Studies find blacks more often placed in special ed

Report: Blacks Often in Special-Ed 

By GREG TOPPO 
The Associated Press 


WASHINGTON (AP) - Black public school students are three times as likely to 
be categorized as needing special education services as whites, making them 
subject to less demanding schoolwork, more restrictive classrooms and 
isolation from their peers, studies suggest. 

The 14 studies were to be released Friday on Capitol Hill by The Civil Rights 
Project at Harvard University, which commissioned them last year. 

The studies, which looked at educational and legal issues in the nation's 
special education system, found that black students were nearly three times 
as likely as whites to be labeled ``mentally retarded'' and in need of 
special education services. The studies also found that, as the wealth of 
school districts rose, black male students were at greater risk of being 
disproportionately labeled ``mentally retarded.'' 

In five states - Connecticut, Nebraska, South Carolina, Mississippi and North 
Carolina - black students were more than four times as likely to be 
identified as mentally retarded than their white peers, the studies showed. 

Latino students were underrepresented nationwide in special education 
classes, but tended to be overrepresented as their proportion of a school 
district's student body grew, the studies found. 

``Across the board, this is a problem for minority students,'' said Daniel J. 
Losen, a lawyer for The Civil Rights Project who co-authored one of the 
studies. 

Losen said special education programs, when used alongside regular classroom 
support, ``can really do wonders for kids.'' 

But in many places, he said, special education classes have become ``a 
dumping ground for low-achieving students'' who don't succeed in regular 
classrooms - often because classroom teachers are unprepared for the 
emotional and learning problems that many students suffer. 

In many cases, special education classes isolate students from their peers 
and feature more uncertified teachers, a watered-down curriculum and 
over-reliance on IQ testing, the studies said. A placement in a special 
education class can also mean that a student's specific learning disability 
goes undiagnosed, the studies said. 

Using 1997 Education Department data, the studies found that, nationwide, 
black students were 2.9 times as likely as whites to be identified as having 
mental retardation. They were 1.9 times as likely to be identified with an 
emotional disturbance and 1.3 times as likely to be identified with a 
specific learning disability. 

Nationwide, American Indian students also were slightly more likely to be 
identified as mentally retarded, emotionally disturbed or with a specific 
learning disability. 

A spokeswoman for Education Secretary Rod Paige said she had not seen the 
studies late Thursday and could not comment. 

Paul Houston of the American Association of School Administrators said 
schools have known about such discrepancies for years. He said special 
education is often a school's only way to get needed counseling and special 
services for troubled or failing students. 

``In some places, schools are confronted with kids who are not learning 
adequately, and they search for solutions,'' he said. ``Special ed is one of 
those solutions. ... Realistically, in many cases, schools don't have those 
resources available to them, outside of the special ed system.'' 

The NAACP in 1999 complained that a public school district in Virginia 
discriminated against black students, placing too many in special education 
classes and too few in gifted classes. A federal investigation found no 
evidence of discrimination against blacks in the Roanoke, Va., public 
schools. 

Similar complaints by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored 
People prompted the Harvard studies, Losen said. 

The studies recommend that the Education Department and the U.S. Office for 
Civil Rights more aggressively enforce special education rules and that 
states intervene where minority students are overrepresented in such classes. 

The studies also said high-stakes tests that determine whether students 
receive diplomas should be put on hold until schools can show that all 
students have had a ``meaningful opportunity'' to learn the material on the 
tests. 

The studies said schools should help special education and regular classroom 
teachers work together, provide better training for all teachers in special 
education issues, provide better services for children with emotional 
disturbances and reduce classroom sizes overall. 

On the Net: 

The Civil Rights Project: http://www.law.harvard.edu/groups/civilrights/ 







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