The rights of approximately seven million students with disabilities in the United States are secured via the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Despite these protections, consequential inequities still need to be addressed. Racialized inequities in special education outcomes persist across classifications, placements, and disciplinary outcomes—often referred to as racial disproportionality. The disjuncture between the promises of IDEA and persistent racial disparities highlights an equity dilemma. We tackle this dilemma and provide recommendations for educators to move beyond IDEA compliance and toward equity when addressing racial disproportionality. We discuss how efforts to address the inequity can be re-imagined across personal, classroom, and system levels. We provide three broad recommendations responsive to IDEA provisions and the myriad of root causes contributing to racial disproportionality.
Accelerating Systemic Change Network. (2021). Promoting knowledge development to support institutional change in higher education. https://ascnhighered.org/
2.
AhramR.VoulgaridesC. K.CruzR. A. (2021). Understanding disability: High-quality evidence in research on special education disproportionality. Review of Research in Education, 45(1), 311–345. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X20985069
3.
AlbrechtS. F.SkibaR. J.LosenD. J.ChungC.-G.MiddelbergL. (2012). Federal policy on disproportionality in special education: Is it moving us forward?Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 23(1), 14–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/1044207311407917
4.
AnnammaS. A. (2017). The pedagogy of pathologization: Dis/abled girls of color in the school- prison nexus. Routledge.
5.
AnnammaS. A.ConnorD.FerriB. (2013). Dis/ability critical race studies (DisCrit): Theorizing at the intersections of race and dis/ability. Race Ethnicity and Education, 16(1), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2012.730511
6.
ArtilesA. J. (2019). Fourteenth annual Brown lecture in education research: Re-envisioning equity research: Disability identification disparities as a case in point. Educational Researcher, 48(6), 325–335. http://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X19871949
7.
BaglieriS.LalvaniP. (2019). Undoing ableism: Teaching about disability in K-12 classrooms. Routledge.
8.
BallisB.HeathK. (2021). The long-run impacts of special education. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 13(4), 72–111. https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20190603
9.
BarrioB. L. (2017). Special education policy change: Addressing the disproportionality of English language learners in special education programs in rural communities. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 36(2), 64–72. https://doi.org/10.1177/875687051770721
10.
BarrioB. L.MillerD.HsiaoY.-J.DunnM.PetersenS.HollingsheadA.BanksS. (2017). Designing culturally responsive and relevant individualized educational programs. Intervention in School and Clinic, 53(2), 114–119. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053451217693364
11.
BastartJ.RohmerO.Popa-RochM.-A. (2021). Legitimating discrimination against students with disability in school: The role of justifications of discriminatory behavior. International Review of Social Psychology, 34(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.357
12.
BellD. (2018). Faces at the bottom of the well: The permanence of racism. Hachette Press.
13.
BeratanG. D. (2006). Institutionalizing inequity: Ableism, racism and IDEA 2004. Disability Studies Quarterly, 26(2), Article 682. https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v26i2.682
BovedaM.WeinbergA. E. (2022). Centering racialized educators in collaborative teacher education: The development of the intersectionally conscious collaboration protocol. Teacher Education and Special Education, 45(1), 8–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/08884064211062874
16.
CarterP. L.SkibaR.ArredondoM. I.PollockM. (2017). You can’t fix what you don’t look at: Acknowledging race in addressing racial discipline disparities. Urban Education, 52(2), 207–235. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085916660350
17.
CarterP. L.WelnerK. G. (Eds.). (2013). Closing the opportunity gap: What America must do to give every child an even chance. Oxford University Press.
18.
CavendishW.ArtilesA. J.HarryB. (2014). Tracking inequality 60 years after Brown: Does policy legitimize the racialization of disability?Multiple Voices for Ethnically Diverse Exceptional Learners, 14(2), 30–40. https://doi.org/10.56829/2158-396X.14.2.30
19.
CollinsP. H.BilgeS. (2020). Intersectionality. John Wiley & Sons.
20.
CrenshawK. W. (2017). On intersectionality: Essential writings. The New Press.
21.
de BreyC.MusuL.McFarlandJ.Wilkinson-FlickerS.DilibertiM.ZhangA.BranstetterC.WangX. (2019). Status and trends in the education of racial and ethnic groups 2018 (NCES 2019-038). U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/
22.
DeckmanS. L.AguilarL. (2022). Classroom management #Karen: What can educators learn from a meme?Multicultural Perspectives, 24(4), 234–240. https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2022.2130328
23.
FergusE. (2017). Solving disproportionality and achieving equity: A leader’s guide to using data to change hearts and Minds. Corwin Press.
24.
FerriB. A.ConnorD. J. (2005). In the shadow of Brown: Special education and overrepresentation of students of color. Remedial and Special Education, 26(2), 93–100. https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325050260020401
25.
GregoryA.SkibaR. J.MedirattaK. (2017). Eliminating disparities in school discipline: A framework for intervention. Review of Research in Education, 41(1), 253–278. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X17690499
26.
HarryB.Ocasio-StoutenburgL. (2020). Meeting families where they are: Building equity through advocacy with diverse schools and communities. Teacher’s College Press.
27.
HernándezM. G.LopezD. M.SwierR. (2022). Dismantling disproportionality: A culturally responsive and sustaining systems approach. Teachers College Press.
28.
HowardT. C. (2010). Why race and culture matter in schools: Closing the achievement gap in America’s classrooms. Teacher’s College Press.
29.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S .C. § 1418 et seq. (1997).
KhalifaM. A.GoodenM. A.DavisJ. E. (2016). Culturally Responsive School Leadership: A Synthesis of the Literature. Review of Educational Research, 86(4), 1272-1311. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654316630383
32.
KlingnerJ.ArtilesA. J.KozleskiE.HarryB.ZionS.Tate. . .RileyD. (2005). Addressing the disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education through culturally responsive educational systems. Education Policy Analysis Archives/archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas, 13, 1–40. https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=275020513038
33.
KnipsA.SavoyM.LopezS.LaParoK. (2022). Equity in data: A framework for what counts in schools. ASCD.
34.
KozleskiE. B.SmithA. (2009). The complexities of systems change in creating equity for students with disabilities in urban schools. Urban Education, 44(4), 427–451. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085909337595
35.
KozleskiE. B.StepaniukI.ProffittW. (2020). Leading through a critical lens: The application of DisCrit in framing, implementing and improving equity driven, educational systems for all students. Journal of Educational Administration, 58(5), 489–505. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-12-2019-0220
36.
LasaterK.BengtsonE.AlbiladiW. S. (2021). Data use for equity?: How data practices incite deficit thinking in schools. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 69, Article 100845. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2020.100845
LosenD.HodsonC.EeJ.MartinezT. (2014). Disturbing inequities: Exploring the relationship between racial disparities in special education identification and discipline. Journal of Applied Research on Children, 5(2), Article 15. https://doi.org/10.58464/2155-5834.1224
39.
MarshL. T. S.WalkerL. J. (2022). Deficit-oriented beliefs, anti-black policies, punitive practices, and labeling: Exploring the mechanisms of disproportionality and its impact on black boys in one urban “no-excuses” charter school. Teachers College Record, 124(2), 85–116. https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681221086444
40.
MayesK. A. (2023). The unteachables: Disability rights and the invention of Black special education. University of Minnesota Press.
41.
MilnerR. H. (2020). Start where you are, but don’t stay there: Understanding diversity, opportunity gaps, and teaching in today’s classrooms (2nd ed.). Harvard Education Press.
42.
NeriR. C.LozanoM.GomezL. M. (2019). (Re)framing resistance to culturally relevant education as a multilevel learning problem. Review of Research in Education, 43(1), 197–226. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X18821120
43.
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. (2016). Racial and ethnic disparities in special education: A multi-year disproportionality analysis by state, analysis category, and race/ethnicity. ERIC Clearinghouse.
44.
Ong-DeanC. (2009). Distinguishing disability: Parents, privilege, and special education. University of Chicago Press.
45.
PollockM.DeckmanS.MiraM.ShalabyC. (2010). “But What Can I Do?”: Three Necessary Tensions in Teaching Teachers About Race. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(3), 211–224. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487109354089
46.
RichardsH. V.BrownA. F.FordeT. B. (2007). Addressing diversity in schools: Culturally responsive pedagogy. Teaching Exceptional Children, 39(3), 64–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/004005990703900310
47.
RoulstonK. (2021). Interviewing: A guide to theory and practice. Sage.
48.
SaatciogluA.SkrticT. M. (2019). Categorization by organizations: Manipulation of disability categories in a racially desegregated school district. American Journal of Sociology, 125(1), 184–260. https://doi.org/10.1086/703957
49.
SafirS.DuganJ. (2021). Street data: A next-generation model for equity, pedagogy, and school transformation. Corwin Press.
50.
Sealey-RuizY. (2022). An archaeology of self for our times: Another talk to teachers. English Journal, 111(5), 21–26. https://doi.org/10.58680/ej202231819
51.
SingletonG. E. (2015). Courageous conversations about race: A field guide for achieving equity in schools. Corwin Press.
52.
SkibaR. J.ArredondoM. I.WilliamsN. T. (2014). More than a metaphor: The contribution of exclusionary discipline to a school-to-prison pipeline. Equity & Excellence in Education, 47(4), 546–564. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2014.958965
53.
SkrticT. M.SaatciogluA.NicholsA. (2021). Disability as status competition: The role of race in classifying children. Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, 7, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231211024398
54.
StrassfeldN. M. (2019). Education federalism and minority disproportionate representation monitoring: Examining IDEA provisions, regulations, and judicial trends. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 30(3), 138–147. https://doi.org/10.1177/1044207319835185
55.
TeferaA. A.ArtilesA. J.Kramarczuk VoulgaridesC.AylwardA.AlvaradoS. (2023). The Aftermath of Disproportionality Citations: Situating Disability-Race Intersections in Historical, Spatial, and Sociocultural Contexts. American Educational Research Journal, 60(2), 367–404. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312221147007
56.
ThoriusK. A. K. (2019). Facilitating en/counters with special education’s cloak of benevolence in professional learning to eliminate racial disproportionality in special education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 32(3), 323–340. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2019.1576945
57.
ThoriusK. A. K. (2023). Equity expansive technical assistance for schools: Education partnerships to reverse racial disproportionality. Teacher’s College Press.
58.
TrianoS. (2000). Categorical eligibility for special education: The enshrinement of the medical model in disability policy. Disability Studies Quarterly, 20(4), Article 263. https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v20i4.263
59.
TuckE. (2012). Urban youth and school pushout: Gateways, get-aways, and the Ged. Routledge.
60.
U.S. Department of Education. (2022). 43rd annual report to congress on the implementation of The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Office of Special Education Programs.
61.
U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2013). Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: Standards needed to improve identification of racial and ethnic overrepresentation in special education.
62.
VoulgaridesC.K. (2018). Does compliance matter in special education?: IDEA and the hidden inequities of practice. Teachers College Press.
63.
VoulgaridesC. (2021). Equity, parental/caregiver ‘Power,’ and disability policy in the U.S. Context. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 28(4), 326–343. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2021.1937345
VoulgaridesC. K.AylwardA.TeferaA.ArtilesA. J.AlvaradoS. L.NogueraP. (2021). Unpacking the logic of compliance in special education: contextual influences on discipline racial disparities in suburban schools. Sociology of Education, 94(3), 208–226. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038040721101332
66.
VoulgaridesC. K.FergusE.KingThoriusK. A. (2017). Pursuing Equity: Disproportionality in special education and the reframing of technical solutions to address systemic inequities. Review of Research in Education, 41(1), 61–87. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X16686947
WaitollerF. R.ArtilesA. J.CheneyD. A. (2010). The miner’s canary: A review of overrepresentation research and explanations. The Journal of Special Education, 44(1), 29–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022466908329226
69.
WeltonA. D.OwensD. R.Zamani-GallaherE. M. (2018). Anti-racist change: A conceptual framework for educational institutions to take systemic action. Teachers College Record, 120(14), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811812001402
70.
Westat. (2005). Methods for assessing racial/ethnic disproportionality in special education: A Technical assistance guide. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Programs.
