Research Proposal on "Special Education Programs Minorities Overrepresentation"

Research Proposal 19 pages (15814 words) Sources: 17 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. IDEA is a comprehensive Federal statute, which entitles each student with a disability to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to meet his or her unique needs. 20 U.S.C. 1400 et. seq.

Learning Disabilities. These disabilities are another controversial category because of their subjective nature. These again are neurodevelopmental disorders that impact a student's ability to learn and focus on educational content (Environmental Protection Agency 2011). It is estimated that these types of disabilities affect over 12% of children in the United States under the age of 18.

Mental Retardation. Mental retardation is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is "associated primarily with the functioning of the neurological system and brain" (Environmental Protection Agency 2011 p 2). This is primarily a disorder that has a number of causes, including physical trauma at an early age, genetic conditions, and environmental toxins (Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2007).

Minority. The term minority is something of an obtuse way of describing the populations targeted by the proposed study. However, for the purposes of efficiency, the concept paper and subsequent research will use this term to describe groups that are impacted both by economic disadvantage and by cultural otherness relative to predominant white, English-speaking cultures. This strategy is informed by Blanchett (2009), which focuses on "African-American and other students of color, poor students, students with disabilities, students in urban settings, and students affected by all of these factors and issues." (Blanchett, p. 370) Excluding the antecedent of disability, the terminology here provides a good working definition for 'minority' in the context of the present research.

Multicultural Education. Multicultural education encompasses theories and practices that strive to promote equitable access and rigorous academic achievement for students from all diverse groups, so that they can work toward social change. As a process of educational reform in PK-12 schools, higher education, and increasingly in out-of-school contexts, multicultural education challenges oppression and bias of all forms, and acknowledges and affirms the multiple identities that students bring to their learning (U.S. Department of Education, 2001).

No Child Left Behind Act. The Act requires states to develop assessments in basic skills. To receive federal school funding, states must give these assessments to all students at select grade levels. The Act does not assert a national achievement standard. Each individual state develops its own standards. NCLB expanded the federal role in public education through annual testing, annual academic progress, report cards, teacher qualifications, and funding changes (U.S. Department of Education, 2001).

Special Education. Outside the body of the present research, Special Education refers to a specific educational track provided for individuals with disabilities and special needs. Within the scope of the present research, this definition applies but also extends to include certain sociological implications relating to placement in the Special Education tract. According to the text by Cartledge & Dukes (2009), "the special education label suggests that there is some disorder within the child and, accordingly, a need for more resources such as specialized instruction and other therapeutic interventions." (Cartledge & Dukes, p. 383)

Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework, which will define this study, is that of multiculturalism, which stresses the need to treat children in a manner, which is sensitive to their individualized needs (Kim & Mason 2015). It also emphasizes how cultural misinterpretations can create different perceptions of students' relative abilities and disabilities (Kim & Mason 2015). Multicultural theories of educational research note how actual student abilities, sociocultural and socioeconomic factors affect teacher perceptions of students. Although this concept is relatively well established, NCLB and IDEA regulations have changed the dynamic of how multicultural understandings have been integrated into special education and the quantification of school success. The provisions of IDEA, while noble in their intent, have often been derided as toothless measures that are unenforceable, and this report attempts to quantify their effect on mitigating disproportional placement of minority students in special education (Beratan, 2008). For example, educators, parents and students must examine their own culture and life experiences, as some may be bicultural, born of one culture and living in another. Researchers Martin and Baldwin (2012) have determined that there is further need to explore the implications of their background culture, and be aware of their belief systems towards other cultures. Research also has identified that a disproportionate representation of high incidence students in special education is due to inappropriate diagnosis (Artiles & Bal, 2008). Exposure to other cultures may help educators' to realize their own ethnocentricity. Martin and Baldwin (2012) noted that decisions of special education referral evolve from the educators' attitudes and core beliefs.

The emotional impact of the referral process and how this can be assessed in a qualitative fashion, based upon the narrative input of children and other significant parties, will be the focus of the study. This Multi-perspectival analysis of the special education processes incorporated into this study may or may not contest current practices by decision makers however it will bring about awareness of multicultural influences which effect minority high incidence populations. Ultimately, the goal of multicultural perspectives in special education is to contribute to the transformation of society and to the application and maintenance of social justice and equity (Anyon, 2009).

Brief Review of Literature

Special education literature indicates that the problem of over-representation of minority children is increasing in U.S., and that few effective interventions appear to be adopted by education systems. The students of the minority communities are continuously over-represented in many of the schools across the entire nation (American Institutes for Research, 2015). Consider an example, wherein the African-American students comprise of 16% of the total student population, and still these students are provided with 33% of the total seats in special education programs. Similar cases have been observed for the Latinos and other minority communities.

Consider another example, wherein the students of minority ethnicity backgrounds are provided with special education classes as per the government instructions. These students no doubt lag behind from the socio-cultural and economic perspective. Hence, by providing proper and special education these students are presumed to be able to achieve a good career status equal to that of any white students in U.S. (Grant, 2003).

However, state and federal mandated reviews of school and program enrollment shows that even when 13% of enrolled students are members of minority communities, the actual representation in special education is roughly 30-35%. On the other hand, the other groups of students are under-represented in such processes. There could be several concerns leading to such issues. As per one of the research it has been found by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) that, such disproportionate representation will lead to unwanted outcomes (Jimenez, 2001). The students are provided with special education services; however, these students do not actually need them. In addition due to inappropriate classification, students are often unable to matriculate to other desirable (college prep) courses in the future, Hence, there is a need to stop such over-representation of the students that belong to the minority groups.

Disproportionality

A majority of schools calculate both a risk index and a composition index. To provide context for these indices, consider a student population of 1200 pupils with 350 African-American students out of 1200 overall. Thus, one would expect that, around 29.16% of the African-American students studying or attending the special education or the gifted programs. On the other hand, if out of those 350 around 65 students receive special education services the risk index would turn out to be 18.57%. Now, if the schools represent their composite index more than 29.16% and risk index to be more than 18.57%, one can conclude that, disproportionality is occurring at the respective school.

When a group receives more representation than it is expected to, especially as compared to the representation that other groups are receiving, it is termed disproportionality. It is a term that indicates that this group is getting more than their fair share as compared to others. This disproportionality can happen in many settings, especially in the education sector. The opposite can also be true where a group is under represented in areas, such as education for the gifted or those with disabilities.

It is not easy to measure disproportionality as it is an issue that is quite composite. On the one hand, someone may try and measure disproportionality by assessing the group in terms of how much of the population it makes, and whether this proportion is reflected in the amount of representation that it gets, whether more or less. This will be the measure of the composite index. The second measure would be focused on the degree to which the group qualifies differently for a service as compared to the other groups in society. This is the risk index and the risk ratio. An example of this disproportionality is given when considering the African-American population and the fact that they form 17% of the population of school age children, yet… READ MORE

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