African American Parents With Special Education

This novel was a 4 year long research in culturally diverse school district that examines the inconsistency of placement of African American and Hispanic students in special education. This author Beth Harry and Janette Klingner present research - based stories that represent culturally and linguistically diverse students who fall short and are perceived to have impairments. Throughout the book Harry and Klingner studies / observes the children’s experiences,

Debates on the overrepresentation of minority students, particularly African- Americans and Hispanics are not new in special education and have characterized research in this field for over three decades. Regardless of time, legislative debate and a great amount of research theories, this problem remains. “In general, research has supported the public concern but the picture is unclear because studies have varied so much with

I am providing an analysis of “Who Decides Where Jerry Goes to School? Family and Educator Conflict in Special Education Placement” by John J. Steffen and Joanne M. Marshall (2006). The school and district’s administrators are facing a conflict with the placement of a special education student. After being diagnosed with several medical disabilities which affected his behavior, the student struggled to achieve success in the initial placement that was chosen for his academic experiences as part of his inclusion in the Exceptional Student Education (ESE) program. However, the procedures, decision making, communication, learning objectives, and follow up process were plagued with mistakes. This decision making process, the conflict between school administrators and parents, and the needs of the student for his success in academic achievement is the focus of this case study analysis.

It is abundantly clear, after reading this article, that minorities students are overrepresented in special education classrooms. One point that really stuck out for me from this article was how students are placed in special programs and provided with special services because of their results on early elementary testing. “Diverse learners are more likely to be referred for additional testing and placement in special education programs because achievement tests typically do not assess literacy skills that they may have acquired outside school, and these skills often differ from the ones these children are expected to have when they enter school” (pg. 2). As educators

The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) of 2004 has several different procedure and document that are to be followed when assessing individuals for a special education program. In Guiberson's (2009) research he suggests that some educators may be unprepared to work with diverse student populations. In a 200 participant survey of speech pathologist a study found that a third of the participants did not have sufficient training in multicultural issues (Guiberson, 2009). Studies have shown that students that learn in educational environment that reflect their cultural background tend to achieve more academically, which make multicultural instruction important in school with diverse populations (Ornstein & Levine, 2007). Guiberson's

The July 22, 2010 Examiner article The overrepresentation of African American students in special education, the author suggests “Atlanta public schools and the State of Georgia is not improving when it comes to the overrepresentation of African American students in special education” (Fanion, 2010). The headline “The overrepresentation of African American students in special education” implies that in 2010, African American students still are disproportionately placed in special education. “Data reported by the Georgia Department of Education demonstrates a silent epidemic is plaguing many metro Atlanta school districts. In some districts the disproportionate number of African American students identified as having emotional and

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) greatly emphasizes the participation of the child’s family during the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process. Parents and/or caregivers are considered one of the most essential members of their child’s IEP team. Their involvement benefits their child’s overall academic success. Unfortunately, full parental involvement does not always occur and there can be many different reasons for their nonparticipation. The IEP process can be a very overwhelming experience for families with children with special needs, especially for those who are culturally diverse. It is the job of the professionals and special education teachers to understand the importance of collaborating with family’s

The purpose of the article’s introduction is to highlight the challenges that students from minority go through in special education schools. Linking his personal experiences as a former special educator, Connor strives to explore the intersection of learning disability, race, and class. The author collected data by conducting interviews with a participant researcher to get his side of the story. Connor planned to compare his LDs experiences with his own.

The problem of disproportionate numbers of minority students in special education can be attributed to a report by Lloyd Dunn in 1968 (as cited in Skiba et al., 2008) even though discrimination was evident long before that in America. The phenomenon of disproportionality as it relates to students from minority backgrounds being placed in special education refers to the percentage of students receiving services being a higher rate than is expected or that differs significantly from other races. Skiba et al. (2008) discuss the history of various aspects of the civil rights movement as they pertain to the issue of disproportionality of students from minority backgrounds in special education, the measurement tools used to determine the need for special education, the current status of disproportionality, and what factors have contributed to the discrepancies in numbers. Finally, recommendations are offered by the authors on how the existence of disproportionality of students from a minority background can be rectified.

The fact that African American students lag several years behind their White peers in math and reading continues to be a persistent problem in America’s public schools – a critical issue that should not be ignored in any meaningful discourse on community, literacy and public schools. The wide body of relevant research reveals many causal factors and correlates including race, socioeconomic standing, social class, teacher competence and perceptions, quality of schools, etc. It is also generally acknowledged that there is a direct, positive correlation between greater parental involvement and student academic achievement. The particular focus of this paper is on the question of to what extent parental involvement – or lack thereof- influences the academic performance of African American students. I will argue that African American student underachievement is, to a significant degree, likely to be attributable to lack of active parental guidance and involvement. The variety of factors that impact parental involvement, particularly that of parents of non-dominant backgrounds, will be examined in order to demonstrate the need for schools and teachers to diversify the approach generally taken to collaborating with parents, such that it becomes a more meaningful, inclusive and relevant process for these parents. In closing, I will draw on an interview conducted with the parents of an

According to the result of a research with 72 families, mostly African American, the family and the type of parenting used by caregivers have a significant impact in the self-concept in children in the age 8 to 12 (Vanager, 2013). The better the parenting styles, the better the conception and the image that the child develops of itself. Children raised by parents that use a positive parenting style, develop a solid self-esteem and have a positive perception of their physical appearance. By the study, the family income is closely related to school performance, and that African American girls are more successful in school than

In 1997, the United States Department of Education stated that disproportionate representation in special education is a problem, predominately affecting African American boys. The Individuals with Disabilities

Disproportionate identification of minority students in special education is a major concern in schools today. This paper describes the issues in the assessment process with minority students and how we have arrived at a situation where minorities are being misdiagnosed into special education programs. Additionally, several legal cases are mentioned which show numerous actions and rulings that have tried to correct the disproportionate identification in special education. Some of the legal cases discussed include Larry P. v Riles, Diana v. State Board of Education, and Guadalupe v. Tempe Elementary School, which all significantly impacted special education today. Additionally, the Individual with Disabilities Education Act has enforced

The special education programs in the United States have been designed to help children with special needs learn easier and fit in better with the education program. Unfortunately, many minority students get caught up in the mix and don’t get the proper attention they deserve. Furthermore, minority students are seriously over-represented in the educational programs. Many minority students are misdiagnosed and put into special education programs when in fact; they do not have a learning disability. This has become a growing problem in this country because it is seen as the easy way out. Schools all over the U.S. are doing this in order to not have to properly test and evaluate students for learning problems.

Parents have special knowledge about their child that school personnel might be unaware of. This aspect of parental involvement is especially important when applying special education services for a child with disabilities (Smith et al., 2005). That being said, parents need to understand that while they know a lot about their child overall, the school knows a lot about their child in an academic setting. It is very important to have open lines of communication and mutual respect for each other; to be able to bring together these different aspects of the child to create a successful intervention allowing complete access to education.