Racial Inequity In Special Education
Daniel J. Losen & Gary Orfield
Harvard Civil Rights Project
The authors explores the inequities experienced by minority schoolchildren in special education by examining the problems in their own right and by providing reflections of persistent racial inequities in our system of public education. Racial Inequity in Special Education pinpoints the scope of these problems, and provides a comprehensive review of attempts by various groups (legislators, child advocates, and educational and civil rights enforcement agencies) to address these complex issues.
The book provides an illuminating account of a widespread problem that has received little attention until now. This book sets the stage for a national discussion about special education and racial justice to advance racial equity in both special education and regular education. You will find statistical data, graphs and tables supporting scientifically based research, including statistical information for Mississippi, as well as legal cases.
The authors outline essential areas for further research and discussion by providing input from leading experts in the field. The following is a listing of the experts and the topics they cover in this book:
- Senator James M. Jeffords, Independent-Vermont, Ranking Republican on the Select Education Subcommittee charged with helping to write the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975
- Community and School Predictors of Overrepresentation of Minority Children in Special Education by Donald P. Oswald, Martha J. Coutinho, and Al M. Best
- Racial Disparities in the Identification, Funding, and Provision of Special Education by Thomas Parrish
- Double Jeopardy: An Exploration of Restrictiveness and Race in Special Education by Edward Garcia Fierros and James W. Conroy
- Of Rocks and Soft Places: Using Qualitative Methods to Investigate Disproportionality by Beth Harry, Janette K. Klingner, Keith M. Sturges, and Robert Moore
- Schools Make a Difference: The Overrepresentation of African American Youth in Special Education and the Juvenile Justice System by David Osher, Darren Woodruff, and Anthony E. Sims
- English-Language Learner Representation in Special Education in California Urban School Districts by Alfredo J. Artiles, Robert Rueda, Jesus` Jose` Salazar, and Ignacio Higareda
- Disability, Race, and High-Stakes Testing of Students by Jay P. Heubert
- Legal Challenges to Inappropriate and Inadequate Special Education for Minority Children by Daniel J. Losen and Kevin G. Welner
- Evaluating the Office of Civil Rights’ Minority and Special Education Project by Theresa Glennon
- IDEA and Disproportionality: Federal Enforcement, Effective Advocacy, and Strategies for Change by Thomas Hehir
- Ending Segregation of Chicago’s Students with Disabilities: Implications of the Corey H. Lawsuit by Sharon Weitzman Soltman and Donald R. Moore
Prepared by Margaret Robinson, MDE January 2006