The Context of Minority Disproportionality: Practitioner Perspectives on Special Education Referral

By R. Skiba, Ada B. Simmons, Shana Ritter, K. Kohler, Michelle Henderson, Tony Wu. Teachers College Record, 2006

162 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Although there is extensive documentation of minority overrepresentation in special education, knowledge of the factors that create the context within which disproportionality occurs is limited. To gain an understanding of the local processes that may contribute to special education disproportionality, we interviewed 66 educators about their perspectives on urban education, special education, available and needed resources, and the specific topics of diversity and disproportionality. A number of clear themes emerged. Teachers and schools feel unprepared to meet the needs of economically disadvantaged students. Classroom behavior appears to be an especially challenging issue for many teachers, and cultural gaps and misunderstandings may intensify behavioral challenges. Special education is perceived by many teachers as the only resource available for helping students who are not succeeding. Finally, there was a surprising reticence among many respondents to discuss issues of race. These results paint a surprisingly complex picture of the factors that may cause and maintain minority disproportionality in special education. Together, they suggest that successful remediation efforts will avoid simplistic or linear solutions, increase resources to address learning and behavior problems in general education, and seek methods to use data on racial disparity as a stimulus toward reflection and action.

Subfields: Education

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Citations in the corpus

Evidence of Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education in an English Population (2009, background): “However, teachers and professionals such as psychologists assessing students may view special education as a positive goal (Harry & Klingner, 2006; Skiba et al., 2006).”
Office Discipline and Student Behavior: Does Race Matter? (2010, background): “Minorities are more often placed in special education tracks (Harry and Klingner 2006; Reschly 1997; Skiba et al. 2006), often do not receive equal educational opportunities (Boozer et al.”
The Influence of Multicultural Educational Practices on Student Outcomes and Intergroup Relations (2008, background): “, Oakes, 2005), assignment to specific programs (Conchas, 2001; 2006), and assignment to special education programs (e.g., Skiba, Poloni-Staudinger, Simmons, Feggins-Azziz, & Chung, 2005; Skiba et al., 2006) are all deeply shaped by histories of racism in educational practice.”
Addressing Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education: Case Studies of Suburban School Districts (2011, background): “…which clearly states that children who have learning problems that are the result of “cultural or economic disadvantage” do not have learning disabilities, yet cultural and socioeconomic reasons are often given by teachers in explaining the root causes of disproportionality (Skiba et al., 2006).”
The Miner’s Canary (2010, methodology): “Other studies examined the relationship between race and school districts’ demographic and socioeconomic factors to predict students’ identification for special education (e.g., Argulewicz, 1983; Coutinho, Oswald, & Best, 2002; Coutinho, Oswald, Best, & Forness, 2002; Zhang & Katsiyannis, 2002). Cor”