Representation Of Minorities In Special Education Essay

Overrepresentation of minorities in special education has been a growing problem in schools today. Research suggests that many underlying factors significantly influence a child being misidentified into special education, this being the child’s race, ethnicity and socio- economic status. In this day and age it is crucial for teachers to understand the aspects of different languages and behaviors from each culture in order for their students to be successful. A reason behind the high numbers in special education is because teachers don’t know how to relate to children of minorities. Many changes have been made to IDEA to solve this problem however none have yielded successful This paper addresses factors that contribute to disproportionate representation of minorities in special education. This includes misidentification of minorities as well as the long term affects and some strategies that

public school system today. This shouldn’t be a problem in the educational world when IDEA entitles children with disabilities to a free and appropriate education and mandates nondiscriminatory assessment, identification, and placement of children with disabilities. (IDEA) Children are not to be identified as disabled because of poor achievement, their environmental background or ethnic or racial differences. However, nationally, some ethnic groups continue to be overrepresented as disabled, having intellectual disabilities and emotionally disturbed. By minority groups, we refer to African Americans, Latinos, Asians and Native American. Research shows that overrepresentation of certain minority groups in high incidence special education such as intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, and emotional disturbance. In this paper I will talk about these issues and what approaches can be used to prevent this from happening any