Disproportionate representation in special education has
been an issue for a very long time and continues to be a problem. Over the
years many important court cases have shaped the way students are served in
school. Stated in the Education for All book, there were two cases in particular
that spotlighted the wrongful placement of minority students in special
education. The first case was Johnson v. San Francisco Unified School District
(1971). The district was charged with placing African American students in
classes for the “mildly retarded.” This was due to race and an effort to keep
segregation alive after the famous Brown v. Board of Education. The second case
was Larry P. v. Riles (1972). The basis of the case was that IQ tests used for
evaluating students were biased against African Americans, which
overrepresented that population with mental retardation. Luckily, the court
ruled the IQ test was discriminate against the minority group. (Jimenez &Graf,
2008) Disproportionate representation remains an issue for students of color, including
the Latino community.
Unfortunately, I can make a personal connection to the topic
of disproportionate representation, inappropriate placement, and
misclassification of minority people. My best friend moved from Puerto Rico to
the United States when he was in third grade. He only knew how to speak Spanish
and never attended a public school before. Due to the school’s lack of ESL teachers
and the teachers’ uncertainty of what to do with this student, they placed him
in the back of the room and that is where he stayed for many years. The tests
they provided him were inappropriate because he did not know English. Once he
was in middle school he was placed in the LD classroom because again they did
not know what to do with him. It took him a long time to learn English because
he did not have a teacher to work with and Spanish was spoken at home. He has
told me that over the years, teachers would even make fun, call him “slow” and
talk in such a way to him that school was a daily nightmare. This individual is
attending college today for engineering but continues to struggle with reading
and writing, in my opinion, due to the lack of proper education. In my
professional judgement, I believe no student should be held back from an
education due to a language barrier. The assessments that are given need to be nondiscriminatory!!
I understand that teachers are not required to know a second language but to incorrectly
label a student or place them in an inappropriate setting is unjust.
Our attention needs to be focused on the student’s needs. I
feel that it is too easy for a district to label someone rather than take the
extra step and try to find a way to reach the student. Our society as a whole
needs to completely change its mentality. To this day minority groups are still
looked down upon and we need to find ways to embrace culture and not inappropriately
label individuals because it’s an easy remedy. I agree with the idea of
culturally responsive teaching. As our text states, “culturally responsive
teaching requires that educators understand the sociocultural and historical
contexts that influence their students’ actions.” The three factors that
promote culturally responsive instruction include accommodation, incorporation,
and adaptation. (Jimenez &Graf, 2008) Adopting this style of teaching will
undoubtedly reduce the disproportionate representation in special education.
Kristin,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading about your personal experience with your friend from Puerto Rico. Disproportionate representation often becomes a problem when teachers have a lack of knowledge in the areas of instruction that a student needs. I believe that if a school is going to accept a student with specific needs they need to make sure they have the appropriate resources and teacher knowledge to benefit the student.
How sad that your friend was treated that way growing up! I agree with you that the blame for his issues in reading and writing sound like that they fall on the teachers that he had who made fun of him instead of finding ways to accommodate him in the classroom!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your statement that our focus needs to be on the student's needs and not on the extra work it is for us as educators. I do think we are quick to judge and pawn a challenging student off on someone else just because of a lack of time. It's our job to put in the extra effort, which sadly, a lot of people do not want to do.
ReplyDelete