Having worked in urban school districts my entire career, I haven't noticed this problem. Having attended Poland High School, our school was entirely white, so again no problem. The only time I can really think of as seeing this in action was when I taught in Florida in the West Palm Beach School District. My class was very diverse. I had students that came from foreign countries. I had one student that was Spanish, her family were migrant workers, traveling for work. This particular student spoke very little, if no English. obviously I couldn't help her seeing I speak no Spanish. She was placed into Special Education, but I can't remember if it was for an actual learning disability or because she couldn't communicate with me and other teachers.
Since I spent my career teaching in Youngstown, and even where I work with my client in Farrell, I have taught predominantly black students. I wasn't nervous about trying to connect with them, I grew up in Campbell, still spend some of my time there, attended Poland High School, went to YSU, taught in Florida and Youngstown. To say the least, I did not lead a sheltered life. I even hung out with a guy that was in the Crips, he was a nice guy even though you hear nothing good about gang members. The problem I had, was connecting to their language and slang. I had to have them explain words to me very often, needless to say, I know about a half dozen terms for "making fun of". because of my surroundings, I never noticed that only the black students were being pulled for special education because that's what the majority of the population was.
I suppose that, yes, Disproportionate Representation could be a major factor if you taught at Canfield or Poland that is predominately white and the students who were being pulled or placed in Special Education were only the black ones because the teachers didn't want them in the classroom. However, If you taught in Youngstown and black students were being pulled for Special Education, is there Disproportionate Representation going on for minorities?
Having diversity in the classroom makes for a great learning environment and one could pull from a wealth of experiences while teaching. I think the only way to combat Disproportionate Representation is to allow minority students into the classroom with open arms. Forcing teachers to accept the fact that they can't only have the "good" white kids. Our country was and still is a melting pot of cultures and people. We are in a profession that has to service them all
I totally agree, I believe it is almost impossible to see the misrepresentation. I am curious though since most of your experience in teaching is in the lower socio-economic areas, did you notice more student with learning disabilities? Or perhaps the reverse of misrepresentation due to culture or street status? I am much older then most in this class and I cannot say I have noticed disproportionate representation, more bullying, especially with the learning disabled students, even though that is not what the called when I was in school
ReplyDeleteJim, I also was born and raised in a diverse urban area. I lived in a suburb outside the city of Ashtabula, but I attended Ashtabula City Schools. This is now where I teach and my children attend the same school district. I thin it is harder to recognize this issue in a diverse system. However, I think that you're right about the biggest issue being the language barrier. I know this is what causes some cases of misrepresentation in my school district. I feel that educating teachers and offer continuing PD is the best way to resolve this problem
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree that I also didn’t see much of a problem growing up because I attended Canfield school districts, but I thought that it was interesting how you brought gang members up. I never would think of having different slang or even being from a different area and not knowing the vocabulary used in that specific area would affect school placement. I would agree that having diversity in the classroom would make a great learning environment and it would enhance the learning experience for all of the students and even the teacher.
ReplyDeleteJim,
ReplyDeleteI think the issue of disproportionate representation is less local and more global in scope. Of course, when you n are in a culturally diverse school, you expect to see more cultural diversity in special education classes. However, there have been times when I (at least to myself) questioned the placement of a certain student in special education - I would try to figure out why and would even ask in guidance, to no satisfaction. Don't forget that in at least a few school districts, ones with fewer resources, it is easier to maintain a Special Ed. diagnosis than to challenge it. If a student was misdiagnosed, it can be difficult for them to get relief.