Blog Post #4: Jessica Tomic

There has been an overrepresentation of children of color (African American, Chicano/Latino, Hispanic, American Indian) in mild mental retardation, learning disabilities, emotional disturbance, and speech and language select categories (Rueda, Klingner, Sager, & Velasco, 2008). As a persistent problem, disproportionate representation continues without resolution.  To better address this critical issue, the implementation of early intervention services is addressed.  “Early intervention services could help prevent the overidentification of children into special education, especially those who are linguistically and culturally diverse” (p. 9).  Two solutions often suggested in reducing overrepresentation include culturally responsive instructional practices and response-to-intervention (RTI) approaches to assessment and early intervening services.

Culturally responsive instruction “requires educators to understand the sociocultural and historical contexts that influence their students’ actions” (p. 147).  Cultural responsiveness reflects an education where assets should be celebrated and built upon and not ignored.  Instructional practices that emulate cultural responsiveness include accommodations, incorporation and adaptations.  Another culturally responsive approach includes forming strong connections among culturally diverse families.  These connections build trust and ensure that educators and families will work together to ensure success of the students.  Response-to-intervention models reflect a three-tiered structure, providing an “alternative way of conceptualizing how [educators] support student learning” (p. 149).  Response-to-intervention can be a way for schools to reduce labeling, as early intervention services are provided in the general education setting and curriculum to all students struggling or showing regression.  Students move between tiers based on their response to evidence-based interventions.  Even with the mediation of RTI, success depends on appropriate implementation.

In addition to the implementation of culturally responsive instructional practices and the response-to-intervention model, eliminating, or at best, reducing cultural bias at the referral process is almost necessary to aid in disproportionate representation.  I feel that too often teachers pass judgement regarding students’ levels of academic abilities without actually taking appropriate and necessary steps to help the students in need.  I can only assume that if teachers in our education field today took the self-assessment regarding cultural responsiveness, they would find that perhaps they run slightly deficient.