Discussion #1

[Alida Maravi]

What do you feel are the key contributing factors to the over-
representation of minorities in special education?

The reading mentions that the definition of “difference,” when used to
refer to ability differences in special education, is not clear. The
pluralistic nature of our society and our country’s history have
provided for many “differences” among students. I know that at my
school we are constantly discussing why minorities are significantly
overrepresented in our special education program. Some of the key
debates are those surrounding questions such as, “does a student have
a difference in ability if English is their second language and they
cannot understand much of the content presented in class, even if they
could understand it if it was delivered in their native language?” and
“does a student have a difference in ability if he or she is behind
academically because of the large achievement gap caused by failing
school systems and policies that have institutionalized segregation
and unequal education for decades?” Because these questions are not
easily answered, I think that educators try to get students help
wherever they can. Even if a student technically does not have a
learning disability, but is behind because of language barriers,
failing schools and other factors, it seems as if Special Education
support, in some cases, is the only option certain students have for
receiving any remediation or special help to fill the gaps in their
education. Therefore I think the term “difference” has been used in
many different and particularly broad ways so that students who are
not on grade level, for whatever reason, get the special attention
they need.

Are there particular policies or law that appear to have affected
this 
trend?

The article mentioned policies in California (Proposition 227 – the
"English for the Children" initiative), Arizona (Proposition 203
“English for the Children”) and Massachusetts (Question 2-2002 –
“English for the Children of Massachusetts), put in place to eliminate
bilingual education in public schools. This could have definitely
caused more ESL students to be categorized as Special Ed, because as
their instruction switched from being delivered in a way that was
understandable to them, to being delivered solely in their second
language, these students undoubtedly fell behind academically and in
order to receive special help and remediation, their referral to a
special education program was probably one of the only options
available for special instruction and remediation.
I also think that districting policies and the difference in
educational funding across districts, both of which have contributed
to the systematic segregation and underfunding of urban districts
comprised mostly of minority students, have caused more minority
children to participate in special education programs. Because
special education is a federally run and funded program, it is present
in all public schools regardless of budget or population. Schools in
districts with higher funding for public schools are able to afford
other kinds of instructional support (such as reading specialists or
math coaches), whereas those in struggling (usually urban) districts
do not. What seems to happen is that students in these poorer
distracters that require extra help, but not necessarily special
education help, are still enrolling in special education because in
some cases it is the only extra support that is guaranteed and
available.

If so, which do you think are the most significant? What
recommendations or solutions seem to make sense to you?

I think that public school funding policies significantly affect the
overrepresentation of minorities in special education. A solution
that would make sense to me would be passing federal legislation that
would require state boards of education and local school districts to
invest a set amount of money in every student across the board. That
would mean that inequalities wouldn’t exist between the services
students receive in wealthier suburban school districts and those
received in poorer urban districts. If this universal per capita
student spending were set high enough, schools could hire specialists
outside of special education, specializing in working with other
“differences” besides learning disabilities (such as remediation for
gaps in education) so that minority students who have historically
been underserved by their local school district could catch up without
being labeled as a special education child. This way, special
education instructor could deal with learning differences while other
specialist instructors deal with the various other differences that
affect children’s educations.