ERIC Number: EJ1108022
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1547-1888
EISSN: N/A
Historical and Legal Overview of Special Education Overrepresentation: Access and Equity Denied
Ford, Donna Y.; Russo, Charles J.
Multiple Voices for Ethnically Diverse Exceptional Learners, v16 n1 p50-57 Spr 2016
The history of the denial of equal education opportunities to Black children is a long one, whether through racial segregation or overrepresentation in special education. No other group is as overreferred, overidentified, and overrepresented in special education as Black students, specifically Black males. The authors present an historical and legal overview of special education and critique in the 2015 report by Morgan, Farkas, Hillemeier, Mattison, Maczuga, Li, and Cook. Based on their analysis of limited criteria rather than comprehensive criteria, Morgan and colleagues claim that Blacks were not overrepresented in special education and that more should have been identified. This study created a swelter of discussion and debates that are not new but that the authors find to be biased, polemic, and deficit-oriented assertions. The potential impact of Morgan et al.'s work (arguments, findings, and conclusions) must be interrogated rather than discounted.
Descriptors: Special Education, Disproportionate Representation, Access to Education, Equal Education, Educational History, Black Studies, Disabilities, Educational Legislation, Federal Legislation, Court Litigation, Educational Discrimination, Educational Quality, Desegregation Litigation, School Desegregation
Division for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners, Council for Exceptional Children. 615 E 52nd Street Suite 347, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO 64110. Tel: 816-235-2401; Fax: 816-235-2260; e-mail: umkcmultiple@umkc.edu; Web site: http://multiplevoicesjournal.org/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: Brown v Board of Education; Education for All Handicapped Children Act; Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A