Racial Disproportionality in Special Education Assignment

Restrictiveness and Race in Special Education: The Failure to Prevent or to Return

Cartledge, G. (2005). Restrictiveness and Race in Special Education: The Failure to Prevent or to Return. Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal, 3(1), 27-32.

http://www.cgu.edu/include/LDCJ.pdf#page=33

Key Points

1)Gen-ed Teacher Referrals are the overwhelming source of “socially-determined” Special-Ed. placements.  With this in mind, it is also important to note that African American students are 1.5 times more likely to be labeled with emotional and behavioral disorders than White classmates.  

2)The greatest correlative factors are in schools where the total African American student population is relatively low.  That is to say that while low-income schools do have some predictive value, where those schools are primarily African American there is less disproportionality in Special Ed referral and placement.

Intended Audience

Special Education Researchers, Practitioners, Administrators, Policy Makers, Academics

Relevance

The need for Gen-ed/Spec.-ed collaboration.  

Need for Statistical analysis to monitor inadvertent bias.

Need for great teacher support in Gen-ed & Spec-ed.