D ISPROPORTIONATE R EPRESENTATION IN Special Education

S PECIAL E DUCATION Principals can influence identification, assessment, placement, and intervention to prevent disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically diverse students. D ISPROPORTIONATE R EPRESENTATION IN Special Education BY FESTUS E. OBIAKOR AND LYNN K. WILDER PHOTO BY PHOTODISC Culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students are frequently misidentified, misassessed, miscategorized, misplaced, and misinstructed (Obiakor, 2001; Obiakor & Ford, 2002; Utley & Obiakor, 2001). For example, Black students are overrepresented in programs for students with emotional disturbance, developmental delay, and mental retardation, and a disproportionate percentage of Black, American Indian, and Hispanic students are placed in programs for students with learning disabilities (U.S. Department of Education, 2000). These students are also commonly underrepresented in programs for gifted and talented students (Patton, 1997). Fundamental Principles Special education is the provision of services different from those provided in general education programming to maximize the potential of exceptional learners (Obiakor, Utley, & Rotatori, 2003). Administrators have specific responsibilities for students who qualify for special education services, especially in the systematic modification of services for all learners. This article urges practitioners to revise how they view the teaching/learning process for students who learn, look, and act differently (Obiakor, 2001, 2003). Festus E. Obiakor (fobiakor@ uwm.edu) is a professor in the Department of Exceptional Education at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Lynn K. Wilder (lynn_wilder@byu.edu) is an assistant professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology and Special Education at Brigham Young University. OCTOBER 2003 17

S PECIAL E DUCATION Multidisciplinary Teams The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires teamwork, beginning with the pre-referral process. Losen (2002) suggested that principals take pre-referral intervention seriously to stem the flow of inappropriate special education referrals for CLD students. During pre-referral, a teacher assistance team meets to discuss a general educator s concerns about a student and to suggest strategies that he or she must implement within the general classroom before a student can be considered for referral for special education services (see Losen, 2002). Parents, principals, and other professionals should be invited to attend when their input is important. Keeping track of pre-referral success rates, including data on race and ethnicity, will inform principals about whether classroom interventions are culturally sensitive and effective for CLD students (see Losen, 2002). Of course, if a student is a member of a minority group, it is helpful to include an individual who is knowledgeable about his or her culture and language on this team. For example, if the student has a primary language other than English, team members should consider cultural and environmental factors, such as the number of years the student has lived in the United States and attended school in the district, the student s dominant language and the dominant language at home, the student s conversational and academic language proficiencies in his or her native language and in English, and the manner and length of past services (Baca & Cervantes, 1998). It is not unusual for a student to spend five to seven years learning English when he or she first arrives in the United States; both conversational and academic language must be competent for school success (Winzer & Mazurek, 1998). Language differences may appear to be communication disorders, such as language delays or deficiencies. Speech and language therapists and bilingual specialists should be included on the multidisciplinary team when determining whether the student is exhibiting communication disorders or language differences. The documentation of two failed interventions must accompany the pre-referral paperwork before a special education assessment can occur. Baca and Cervantes (1998) and Ortiz and Yates (2003) recommend going through the pre-referral process before referring a bilingual student for a special education assessment, unless the disability is an obvious one. Guesswork must be avoided! Parental Safeguards and Involvement Another tenet of IDEA that may reduce disproportionate placement and improve a CLD student s chances of school success is the mandate to include parents in the entire IEP process (Dyches, Wilder, & Obiakor, 2001; Ortiz & Yates, 2003). During pre-referral, an effective teacher will inform a parent of his or her concerns about the student s difficulties and may invite the parent to participate in the pre-referral process. This is polite practice that buttresses collaboration and consultation. Artiles, Aguirre-Munoz, and Abedi (1998) examined data from the National Education Longitudinal Study and recommended that pre-referral interventions help parents develop study and work structures for their children. Early parental involvement may avert the need for illusory expectations and special education services. It is important for school personnel to have realistic expectation of parents and be sensitive to their challenges, particularly the heavy burdens of single parenting (Wilder, 2002). To successfully empower parents in decision-making processes and early interventions, educators must treat them with respect. For parents who do not speak English, effective communication can take place through a translator. Written forms must be made available in the student s native language (Ortiz & Yates, 2003). After the pre-referral process is complete, the next step is completing a referral form that requests a formal assessment of eligibility for special education services (Hardman, Drew, & Egan, 1999). Although the general educator usually completes this form, parents may also initiate the special education assessment process. Under all circumstances, parents signatures are mandatory. In many cases, obtaining parental permission requires school personnel to establish positive relationships within the cultural community and the individual family before the student s school problems manifest themselves. Posting school signs in English and in the language of the local community, inviting parents to share their culture with classes, and serving or volunteering on advisory committees are signs that administrators and teachers welcome the parents of CLD students. Once a CLD student qualifies for special education, IDEA s procedural safeguards ensure that parents are equal participants in the special education process. These safeguards notice and consent, independent educational evaluation, the appointment of a surrogate parent, mediation, and due process hearings are positive steps in the decision-making process. It is in the student s best interest to ensure that parents, regardless of socioeconomic status and cultural or linguistic back- 18 P RINCIPAL L EADERSHIP

Removing students from the general education classes is rarely justified, regardless of the severity of the disability or how the student s behavior affects others. grounds, fully understand procedural safeguards (Obiakor, 2001; Utley & Obiakor, 2001). Cooper and Rascon (1994) define informed consent as school personnel s responsibility to ensure that all parents understand the school s special education services. When parents are empowered, overrepresentation is less likely to occur (Obiakor, Utley, Smith, & Harris- Obiakor, 2002). Parents of CLD students may exercise their legal options if they feel that school personnel ignore their child s problems. It is imperative that principals and teachers explore their personal cultural biases and attitudes in working with parents of CLD students because they can be detrimental to the collaborative process (Obiakor, 2003; Thorp, 1997). Nondiscriminatory Assessment Nondiscriminatory assessment is one tenet of IDEA that continues to haunt school personnel who work with CLD students. Diagnosticians, school psychologists, special and general educators, speech and language pathologists, and other related services personnel should be alert when assessing students attributes, strengths, and weaknesses. Special education assessment leads CLD students to be overidentified and placed into special education when the real problem may be differences in culture or language, not disabilities (Winzer & Mazurek, 1998). IDEA requires that students be assessed in their dominant language. Establishing which language is dominant is sometimes difficult; a student may be tested in his or her native language and in English. Sometimes, a student s dominant conversational language differs from his or her dominant academic language. The academic language is the one that more accurately reflects the student s ability to succeed in school tasks (Baca & Cervantes, 1998; Ortiz & Yates, 2003). However, diagnosticians and related professionals must be aware that tests contain items that are more familiar PHOTO BY MARK FINKENSTAEDT to students in one culture than another and check the reliability and validity ratings for the instruments they intend to use for CLD students (Vacha-Haase, 1998). Assessment information gathered from behavioral checklists, observations, and student and parent interviews are subject to interviewer bias; teams that make educational decisions must consider this possibility. Gathering different kinds of information (e.g., student work samples and assessments) from different sources is best practice in culturally sensitive assessment (Obiakor, 2001). Using one person or one test score to make special education eligibility decisions is an inappropriate and illegal practice (IDEA, 1997). Free and Appropriate Education in the Least Restrictive Environment IDEA has mandated that students with disabilities be educated in the least restrictive environment that is, in the general education classroom with nondisabled peers to the maximum extent possible. They may be educated outside the general education classroom only when multiple interventions within the general classroom have been tried for extended periods of time and have failed (Bateman & Bateman, 2002). Removing students from the general education classroom is rarely justified, regardless of the severity of the disability or how the student s behavior affects others (Lipsky & Gartner, 1999). Sometimes CLD students are removed from classes because they talk, look, and act differently (Obiakor, 2001, 2003). Isolating a student from his or her same-age, nondisabled peers is of great concern. Educational outcomes improve among minority youth when educators modify their practices accordingly (Wilder, Jackson, & Smith, 2001). Individualized Education Programs If a student has an identified disability, then the OCTOBER 2003 19

S PECIAL E DUCATION student s culture and language must be considered by the IEP team (Obiakor, 2001; Wilder et al., 2001). The team must determine the type of language instruction the student needs, if any; who will deliver it; and where it will be delivered. Because there is a shortage of 25 35,000 bilingual special educators nationwide (Winzer & Mazurek, 1998), bilingual education specialists and special educators can collaborate to meet the language instruction needs of CLD students. A CLD student with a disability may be served primarily in a special education classroom with English language pullout services or may be served in a general education classroom where the teacher is bilingual and with special education support services. Several options are workable, depending on the student s needs and ability to acquire a second language (Ortiz & Yates, 2003). Sometimes language is not an issue but culture is. For example, if an ethnically diverse student with an emotional disability is involved in a gang, the culture of this gang will clash with the culture of the school and the student is likely to be disciplined and unsuccessful in school unless a social worker or organized gang prevention or removal program is employed on the student s behalf. In addition, poverty may impede a student s educational progress if the student lacks school supplies or access to technology, and it can negatively affect the life of any student, regardless of race or ethnicity (Hodgkinson, 1995). However, there are myths of socioeconomic dissonance. Not all students from low socioeconomic backgrounds perform lower than other students in academic achievement. These students may need access to productive after-school activities such as clubs, sport teams, community centers, religious organizations, and service-learning opportunities. These activities may serve as protective factors to occupy students after school and as opportunities to exercise and practice prosocial behaviors. IEP teams should connect students and parents to available resources within and outside the school in an effort to combat the negative effects associated with low socioeconomic status (Wilder & Obiakor, 2003). From time to time, the culture taught at home and the culture valued at school are in conflict. Principals and their IEP teams must be aware of conflicts between the student s home teachings and those of the school s and include social skills goals deemed appropriate in the culture of the school and the work environment (if the student is in secondary school) into the IEP. For example, Hispanic students tend to be more comfortable with a cooperative interaction style than with the more prevalent competitive style of classroom interactions (Carraquillo, 1991). They may feel more comfortable than others with close physical contact and frequent emotional expressions, and some may interpret a lack of such contact from the teacher as rejection (Lynch & Hanson, 1992). Further, some CLD students are culturally taught to Principals and avoid eye contact with adults other school as a sign of respect; this is sometimes problematic for personnel mainstream teachers and principals. Some of these students must be aware may also have learned a relaxed concept of time. This of cultural factors that puts them at a disadvantage in classrooms where on-time behavior is greatly valued, and impinge upon learning. thus reinforced, and a relaxed concept of time is punished. This variable may also affect a CLD student s performance on assessments because many standardized tests have time limits (Hamayan & Domico, 1991). Principals and other school personnel must be aware of cultural factors that impinge upon learning and infuse culturally sensitive programming into IEPs. Their goal must be to educate all learners (Obiakor, Grant, & Dooley, 2002). As a result, they should employ multidisciplinary teams that include parents in nondiscriminatory assessment and decision-making. Conclusion Principals are important in providing appropriate educational programming for exceptional students, especially those who are at risk for disproportionate representation in special education settings. Principals have important roles to play to ensure that all students, regardless of disability, language differences, race, ethnicity, religion, family status, or socioeconomic status are properly identified, assessed, classified, placed, and instructed. Most important, each student should be treated with respect and have the opportunity to reach his or her maximum potential, regardless of cultural and linguistic differences. Such practice improves the outcomes of CLD students with exceptionalities and reduces their disproportionate representation in special education settings. PL 20 P RINCIPAL L EADERSHIP

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