, and linguistic minority backgrounds are more likely to be labeled as disabled at a higher frequency and removed from mainstream education. In addition, students from disadvantaged backgrounds and students of color are more likely to be taught by inexperienced teachers in poorly funded schools.
The structural nature of race in the United States is an important factor in understanding special education referral patterns. Economic, education level and school desegregation policies contribute to disproportionality. Overrepresentation of students of color tends to increase as a racial or ethnic minority group constitutes a larger percentage of their state's population. School professionals involved in decision-making (i.e., referrals, assessment, and eligibility meetings for special education placement) mediate disproportionality.
Students of color often attend schools with limited resources and high levels of disadvantage, which leads to disproportionate reliance on special education placements for these students. Historically underserved groups in America, such as African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans, are disproportionately represented in high-incidence disability categories (i.e., intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorders, traumatic brain injury, language disorder, behavior disorders, learning disabilities, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), and that school culture and the cultural histories of students and their families collide and are often thought of as an intrinsic part of them. Racial and ethnic disparities are typically found less frequently in "hard" disability categories (i.e., hearing impairment, visual impairment, or orthopedic impairment) and more often in "soft" disability categories (i.e., intellectual disabilities, emotional disturbance, or learning disabilities)es).
Individual, contextual, and systemic factors contribute to disproportionality in special education. Understanding disproportionality in special education involved categorizing root causes into distinct factors, each contributing to the complex issue. These categories shed light on the nuanced challenges faced by students of color:
Teacher bias.
The relationship between families and schools may look different from one school to another, contributing to inconsistencies in findings on disproportionality. Educator bias can contribute to disproportionality by teachers misinterpreting cultural, language, and dialectical differences as deficits, leading to students of color being misidentified as having learning disabilities. These biases can shift attention away from other social inequities that could impact the learning rate and other disabilities among specific populations.
Interpretations of behaviors by teachers from different cultural backgrounds can disadvantage students of color because it leads to subjective disciplinary actions by staff. In addition to students of color being over-identified, the under-identification of these students may occur despite demonstrating similar academic performance to white students. Teachers need to take an intersectional view of students, use restorative justice strategies in their classrooms, be educated on students' cultural practices, and increase parent and community involvement in education.
School policies and procedures.
The processes of referral and identification of students for special education can be influenced by biases and judgements leading to the overrepresentation of students of color. Disproportionality can also be seen in school discipline policies by subjecting harsher disciplinary actions to students of color with disabilities. Instructional practices and academic expectations set by the school can contribute by expecting lower and less rigorous instruction for students of color, leading to the underperformance of these groups of students and referrals to special education. Additionally, the way schools allocate resources can contribute to disproportionality in that schools with fewer resources, often in underserved neighborhoods with children of color, may be more likely to place students in special education as a means to secure additional funding. Many schools also focus on compliance with laws, especially those in IDEA, which can lead to a narrow focus on procedural aspects of special education identification, rather than addressing systemic contributions of disproportionality.
Environmental factors.
Many students of color who have been identified for special education services come from disadvantaged communities and are more likely to be exposed to environmental toxins (i.e., lead, mercury, and other harmful chemicals), which have been linked to learning disabilities and could negatively impact their learning and development. Access to resources that contribute to healthy brain development (i.e., healthcare, good nutrition, high-quality early childhood education, and early childhood intervention) is often inequitable, and lack of access to these resources can compound learning difficulties later in life, leading to overrepresentation of students of color in special education.
Systemic issues.
Systemic inequalities place students of color at a heightened risk for special education placement. The overrepresentation of students of color in special education may be due to contributing to systemic issues. Schools often use a white middle-class referent as the norm for evaluating student behavior and achievement, which can disadvantage students of color because they may be viewed as more aggressive, leading to more disciplinary referrals and special education placements. Additionally, referring to the white middle-class experience ignores the fact that cultural communities within the United States create goals and promote their children's development contingent on context-specific opportunities and constraints when they should be examined in light of complex adaptation and accommodation processes to ecological contingencies. Once these students are labeled as special