The document discusses overrepresentation of minority students in special education, potential causes, and strategies to address it. It outlines key principles from the Education of All Handicapped Children Act including free appropriate public education and parental involvement. Disproportionate representation is defined as how ethnicity affects special education placement probabilities. Implications of overrepresentation and potential reasons for it in African American students are provided. Strategies like prereferral intervention and culturally competent classrooms to ensure educational access are recommended.

1. Over and Under Identification in Louisiana: A Primer

5. Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

6. Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

7. Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

13. Guidance from the law Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

14. Provisions found throughout IDEIA 34 C.F.R. 300.755 34 C.F.R. 300.174 To allow for comparisons between states, Congress identified five race/ethnicity categories that all states must use in collecting and reporting data: a) American Indian b) Asian/Pacific Islander c) Black d) Hispanic e) White Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

15. Provisions found throughout IDEIA 34 C.F.R. 300.755 34 C.F.R. 300.174 Requires states to have in effect … “policies and procedures to prevent the inappropriate overidentification or disproportionate representation by race and ethnicity of children as children with disabilities…” Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

16. Office of Civil Rights: a) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 b) Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act c) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

20. Immediate injunction to bar the use of IQ tests as sole basis for placement. Judge stated “lower scores on IQ tests did not reflect genetics or socioeconomic status” and therefore concluded that the tests have some racial bias. Injunction made permanent in 1979. Larry P. vs. Riles (1972) Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

21. Prereferral Intervention Process : A strategy to help prevent referrals by assisting teachers and students with the presenting problems in the context of a general education setting. Different prereferral intervention approaches exist, but each have a common goal: to provide supports necessary to maintain the student in a general education setting (if at all possible). Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

24. Prereferral Intervention Team Members Identify team members who have experience using and designing instructional techniques that address the individual needs of students Identify team members with expertise in addressing the educational needs of a diverse student population Make arrangements to ensure that paperwork requirements do not become burdensome Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

25. Possible prerefferal roles for team members General education teacher School counselor Reading/Math specialists Grade level / clusters of teachers School nurse Parents Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

27. Differentiated curriculum that is appropriate to all learners Instruction that is culturally relevant and culturally appropriate Experienced and culturally-competent general education personnel. Individualized intervention strategies that reflect students’ cultural contexts. Home-school-community collaboration. Types of classroom support the professional literature suggests are important to the success of diverse student populations: Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

28. Elements found in culturally competent classrooms: Culturally diverse student populations are respected and responded to in natural ways Instructional staff acknowledge that students benefit when they are given opportunities to find relevant connections among themselves and with the subject matter and the instructional tasks. Multicultural educational practices in which students’ prior knowledge, cultural contexts and experiences, and learning styles are taken into account Teachers and other service providers demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how culture and life experience impact upon student learning. Staff members possess adequate skills and knowledge to work in multicultural settings. Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

29. Take Action Now ! Establish an appropriate prerefferal intervention process to provide students with the support they need to keep them participating and progressing in the general curriculum Understand how the school climate may affect the educational progress of students from diverse ethnic/cultural backgrounds Involve families – and learn from them how to understand and respect their child’s unique learning strenths, needs, and cultural background. Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)