This study compared students identified as at-risk to those presently receiving special education services within a nationally representative sample of 4,946 children. The study sought to address disproportionate representation at the referral stage of the identification process, particularly for those students at risk for a behavioral or emotional difficulty.
Dever, Bridget, Tara Raines, Erin Dowdy, and Cody Hostutler. 2016. “Addressing Disproportionality in Special Education Using a Universal Screening Approach.” The Journal of Negro Education 85 (1): 59–71.
This study compared students identified as at-risk to those presently receiving special education services within a nationally representative sample of 4,946 children. The study sought to address disproportionate representation at the referral stage of the identification process, particularly for those students at risk for a behavioral or emotional difficulty.
Dever, Bridget, Tara Raines, Erin Dowdy, and Cody Hostutler. 2016. “Addressing Disproportionality in Special Education Using a Universal Screening Approach.” The Journal of Negro Education 85 (1): 59–71.
This article examines the ways in which current studies analyze disproportionality through statistical methods, and compares those analyses based on the conceptualization of covariates.
Cruz, Rebecca, and Janelle Rodl. 2018. “An Integrative Synthesis of Literature on Disproportionality in Special Education.” The Journal of Special Education 52 (1); 50–63.
This article examines the ways in which current studies analyze disproportionality through statistical methods, and compares those analyses based on the conceptualization of covariates.
This controversial research article argues that the research does not provide empirical evidence of overrepresentation in special education for Black students. Instead, it argues that Black children are underidentified for special education.
Morgan, Paul, George Farkas, Michael Cook, Natasha Strassfeld, Marianne Hillemeier, Wik Hung Pun, and Deborah Schussler. 2017. “Are Black Children Disproportionately Overrepresented in Special Education? A Best-Evidence Synthesis.” Exceptional Children 83 (2): 181–198.
This controversial research article argues that research does not provide empirical evidence of overrepresentation in special education for Hispanic, Asian, and Native American students. Instead, it argues that children are underidentified for special education.
Morgan, Paul, George Farkas, Michael Cook, Natasha Strassfeld, Marianne Hillemeier, Wik Hung Pun, Yangyang Wang, and Deborah Schussler. 2018. “Are Hispanic, Asian, Native American, or Language-Minority Children Overrepresented in Special Education?” Exceptional Children 84 (3): 261–279.
This research article reviews recent evidence in disproportionality research and discusses methodological issues raised in the literature.
Anastasiou, Dimitris, and James M. Kauffman. 2019. “Cultural Politics, Ideology, and Methodology in Disproportionality Research: A Rejoinder.” Journal of Disability Policy Studies 30 (2): 105–110.
This research article demonstrates that racial/ethnic disparities continue to exist for minoritized communities, noting that White students were overrepresented as having autism in special education. Caregiver perspectives were gathered and the data showed that English speaking parents were more likely to identify early signs of autism.
Paul Luelmo, Hall, Laura J., and Estrellado, R. 2022. Examination of Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality of Autism in California.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1750946722000885 (accessed September 16, 2022).
This study examines how student and school-level socioeconomic status (SES) measures predict students’ odds of being identified for special education, particularly for high-incidence disabilities.
Kincaid, Alesksis P., and Amanda L. Sullivan. 2017. “Parsing the Relations of Race and Socioeconomic Status in Special Education Disproportionality.” Remedial and Special Education 38 (3): 159–170.
This article examines how perceptions of race have influenced the effectiveness of response to intervention (RTI) in addressing achievement disparities, past and present.
Willis, Arlette Ingram. (2019). “Race, Response to Intervention, and Reading Research.” Journal of Literacy Research 51 (4): 394–419.
