Blog Post #4: Andrea Barber

                  Disproportionate representation in special education has been an ongoing issue and continues to be a consistent problem.  The disproportionately high representation of racial and ethnic minorities as well as culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education classrooms has been a problem for more than thirty-five years.  This has been particularly acute for select groups (African American and Latino) and in select categories (mild mental retardation, learning disabilities, emotional disturbances, speech, and language).  Unfortunately, this debate over disproportionate representation, inappropriate placement, and misclassification of minority pupils is far from being resolved (Jimenez & Graf 2008).

                  Culturally responsive instructional practices can offer the promise of providing opportunities to learn for culturally and linguistically diverse students and reduce disproportionate representation.  Wiley (1996) provides useful framework educators can use to implement culturally responsive instructional practices.  Accommodation is one type of practice that refers to the need for educators, administration, and other school personnel to understand the cultural norms, communication styles, and literacy practices of their students to help adapt their instruction accordingly.  The second to type of practice is incorporation, taking accommodation one step further requiring researchers and educators inn understanding diverse cultures that also acknowledge certain community practices that have not been valued previously by the schools and what can be learned from other ethnic groups.  The third type of practice that can be used is adaptation.  This relates to how the  adults and children can acculturate to the norms of those who control the school, institutions, or workplace (Wiley 1996). In doing so, the school has a responsibility to give parents information and support that is needed to help the children with the new forms of culture to adapt to.  In combination, these 3 types of practice can provide a framework to implement working toward educational equity for diverse students and culturally responsive teaching.  Response to intervention models has been an important implication to the principle of  cultural responsiveness (Jimenez & Graf 2008).

                  In my opinion, it is most important to find out the needs of the student academically.   Rather, society tends to label someone based on their culture or ethnicity instead of  taking the time to reach a student and get to know them individually.   I strongly agree with the culturally responsive instructional practices as mentioned above.  Stated in the three types of practices, research suggests that it is possible to design and implement culturally responsive interventions that enhance learning for diverse populations .  I also believe that offering the promise of providing an opportunity to learn for culturally and linguistically diverse students reduces disproportionate representation (Jimenez & Graf, 2008).