The article examines how the local contexts of school districts affect teacher’s perceptions of special education and students. The article is useful to practitioners because it gives insight into how teacher’s perceptions may be related to disproportionate outcomes.
Skiba, R.J., Simmons A., and others. “The Context of Minority Disproportionality: Practitioner Perspectives on Special Education Referral”. Teachers College Record. Volume 108, No. 7, 2006: 1424-1459.
The book explores how race is talked about and addressed in practice. The book is important because it challenges practitioners to think about how comfortable they are speaking about race in practice and what the implications of their comfort level can be for students.
Pollock, M. Colormute: Race Talk Dilemmas in an American School. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004.
Offers approaches and activities for enabling educational leaders to gain a personal understanding of what cultural proficiency means in practice; use collaborative activities to effect change in a school; and lead a learning community toward becoming a culturally proficient organization.
Lindsey, Randall, Kikanza Nuri Robins, and Raymond Terrell. 2009. Cultural Proficiency: A Manual for School Leaders, 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Addresses essential elements of becoming culturally responsive and ways in which teachers can implement strategies in their classrooms.
Technical Assistance Center on Disproportionality, New York University (2008).
The article describes ways in which students with disabilities have been perceived in practice. It is useful for practitioners that seek to reflect on commonly held perceptions about race and disability and how these ideas can influence practice.
Harry, B. and Klingner, J. “Discarding the Deficit Model.” Educational Leadership. 64(5), 2007: 16-21.
Highlights some of the common policies, practices, and beliefs that place racial/ethnic minorities and low-income students at risk.
Edward Fergus (2010) NYU Steinhardt Technical Assistance Center on Disproportionality.
This technical assistance manual is used for identifying root causes to assist educators seeking to understand disproportionality as an outcome of policies, practices, and beliefs.
Fergus, E., Ahram, R. Equity in Education—Addressing Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education, Volume 1. Metropolitan Center for Urban Education, NYU Steinhardt, 2009.
This article’s authors described racial and ethnic inequity in educational systems from the vantage point of psychological theory. Practitioners may be interested in this work because it links disparities in education to disparities in society overall. Additionally, the suggested interventions are provided based on established psychological concepts.
Quintana, Stephen M., Mahgoub, L. 2016. “Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Education: Psychology's Role in Understanding and Reducing Disparities.” Theory into Practice. 55 (2): 94-103.
This report focuses on learning experiences in the early years, both through age five and the early grades (K-5). Three key policy areas are identified that strongly influence children's experiences in the classroom: 1. Harsh discipline and its disproportionate application 2. Segregation of children with disabilities in learning settings 3. Inequitable access to bilingual learning opportunities for dual language and English Learners. The report includes learnings and recommendations from their research. Report includes three chapters totaling 140 pages.
Children's Equity Project and the Bipartisan Policy Center. From the Early Years to the Early Grades. Children's Equity Project and the Bipartisan Policy Center.
Developed by NYU, this workbook functions as an additional tool to help determine the institutional and personal contributions to racial inequity in schools.
Kramarczuk Voulgarides, Catherine, and Zwerger, Natalie. n.d. Identifying the Root Causes of Disproportionality. New York University: Metropolitan Center on Equity and the Transformation of Schools.
