Blog #4 - Cika - Disproportionate Representation

When looking at disproportionate representation in regards to children of color in special education, I feel that this is a problem that continues and will continue to concern educators in the future. I see this in the school I work at now. The population of special education students in our building is predominantly children of color. This does tend to vary through our school district depending on where in the state the school is located though. It wasn’t until reading this chapter though, that I realized how big of a problem disproportionate representation really is in our schools. I feel that the biggest concern is the fact that there is a great deal prejudice or stigmatism associated with individuals based on their race and socioeconomic status which leads to the problem of disproportionate representation. Today, individuals of color are still looked down upon and viewed as unequal. I feel that once this is addressed we can successfully change how many students are represented when it comes to racial and ethnic minorities.

 In our book ‘Education For All’ it states that using “culturally responsive instructional practices offer the promise of providing opportunities to learn for culturally and linguistically diverse students” (Terese C. Jimenez, 2008) reduces disproportionate representation among students. I think that this is a great way to address the problem.  I do feel however that teachers need to take a more proactive step in getting to know their students on a personal level, such as getting to know their student’s cultural backgrounds. This would also help the teacher understand their students better. For instance, sometimes if a child is acting out or misbehaving, it should not be automatically assumed that a child needs special education services, sometimes that student is not understood and acting out because they do not understand the material and need a different approach to how they learn the material. This can sometimes fall back on their culture, so understanding how a student learns can help that student succeed.

When kids enter Kindergarten there is no data or research on that child and a lot of the time this is where disproportionate representation starts. I feel that when students enter school, there needs to be more of a proactive approach into learning how a student learns and not looking at a quick fix. The quick fix is usually a teacher stating something along the lines of the student is behind, or the students cannot sit in class and is unteachable.  I have seen this in a school I worked at a few years ago. There was a Kindergarten student that was having a difficult time learning material and was always walking around the room. When prompted to sit down and do work he would have meltdowns and would be taken out of the classroom. He ended up getting diagnosed with Emotional Behavioral Disorders (EBD) for school purposes and placed in a self-contained special education classroom where he was bored with the level and amount of work he was given. He was not behind and had to be given assignments that were harder than the other students. After a few months in the special education classroom it was discovered that he needed to be standing or moving to learn material, he was re-evaluated and placed back in the general education Kindergarten classroom where he was given the opportunity to stand or walk around during class time. He then stopped having meltdowns and excelled in his class work.  If the teacher would have learned what worked best for this student, he could have been given the modifications and accommodations he needed to learn before being taken out of the classroom and would not have been misrepresented. Overall I think that getting to know our students backgrounds should be the first and foremost solution to solving the problem of disproportionate representation in schools.