The article surveys existing research on disproportionality and outlines three common perspectives used to explain the issue. It is useful for practitioners because it shows how experts have tried to understand factors associated with disproportionality.
Waitoller, F. R., Artiles, A. J., and Cheney, D. "The Miners’ canary: A Review of Overrepresentation Research and Explanations." Journal of Special Education, 44(1), 2010:29-49
This research study shows how African American students were seven times and Native American and Latino students were two times more likely to receive exclusionary discipline in the state of Wisconsin.
Bal, Aydin, Jennifer Betters-Bubon, and Rachel E. Fish. 2019. “A Multilevel Analysis of Statewide Disproportionality in Exclusionary Discipline and the Identification of Emotional Disturbance.” Education and Urban Society 51 (2): 247–268.
The article is comprehensive in both its scope and depth in explaining disproportionality. It clearly lays out what research has said about the issue since the 1960’s and offers a thorough snapshot of current understandings of inequities in special education.
Skiba, R. J., Simmons, A. D., and others. “Achieving Equity in Special Education: History, Status, and Current Challenges.” Exceptional Children. Vol. 74, No. 3, 2008: 264-288.
This article discusses the moral and ethical issues of disproportionate disciplinary practices in schools (exclusion, special education identification, and restrictive educational placement) and provides ways schools can begin to address or prevent this kind of disproportionality.
Green, Ambra L., Daniel R. Cohen, and Melissa Stormont. 2019. “Addressing and Preventing Disproportionality in Exclusionary Discipline Practices for Students of Color With Disabilities.” Intervention in School and Clinic 54 (4): 241–245.
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 research study presents an overview of literature related to school- and teacher-based factors that contribute to issues of disproportionality related to social-emotional challenges and emotional disturbance. It concludes with the recommendation for an integrated framework of culturally responsive practice and social-emotional learning as an approach to target these factors.
Sciuchetti, Maria B. 2017. “Addressing Inequity in Special Education: An Integrated Framework for Culturally Responsive Social Emotional Practice.” Psychology in the Schools 54 (10): 1245–1251.
This resource is a position statement and recommendations for achieving equity in early childhood education. The statement is one of five foundational documents NAEYC has developed in collaboration with the early childhood profession.
National Association for the Education of Young Children. 2019. Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education. Washington, DC: Author.
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 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.
