Blog Post #4- Kristin Morgione

Jimenez and Graf (2008) highlights the history of the high representation of racial and ethnic minorities in special education classrooms. “The most common disability categories involved are mild mental retardation, emotional behavioral disorders, and specific learning disabilities and the frequently affected groups are African American, Chicano/Latino, American Indian, and a few subgroups of Asian American students” (p.138).  Likewise, the authors also discuss potential reasons for the over identification of these students.  Throughout the readings, the authors mention that socioeconomic levels, poverty, environmental influences, prenatal and maternal health care, low birth rate, premature birth, and even teacher bias in the referral process can attribute to this overepresentation and identification of racial, ethnic, and culturally linguistically students in special education.

As a nation our focus needs to be placed on the prenatal care of mothers and newborn infants across the world. As a mother of three, it was taken for granted that I would be provided with prenatal care and close monitoring of a highly qualified physician.  Even when alarming situations occurred throughout the pregnancies, I was given the guidance of specialists and further testing was encouraged and granted.  Never once was I concerned about receiving inadequate care and/or access to the interventions. It is alarming to know that even the United States, a developed nation established as a middle to high income country, identifies premature birth as the leading cause of newborn death and a major cause of lifelong disability according to March of Dimes (2011).  March of Dimes (2011) further states that “babies who survive a premature birth face the risk of serious lifelong health problems including: learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, blindness, hearing loss, asthma, and other chronic conditions.  In 2003, the March of Dimes launched a campaign, “funding lifesaving research and speaking out for legislation that improves care for moms and babies. In 2008, we expanded the campaign globally” (retrieved http://www.marchofdimes.org/, Oct 2016).  Continual support and funding need to be provided to this organization on the federal level.

As educators, we should be focussing on multiple factors to reducing the overrepresentation of students in special education. Although low socioeconomic levels, poverty, prenatal care, and environmental factors are factors, these are ones that we can not directly address within our classrooms and buildings.  Educators should challenge the factors that we witness throughout the day.  First and foremost, racism should never be a factor when recommending placement or identification in special education.  Non-discriminatory evaluation, a main principle of IDEA 2004, should ensure that the determination of services are not due to a lack of appropriate instruction in reading or math.  It should also ensure that the evaluation be free of cultural and linguistic bias, especially if the learner is English Language Learner (ELL).  Secondly, educators need to be sensitive to the needs of the diverse student within the classroom.  Students of different cultures bring forth development as an individual learner, as he/she relates to others within the classroom, and as he/she interacts within the school building and the community.   Thirdly, educators need to use culturally responsive instructional practices.  According to 6 Ways to Know If You Are Culturally Responsive,  “An educator knowing and appreciating his/her cultural heritage and language can go a long way, creating an empathetic understanding that will enable cultural responsiveness, therefore benefiting the students” (The Center for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning, retrieved February 7, 2011).  An approach called Response to Intervention, with a three tiered intervention, can supply research based programs to help reduce the amount of referrals to special education and provide best practices to students of all cultural backgrounds.