Race and Disability: What We Need to Know, What We Can Doby Courtney Reed Jenkins, Special Education Team, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction I started working in schools in 1989. I was a paraprofessional in a segregated school, working with a seasoned special education teacher who taught me how to engage students and build strong and authentic relationships with families and the communities in which they live. I appreciated the mentoring: as a White woman who didn’t speak Spanish, I needed a cultural bridge to the Spanish-speaking families and their communities. My work had me thinking regularly about the intersection of race and ability in U.S. schools. Almost thirty years later, my work still focuses on that intersection. I work with educators in Wisconsin schools and districts with patterns of racial disproportionality in special education identification, placement and discipline. These educators are from all corners of Wisconsin and are in small, medium, and large districts. They are urban, suburban, and rural educators. Some of their districts have large percentages of students whose family incomes qualify for free/reduced-price meals; others don’t.
What is racial disproportionality in special education? Children of color—in Wisconsin, African-American, American Indian, and Hispanic youth—are identified as students with disabilities at substantially higher rates than their peers. This occurs more in disability categories that are “subjective” and not when there is an underlying “hard” or medical diagnosis, such as deaf and hard of hearing or blind and visually impaired disabilities categories. For example, last year Black and Native students in Wisconsin were over twice as likely as their peers to be identified as having an emotional behavioral disability. (DPI, 2016) The other “subjective” disability category areas include other health impairment, intellectual disability, specific learning disabilities, speech and language impairment, and autism. Nationally, once identified, children of color are more likely to be placed outside the general education classroom and are more likely to be disciplined than their peers. In Wisconsin, our race-based patterns of discipline are similar to the national data, with Black, American Indian, and Hispanic learners with IEPs more likely to be disciplined. In Wisconsin, our data regarding placement is dissimilar to the national data, with more racial proportionality across educational environments. Advocates, educators, and legislators have noticed and addressed racial disproportionality in special education for over thirty years. The roots of this work resulted in the first report of the National Research Council over thirty years ago, when the Council convened a committee that, at that time, focused primarily on defining a better set of rules for determining who needs special education, whether placement is beneficial, and when and how students would exit. Their concern was whether special education identification was operating fairly and to the benefit of students. Many of the committee’s suggestions are reflected in the 1997 authorization of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and federal guidelines and regulations. (National Research Council, 2002) The 2004 reauthorization of IDEA and related regulations regarding racial disproportionality in special education shifted focus from special education to general education because most of the root causes of racial disproportionality in special education are about what happens in general education: the core curriculum; too many, inconsistent, or not-to-fidelity interventions; inconsistent knowledge of assessments; beliefs that poor students and students of color are not ready for school and that special education is the only place to support students with complex and/or complicated needs. (Fergus, 2010). For the first time, Congress allowed school districts to use special education funds in general education for coordinated early intervening services, known in Wisconsin as Response to Intervention (RtI), or equitable multi-level system of supports (MLSS). In Wisconsin, 108 – or about ¼ -- districts choose to use IDEA funds for RtI. (DPI, 2017) Why should we pay attention to racial disproportionality in special education? First and foremost, we pay attention to racial disproportionality in special education because we want all students to receive the educational services and supports they need and are entitled to in an appropriate setting and with the most appropriate behavior strategies employed. In other words, we want to keep kids healthy, safe, supported, and encouraged in schools and we want to promote engaged learning to motivate all kids. (DPI, 2017) We also pay attention to racial disproportionality in special education because it is an important part of the discussion related to the achievement gap / opportunity gap / equity gap. In special education, like in student performance data, graduation rates, and other measures of educational engagement and achievement, we see race-based patterns of success and failure. We have an obligation to interrupt and eliminate these patterns. How can we interrupt racial disproportionality in special education? #1. Strengthen equitable multi-level systems of supports. Wisconsin’s schools and districts are building capacity to adopt and implement high quality practices, make informed decisions, ensure sustainability of efforts, and increase success for all students with a focus on academics and behavior. Equity is at the center of Wisconsin’s framework and embedded into all other key system features to challenge and change inequitable access, opportunity, and outcomes experienced by learners currently underserved in Wisconsin schools; for an example of equity in practice see the online module, “Culturally Responsive Problem-Solving: An Evidence-based Approach.”
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#2. Build fluency around race. Achieving equity in Wisconsin schools demands a bold commitment to deliberately address unacceptable outcomes, which we can predict based on race. An intentional focus on equity, including racial equity, accounts for and adapts to the diversity of learners and families served by Wisconsin schools. To become equitable, educators engage in a deep and honest examination of who they are, their beliefs and assumptions about the learners and families they serve, as well as what they value and affirm. Wisconsin’s