Practitioner brief written for parents and teachers of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students; discusses culturally and linguistically responsive prereferral interventions for preventing the disproportionate representation of CLD students in special education.
Shernaz B. García and Alba A. Ortiz (2006) The Equity Alliance at Arizona State University.
Dr. Fergus describes the root cause analysis as essential process in addressing disproportionality. In this article he lists three common root causes that have emerged from his research and work with many local education agencies.
Fergus, Edward. 2022. Remedies for Disproportionality: It’s Time for a Root Cause Analysis. Catapult Learning, https://catapultlearning.com/2022/08/02/remedies-for-disproportionality-its-time-for-a-root-cause-analysis/ (accessed January 30, 2023).
This research article presents the survey results (n=140) and implications for the effective assessment of culturally and linguistically diverse children and adolescents. The results highlight a continued need for training in selecting appropriate assessment instruments.
Vega, Desiré, Jon Lasser, and Amanda F. M. Afifi. 2016. “School Psychologists and the Assessment of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students.” Contemporary School Psychology 20 (3): 218–229.
Due to bias within the education system (including within assessments and academic and other policies), students of color can be misidentified as needing special education, and are then placed in more restrictive settings and experience harsher discipline because of the intersectionality of race and special education. This brief summarizes the literature and latest research on disproportionality in special education and offers changes in policy and practice that can reduce significant disproportionality in schools.
Citation: National Center for Learning Disabilities. 2023. Significant Disproportionality in Special Education: Current Trends and Actions for Impact. Washington, DC: National Center for Learning Disabilities.
This research article provides a brief overview of special education policy within the context of changing student demographics, with a focus on disproportionate identification for special education and inappropriate educational placement for diverse students. The article additionally provides an overview of the Response to Intervention (RTI) model.
Castro-Villarreal, Felicia, Victor Villarreal, and Jeremy R. Sullivan. 2016. “Special Education Policy and Response to Intervention: Identifying Promises and Pitfalls to Advance Social Justice for Diverse Students.” Contemporary School Psychology 20 (1): 10–20.
This article provides practitioners with current data on suspension and expulsion rates in California’s public schools. The authors reflect on systemic barriers to removing inequities in school discipline. Educators may wish to use this article to study evidence-based practices to reduce disproportionate representation of suspensions and expulsions by race and ethnicity.
EdSource: Highlighting Strategies for Student Success. 2017. Suspension, Expulsion Rates Fall Sharply in California, but Racial and Ethnic Disparities Remain. https://edsource.org/2017/suspension-expulsion-rates-fall-sharply-in-california-public-schools-but-racial-disparities-remain/589722 (accessed April 4, 2018).
The Innovations in Equity and Systemic Change (IESC) at NYU Metro Center (Previously TAC-D) provides professional development, technical assistance, and consultancy to educational institutions in general and special education. The IESC’s mission is to disrupt, dismantle, and eliminate disproportionality by building the capacity of educators to implement Culturally Responsive Sustainable Equity-Based Systems that meet the needs of all students and families.
Innovations in Equity and Systemic Change | NYU Steinhardt. Steinhardt.nyu.edu, steinhardt.nyu.edu/metrocenter/iesc. Accessed 9 Mar. 2023.
The authors examined stakeholders responses to a number of citations on racial disparities. The authors discuss how a number of factors shape disability and discipline racial disparities in the district.The aftermath of disproportionality citations: Situating disability-race intersections in historical, spatial, and sociocultural contexts.
Tefera, A. A., Artiles, A. J., Kramarczuk Voulgarides, C., Aylward, A., & Alvarado, S. (2023). The aftermath of disproportionality citations: Situating disability-race intersections in historical, spatial, and sociocultural contexts. American Educational Research Journal, 00028312221147007.
The authors present a comprehnsive analytic framework for examining school discipline patterns in New York City Schools. The authors used school level metrics and ascertained that Black students received the most suspensions and received suspensions at a different rate for the same infractions as their peers.
Rodriguez, L. A., & Welsh, R. O. (2022). The Dimensions of School Discipline: Toward a Comprehensive Framework for Measuring Discipline Patterns and Outcomes in Schools. AERA Open, 8(1).
This article discusses the overrepresentation of Latinx students in special education. It discusses the root causes of significant disproportionality for Latinx students, pre-referral process and data collection, deficit oriented perspectives and building relationships with student and families.
Lueimo, P., Bindreiff, D. 2021. The disproportionality of Latinx students in Special Education: The growing need to build relationships. Leadership Magazine. Sacramento, California: Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) https://leadership.acsa.org/jan-feb-2021
