Demystifying Disproportionality: Exploring Educator Beliefs about Special Education Referrals for English Learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-40
Author(s):  
Soyoung Park
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Referral Process ◽  
English Learner ◽  
Special Education Referrals ◽  
Identification Process ◽  
Educator Beliefs ◽  
Special Education Identification

Background Federal civil rights law requires that English learners (ELs) with potential disabilities be identified in a timely and appropriate manner. Decades of research documenting the problem of disproportionality among ELs in special education suggest, however, that educators struggle with the proper identification of ELs with disabilities. ELs are found to be underrepresented in special education in the early elementary years and overrepresented beginning in upper elementary school. Although these disproportionality patterns are well documented, little is known about why this phenomenon persists. Purpose of Study This study addresses this gap by following 16 ELs and their educators in real time through the special education referral process. Using participant observation research methods, I explore mechanisms in the field that might explain disproportionality. Specifically, I examine educator beliefs about whether and when to refer ELs to special education, as well as how those beliefs manifest in the referral process for ELs. Research Design This qualitative research study was part of a yearlong multilevel project looking at the special education identification process for 16 ELs at two elementary schools in an urban district. The project involved data collection and analysis at the federal policy, district, school, and student levels. I used a combination of document analysis methods, participant observation research methods, and triangulation among interviews, field observations, and archival documents. Whereas the larger study investigated the entire special education identification process for ELs, this article focuses on just the referral process. Relevant data collected include interviews with school staff, observations of the referral process for ELs, and documents tied to the ELs’ special education referrals. Conclusions The educators in this study were found to adopt one of two stances regarding EL referrals to special education: wait to be sure and the sooner the better. These stances reflected educators’ beliefs about special education, ELs, and teachers. Teachers acted on these beliefs in way that led to the co-construction of “English learner” and “disability.” The findings suggest that educator beliefs about whether and when to refer ELs to special education serve as mechanisms that help to explain disproportionality for this student group. This study brings to light how the prevention of erroneous co-construction of EL and disability statuses requires changing the ways in which English learner and disability are conceptualized—shifting away from deficit views of these student groups and toward recognition of their many assets.

Using an Ever–English Learner Framework to Examine Disproportionality in Special Education

2017 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilana M. Umansky ◽  
Karen D. Thompson ◽  
Guadalupe Díaz
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Administrative Data ◽  
Discrete Time ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Secondary Level ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
English Learner ◽  
Disability Categories ◽  
Overrepresentation In Special Education

Whereas most existing research has examined the prevalence of current English learners (ELs) in special education, we propose and test the use of the ever-EL framework, which holds the subgroup of EL students stable by following all students who enter school classified as ELs. Drawing on two administrative data sets, discrete-time hazard analyses show that whereas current EL students are overrepresented in special education at the secondary level, students who enter school as ELs are significantly underrepresented in special education overall and within most disability categories. Reclassification patterns, in part, explain these findings: EL students with disabilities are far less likely than those without disabilities to exit EL services, resulting in large proportions of dually identified students at the secondary level. These findings shed new light on EL under- and overrepresentation in special education and offer insights into policies and practices that can decrease EL special education disproportionality.

Disproportional representation of minorities in special education

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann S. Maydosz
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
African American ◽  
African American Students ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
School Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Identification Process ◽  
American Students ◽  
Special Education Identification ◽  
Disproportional Representation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a brief exploration of the disproportional representation of African American students in special education with a focus on addressing racial bias in the identification process at the school level. Design/methodology/approach – This inquiry was conducted through a literature search of data and extant literature on school-level remedies to disproportional representation, particularly bias in the process of special education identification. Findings – While racial bias in any process remains difficult to expose, it cannot be eliminated as a contributing factor in the disproportional representation of African American students in special education. This review will acquaint the reader with competing explanations and proposed remedies. Originality/value – Critics have proposed that the disproportional representation of African American students in special education and in discipline statistics has become a way to segregate minority students, therefore an exploration of this practice merits concern.

Introduction to Ethnography

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Kwame Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Research Methods ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Chicago School ◽  
Research Tradition ◽  
Primary Qualities ◽  
Bronislaw Malinowski ◽  
Bronisław Malinowski ◽  
Oriented Research

This introductory chapter introduces ethnography as a distinct research and writing tradition. The author begins by historically contextualizing ethnography’s professionalization within the fields of anthropology and sociology. While highlighting the formidable influences of, for example, Bronislaw Malinowski and the Chicago school, the author complicates existing understandings by bringing significant, but less-recognized, influences and contributions to light. The chapter next outlines three principal research methods that most ethnographers utilize—namely, participant-observation, fieldnote writing, and ethnographic interviewing. The discussion then shifts from method to methodology to explain the primary qualities that separate ethnography from other forms of participant-observation-oriented research. This includes introducing a research disposition called ethnographic comportment, which serves as a standard for gauging ethnography throughout the remainder of the book. The author presents ethnographic comportment as reflecting both ethnographers’ awarenesses of and their accountabilities to the research tradition in which they participate.

Ethnography

2020 ◽  
pp. 328-358
Author(s):  
Anthony Kwame Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Research Methods ◽  
Research Methodology ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Research Practice ◽  
General Overview ◽  
Research Tradition ◽  
Field Note ◽  
Oriented Research

This chapter introduces ethnography as a distinct research and writing tradition. It opens with a discussion of ethnography’s current fashionability within transdisciplinary academic spaces and some of the associated challenges. The next section provides a historical overview of ethnography’s emergence as a professionalized research practice within the fields of anthropology and sociology. Focusing on ethnography as a research methodology, the chapter outlines several key attributes that distinguish it from other forms of participant observation–oriented research; provides a general overview of the central paradigms that ethnographers claim and/or move between; and spotlights three principal research methods that most ethnographers utilize—namely, participant observation, field-note writing, and ethnographic interviewing. The final section of the chapter introduces a research disposition called ethnographic comportment, defined as a politics of positionality that reflects both ethnographers’ awarenesses of and their accountabilities to the research tradition they participate in.

Identifying and Serving English Learners in Gifted Education: Looking Back and Moving Forward

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 297-335
Author(s):  
Rachel U. Mun ◽  
Vonna Hemmler ◽  
Susan Dulong Langley ◽  
Sharon Ware ◽  
E. Jean Gubbins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Gifted And Talented ◽  
Gifted Education ◽  
English Learners ◽  
The United States ◽  
Effective Practices ◽  
Referral Process ◽  
Screening Assessment ◽  
Looking Back

Although the number of English learners (ELs) in the United States continues to increase, this population remains underserved by gifted and talented (GT) education programs across the nation. This underrepresentation represents a societal and research dilemma for reasons we address in this systematic review of the most effective practices documented to identify and serve ELs for GT programs. We examine 50 theoretical and empirical articles according to four major themes: nomination, screening/assessment, services, and identification models. We discuss identification recommendations, including outreach and professional learning to foster stakeholder recognition of GT potential in all ELs, an equitable referral process based on a multiple-lens approach, and observation of students completing problem-solving tasks. Finally, we address perceived best practices in serving GT ELs, including making accommodations for ELs in GT programs.

Divergent Discourse in Disproportionality Research: A Response to Kauffman and Anastasiou (2019)

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise K. Whitford ◽  
Kelly M. Carrero
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Cultural Politics ◽  
Child Behavior ◽  
Societal Implications ◽  
Prevention And Intervention ◽  
The Future ◽  
Sound Policy ◽  
Special Education Identification

This article is in response to Kauffman and Anastasiou, wherein the authors initiate discussion regarding the cultural politics within special education identification and placement, particularly surrounding the issue of disproportionality. In this article, we identified four points of discussion regarding societal implications of disproportionality; the roles of (a) divergent ideologies; (b) access and advantage; (c) adult, adolescent, and child behavior; and (d) methodology in the debate on disproportionality in special education identification and placement. Furthermore, we highlight the problems with focusing too heavily on either one of these roles, without proposing viable prevention and intervention efforts to eliminate discriminatory identification and placement in the future. We encourage further discourse in the field that will lead to sound policy and improved practices within and for schools.

scholarly journals Beyond the “English Learner” Frame: Transnational Funds of Knowledge in Social Studies

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dafney Blanca Dabach ◽  
Aliza Fones
Keyword(s):  
Social Studies ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Citizenship Education ◽  
Immigrant Students ◽  
Funds Of Knowledge ◽  
English Learner ◽  
Formal Schooling ◽  
Social Studies Teacher ◽  
Inclusive Society ◽  
Forms Of Knowledge

<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span>Transnationalism is a phenomenon that has consequences for education, broadly defined. Even as youth engage in transnational practices that expand their knowledge across borders, immigrant students in U.S. schools are often framed narrowly as “English learners” and their forms of knowledge may be erased. Synthesizing literature at the intersection of transnationalism and education, citizenship education, and funds of knowledge, we argue for the necessity of recognizing immigrant youth’s transnational funds of knowledge. We draw from a qualitative study to illustrate how a high school social studies teacher created space for students’ transnational funds of knowledge in the classroom, focusing on a Pakistani student’s return visit to his country of origin. The teacher’s orientation toward students’ transnational funds of knowledge served to counter assimilationist discourses while teaching U.S. civics. This article contributes to understanding how immigrants’ transnational experiences can widen narrow visions of citizen-building in formal schooling and build upon their assets for a more inclusive society. </span></p></div></div></div></div>

Why Working Apart Doesn’t Work at All: Special Education and English Learner Teacher Collaborations

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-39
Author(s):  
Sara E. N. Kangas
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
English Learner ◽  
Individualized Education Programs ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Individualized Education ◽  
Linguistic Development ◽  
Synergistic Relationships ◽  
Learning English

With many students learning English also identified with disabilities in public schools, collaborations across special education and English learner (EL) education are critical to promoting these students’ academic and linguistic development. Yet, many special education and EL teachers work independently of one another, focusing on their own specialized roles. In the process, students with disabilities who are learning English receive fragmented, inadequate special education and EL services. This article provides specific strategies—cocreating individualized education programs and instituting consultations—special education and EL teachers can implement to break out of their isolated roles and to build synergistic relationships that benefit the learning of students with disabilities who are learning English.

scholarly journals The Potential of Restorative Practices to Ameliorate Discipline Gaps: The Story of One High School’s Leadership Team

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Cumings Mansfield ◽  
Beth Fowler ◽  
Stacey Rainbolt
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Leadership Team ◽  
Restorative Practices ◽  
Community Engaged Research ◽  
Discipline Practices ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Special Education Identification

The purpose of this “From the Field” article is to share the tentative results of community-engaged research investigating the impact of Restorative Justice Discipline Practices on persistent discipline gaps in terms of race, gender, and special education identification.

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