Dis-proportionality is over-representation of minority students identified with a learning disability or other type of disability. When a minority group's numbers in special education are statistically higher than they should be, they are considered disproportionate.
Why is Dis-proportionality a Problem?
When schools have higher numbers of certain ethnic or minority students enrolled in special education that they should have by statistical standards, it signals the possibility that some of the students may not be truly disabled and may have been incorrectly identified. Dis-proportionality is a problem because it can:
* Prevent children from reaching their academic potential;
* Fuel negative stereotypes regarding minority groups;
* Result in a type of racial profiling that places minority students at a
disadvantage throughout their school year;
disadvantage throughout their school year;
* Result in lowered expectations among teachers, parents, and the students
themselves; and
themselves; and
* Prevent schools from recognizing the need to adjust curriculum and teaching
methods to reach a broad range of instructional needs of a diverse student
body.
methods to reach a broad range of instructional needs of a diverse student
body.
Seattle Public Schools Disability Demographic
Every school district is required to perform demographic reports, to give statistics on how diverse their school populations are. This is a great opportunity to see a real example of the over representation of minorities in special education. Here are the results that were discovered in the report.
“Overall, 14.5 percent of the students in the District were enrolled in Special Education in June 2010. Within ethnic groups, Special Education students range from 26.1% of all American Indian students to 9.0% of all Asian students. The total number of Specific Learning Disability students rose slightly between June 2009 and June 2010, but the percentage of students in this category remained steady at 5.3% of total enrollment. The number of students identified as Specific Learning Disabled ranges from 9.3% of all American Indian students to 3.3% of all Asian/Pacific Islander students. The other predominant categories in Special Education are Health Impaired, Developmentally Delayed (Preschool), Communication Disordered, and Emotional Behavioral Disability (previously titled as Seriously Behaviorally Disabled). A dispropor- tionately larger number of Black/African American (and, as a percentage of enrollment, American Indian) students are represented in these categories.According to the trend data across the major categories, American Indian students have exceeded African American students with the highest rate of eligibility for Special Education programs since 1995-1996. The Hispanic/Latino ethnic group slightly exceeds the White ethnic group on intermediate rates of eligibility. Asian/Pacific Islander students continue to show lower rates of eligibility.”
As you can see in the graph there is a higher percentage of American Indian, Black, Hispanic students identified as having specific learning disabilities. Schools are the required to come up with action plans around these statistics to correct for the different deficits the students are having.
In my experience in SPED 541 at Seattle University were asked to perform some of these statistics in class to see how they are obtained. After completing the exercise it soon became evident to me that these statistics have to be taken with a grain of salt. The reason for this is that there are no statewide or nation wide standard required equation when calculating these statistics. There are currently 4 different ways to report the statistics so it depends on what the district choose to use. Another point of interest is that there is no state mandate for the number of places after the decimal place you round off too. This discrepancy can cause great fluctuation in final products.
You can find the PDF version of the report with this link. There is also other links to summaries about the districts demographics.
US Commission on Civil Rights: Minorities in Special Education
A Briefing Before the United States Commission on Civil Rights
Held in Washington, DC, December 3, 2007
On December 3, 2007, either experts briefed members of the US Commission on Civil Rights on whether blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Limited English Proficient (LEP) students are misplaced in special education programs more often as a proportion of the general education student population, than their white, Asian, or non-LEP peers; and the nature, extent, and possible causes of any misplacement.
