Addressing the Impact of Language, Socioeconomics, Race & Ethnicity in Special

Education Eligibility

Professional Learning CommunityIngham Intermediate School District

May 4, 2015

Agenda

Overview of Disproportionality and Bias in Special Education• What is it?• What does it matter?• How does it play out… nationally… in Ingham County?

What can we do about it?• The view from our discipline and looking through each other’s

lenses• In the moment and in the ‘big picture’

Let’s get calibrated!

Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD)

Over-representation in special education occurs when a group’s membership in the program is larger than the percentage of that group in the educational system or within a given disability category (e.g., learning disability, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, etc.).

Let’s get calibrated!

Under-representation occurs if a particular population or demographic group in gifted education programs is low relative to the presence of this group in the overall student population (National Association for Bilingual Education, 2002).

Such population variance is rarely justifiable and is always cause for concern.

Equal, but…

Equal, but… inequitable

Why is disproportionality a concern?

Labeling students as disabled when they really are not leads to unwarranted services and supports.

Misidentified students are likely to encounter limited access to a rigorous curriculum and diminished expectations.

And, more importantly…

Why is disproportionality a concern?

Mislabeling students creates a false impression of the child’sintelligence and academic potential. Here’s why:

• Once in, they tend to remain in special education classes (Harry & Klingner, 2006).

• Likely to encounter a limited, less rigorous curriculum (Harry & Klingner, 2006).• Lower expectations can lead to diminished academic and post-secondary opportunities (National Research

Council, 2002; Harry & Klingner, 2006).

• Can have less access to academically able peers (Donovan & Cross, 2002).

• Often stigmatized socially (National Research Council, 2002).

• Disproportionality can contribute to significant racial separation (Harry & Klingner, 2006; Losen & Orfield, 2002).

Why is disproportionality a concern?

Any other reasons?

Let’s get calibrated!

Disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students in special education programs has been a national concern for nearly four decades.

Since the U.S. Office of Civil Rights first started to sample school districts in 1968, African American students have been overrepresented in special education programs, particularly under the categories of mental retardation and emotional disturbance (Artiles, Trent, & Palmer, 2004; Gamm, 2007).

Let’s get calibrated!

• National, state, and district level over-identification of CLD students as disabled or under-identification as gifted and/or talented; • Higher incidence rates for certain CLD populations in specific special

education categories, such as mental retardation or emotional disturbance;• Significant differences in the proportion of CLD students who are

receiving special education services in more restrictive or segregated programs;• Excessive incidence, duration, and types of disciplinary actions,

including suspensions and expulsions, experienced by CLD students.

Native American/Alaska Native children are more likely to receive special education services than the general population with a risk ratio of 1.35 (U.S. Department of Education, 2006).

English Language Learners (ELL):• overrepresented in school districts with

small ELL populations—almost 16 percent of ELL students receive special education in these districts

• under-represented in school districts with ELL populations of 100 or more—about 9 percent of ELL students receive special education services in these districts.

• Asian/Pacific Islanders are overrepresented in gifted and talented programs (Cartledge, Tam, Loe, Miranda, Lambert, Kea, & Simmons-Reed, 2002).• Asian/Pacific Islander students are

actually less likely to be identified for special education services than other CLD populations (NABE, 2002).

• Nearly 75 percent of students with specific learning disabilities are male.• Seventy-six percent of students

receiving special education services under the category of emotionally disturbed are male.

Black males who are viewed as having “challenging” behaviors are referred more often for special education programs serving children with emotional disabilities.

Interestingly, according to Losen and Orfield (2002),Black male students are more apt to receive special education services under the mental retardation category as their families’ income levels rise.

In addition, the U.S. Department of Education (2006) reports that Black students are:• labeled emotionally disturbed at almost twice the rate of their White peers;• over twice as likely to receive special education services for serious emotional disturbance as

other CLD groups;• three times as likely to receive services for mental retardation as White students.

• 55% of White students with disabilities spend 80 %of their school day in general education classrooms.• Only 33% of Black students with

disabilities spend 80 %of their day in general education classrooms.

• CLD students have higher rates of office referrals, suspensions and expulsions from school (Cartledge, et al., 2002).

• Low income Black males receiving special education services have the highest suspension rates of any subgroup (Skiba, et al., 2003).

• Black males are more likely to receive more severe punishment than White students do for the same type of behavior (Cartledge, et al., 2002).

What about us?Asian/Pacific Islander students are actually less likely to be identified for special education services than other CLD populations (NABE, 2002).

African American students were:• 2.9 times as likely as white students to be labeled

mentally retarded.• 1.9 times as likely to be labeled emotionally disturbed.• 1.3 times as likely to be labeled as having a learning

disability.

Hispanics are under-identified within certain disability categories compared to their White peers (U.S. Department of Education, 2006).

White Asian-American African-American Hispanic Multi-Racial0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

68%

3%

13%

4%

8%

73%

6%9%

2%

7%

Special Ed. by Ethnicity

SpecEd Only County

What about us?

English Language Learners (ELL):• overrepresented in school districts with small ELL

populations—almost 16 percent of ELL students receive special education in these districts

• under-represented in school districts with ELL populations of 100 or more—about 9 percent of ELL students receive special education services in these districts.

English Speaker Non-English0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

94%

6%

93%

7%

Special Ed. by English Proficiency

SpecEd Only County

What about us?

What do we do with SES?

What other corollary factors influence this outcome…• validly• with implicit bias?

Low SES Avg SES0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

53%

47%

38%

62%

Special Ed. by Socio-Economic Status

SpecEd Only County

Risk Index

Risk Index: The proportion of a group that is at risk for a particular outcome.

Number of African American Students Receiving One or More ODRs

Risk Index = ------------------------------------------------------------------ Total Number of enrolled students who are African American

Difficult to interpret in the absence of a comparison group.

Boneshefski & Runge (2014)

Low SE

S

Avg SE

S

Engli

sh

Engli

sh Sp

eake

r

Non-Engli

sh

Ethnici

tyW

hite

Asian-Ameri

can

African

-America

n

Hispan

ic

Multi-Racial

0.000

0.020

0.040

0.060

0.080

0.100

0.120

0.140

0.160

0.180

0.200

0.135

0.072

0.096 0.093 0.090

0.044

0.140

0.188

0.105

Special Education Risk Index/Ratio

Start with the Why?

Risk Ratio: The relative risk of a target group compared with the risk of a comparison group

Risk Index of African American Students Receiving One or More ODRs

Risk Ratio= ------------------------------------------------------------------Risk Index of Caucasian Students Receiving One or More ODRs

A Risk Ratio of 1.0 indicates that the two groups are proportional. Overrepresentation is indicated by a risk ratio greater than 1.0.

Boneshefski & Runge (2014)

Low SE

S

Avg SE

S

Engli

sh

Engli

sh Sp

eake

r

Non-Engli

sh

Ethnici

tyW

hite

Asian-Ameri

can

African

-America

n

Hispan

ic

Multi-Racial

0.000

0.020

0.040

0.060

0.080

0.100

0.120

0.140

0.160

0.180

0.200

0.135

0.072

0.096 0.093 0.090

0.044

0.140

0.188

0.105

Special Education Risk Index/Ratio

0.97

0.49

1.56

2.09

1.17

1.88

Early Warning Signs

Attendance: 90% at school/class

Behavior: 1 suspension of any kind; 6 office referrals

Course Performance: at benchmark, accruing credits, Algebra 1, ELA9

- 4.9%

+ 11.4%

+ 12.3%

+ 23.4%

Take a second to digest that?

What factors are contributing to this?

What factors are contributing to this?Language: Academic Language, LiteracyEarly Childhood Opportunities and Early InterventionEffectiveness of MTSS SupportsCulturally-Responsive PBIS (School Culture and Climate)Culturally-Responsive TeachingCulturally-Responsive Assessment

1

3

24

Psychs

SLP/TSLI

SSWQuality early childhood opportunitiesResponse to interventionParent/family and community partnerships

Academic language proficiencyEarly Intervening servicesCulturally responsive assessment

Vulnerable Decision Points

Vulnerable Decision Points

Vulnerable Decision Points

Vulnerable Decision Points

Vulnerable Decision Points

Outcome

Vulnerable Decision Points

Vulnerable Decision Points

Culturally-Responsive Instruction

Use Effective Instruction to Reduce the Achievement Gap

CRPBIS

CRPBIS• Grounded in the basic tenants of

PBIS: outcomes, e-b practices, data, systems change• Remediates a school culture from the

inside out; contextually valid solutions from the ground up• Requires committed involvement of• Teachers• Families• Students• (Community)

CRPBISCRPBIS Learning Labs• Intentional recruitment of school staff, students,

families, community members• Collective critical reflection and action informed by

specific daily tensions and systemic issues• Takes “culturally-neutral” PBIS to culturally-responsive

to address the strengths and needs of the historically marginalized• Multiple labs per year; group processes

CRPBISDetermining Desired Outcome of CRPBIS • Universal supports (expectations, rewards,

consequences) are clearly defined and more socially-relevant and ecologically valid.

e.g., Be Respectful

• Diversity is valued and drawn upon to as learning resources

• Behavioral success and social agency

CRPBISUnderstanding Cultural Mediation and Implementing Culturally Responsive Research- Based Practices

• Teacher-student-family relationships • Culturally responsive pedagogies:

Democratic Collaborative LearningReciprocal Curricular Content

• Extra-curricular experiences

CRPBISUsing Data for Continuous Improvement and Innovation

• Disaggregated data from the usual sources – academic and behavioral

• Interactive data mapping: looking beyond; looking for intersections between individuals and infrastructure

CRPBISOngoing Systematic Change

• Affect policies that can be shown to systematize a balance of regime and power• Race• Class• Age• Ability• Language• Relationships• Historical privilege

Where to we go from here?

Behavior and Growth Mindset

https://youtu.be/g08JVTtSWhs

Restorative Practices

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxa-4RPDXSs

Trauma-Informed Schools

http://traumaawareschools.org/articles/view/9563

Check and Connect

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=158&v=3_-AFbDLn9c