School districts aim to create equitable learning environments that reflect the diversity of their students, staff, and community, including those with disabilities. This research brief examines two processes that frequently lead to disproportionality—special education identification and disciplinary referrals for special education students. These processes have significant academic and behavioral impacts on students, and understanding them is crucial for school districts working to eliminate disproportionality.
To achieve more equitable outcomes, special education identification processes should avoid racially, culturally, or sexually discriminatory methods. If an analysis of classification data and risk ratios indicates disproportionality, districts should establish a stakeholder group to perform a root cause analysis, develop an improvement plan, and create a blueprint for implementation and evaluation. To address disciplinary disproportionality, the U.S. ED's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) advises districts to:
Establish clear priorities.
Confront explicit bias.
Eliminate practices leading to inequitable outcomes.
Implement evidence-based interventions.
Additionally, OSEP recommends that policies include seven key elements:
Specific Commitment to Equity
Family Partnerships in Policy Development
Focus on Implementing Positive, Proactive Behavior Support Practices
Clear Objective Discipline Procedures
Removal or Reduction of Exclusionary Practices
Graduated Discipline Systems with Instructional Alternatives to Exclusion
Procedures with Accountability for Equitable Student Outcomes
Citation: Hanover Research. 2018. “Best Practices in Addressing Disproportionality for Students with Disabilities.” https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/bxs72tmqck7zkcw79iov4/Best-Practices-Georgia.pdf?rlkey=ciz1ja0u09x53u4wqyj6dx3lz&st=n0cp1wtj&dl=0 (accessed, June 14, 2024).
This report examines compliance with federal laws designed to protect students of color with disabilities from discrimination, and whether the federal government’s enforcement of these laws adequately protects these students from discriminatory disciplinary actions and policies.
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. 2019. Beyond Suspensions: Examining School Discipline Policies and Connections to the School-to-Prison Pipeline for Students of Color with Disabilities. Washington, DC: Author.
This audio recording features a group of educational leaders discussing assessment biases issues in special education.
Romney, Lee. 2019. Black Families and Special Education. Conference Audio Recording. California Association of School Psychologists.
This website supports innovation and implementation of equitable learning environments that are grounded in research and the science of learning and development. The BELE Framework is a guide for transforming student experiences and outcomes, integrating across learning experiences, teaching and learning, schoolwide systems and structures, family, caregiver, and community partnerships, and district and state policies.
Building Equitable Learning Environments Network. https://belenetwork.org/. Website accessed June 14, 2021.
This resource from Culture Abilities Resilience Effort (C.A.R.E.) provides recommendations for incorporating research on racial and ethnic disparities in education to everyday practice.
National Education Association. 2003. C.A.R.E.: Strategies for Closing the Achievement Gap. Washington, DC.
Using California Healthy Kids Survey data the analysis found that students who had larger exposure to restorative practices saw less exposure to exclusionary practices saw less exposer to exclusionary discipline, smaller racial disparities in discipline, and improved academic achievement.
Darling-Hammond, Sean, Lauren Trout, Trevor Fronius, & Rebeca Cerna. 2021. Can restorative practices bridge racial disparities in schools? Evidence from the California Healthy Kids Survey. WestEd https://www.wested.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Restorative-Practices-Bridging-Racial-Disparity-Research-Brief-3.pdf (accessed January 30, 2023).
This research article addresses the need to consider more deeply the contributions of applied behavior analysis assessment and intervention methods and to more clearly distinguish the influence of race/ethnicity from the influence of culture in school settings, all to avoid the pernicious effects of exclusionary disciplinary practices (e.g., expulsion and suspension)..
Sprague, Jeffrey R. 2018. “Closing in on Discipline Disproportionality: We Need More Theoretical, Methodological, and Procedural Clarity.” School Psychology Review 47 (2): 196–198.
The book explores the plethora of research surrounding the achievement gap in America. It is useful for practitioners because it highlights the work of schools and districts that have reduced the gap.
Noguera, P. and W. Boykin. Closing the Achievement Gap: From Research to Practice. Washington, D.C.: ASCD, 2011.
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 study provides an overview of trends and issues in both underrepresentation and overrepresentation of English learners in special education. Contributing factors for variability, as well as recommendations for future research and improved practice are provided.
Counts, Jennifer, Antonis Katsiyannis, and Denise K. Whitford. 2018. “Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners in Special Education: English Learners.” NASSP Bulletin 102 (1): 5–21.
