Theorizing Racial Inequity in Special Education

Despite decades of research examining the disproportionate representation of racial minority students in special education, our understanding of the complexity of disproportionality remains incomplete and much of the previous research was designed without a clear theoretical framework. This exploratory study applied a structural theoretical lens as a means of understanding racial inequity in special education across analytical scales, racial groups, and disability categories. The findings confirm differential risk of educational disability across racial groups. Based on the theory adopted, several hypotheses were tested regarding the relations of relative risk to district structural features, with conflicting results found.

Career Development Patterns Among Professional Persons with Severe Psychiatric Disabilities: Implications for Practice

This study investigated career patterns among persons with serious psychiatric disabilities who had completed higher education. As part of a vocational program follow-up, 48 middle-aged, mostly white men and women consumers were interviewed about educational and employment histories. A computer program based on age of onset, job skill level, job and educational codes, and dates of employment was developed. Five different, mutually exclusive, career development patterns were identified: (a) career constant with postformal education disability onset, (b) career constant with preformal education completion disability onset, (c) career change with post-formal educational disability onset, (d) career change with pre-formal educational completion disability onset, and (e) early onset with no career. Results were related to current career development theories and the needs of counselors serving this population.

Educational Considerations in Traumatic Brain Injury

The role of the speech-language pathologist in service provision to children and youth with traumatic brain injury in educational settings has become blurred with that of numerous disciplines. In view of recent federal legislation, PL 101-476 (IDEA), which designates a new educational disability category for brain injury, this article describes various concerns and assessment techniques that define the role of speech-language pathologists in service provision.