Ethnic And Racial Discrimination Of Special Education

Because of the stigma surrounding the intelligence of students in special education, many children are embarrassed when others find out about their curriculum. Oftentimes students receiving altered instruction have lower self-esteem and lower expectations for themselves because of how they are perceived. Even when they are fully mentally capable, people will treat them differently because of the circumstances in which they are educated. To most people with disabilities such as blindness, deafness, extreme dyslexia, and autism, it is offensive to be talked to like they aren’t capable of understanding- something that wouldn’t happen as much if we changed our view of what special education is and who exactly receives it.

It saddens me that even today students are not receiving a fair chance of an adequate education

The July 22, 2010 Examiner article The overrepresentation of African American students in special education, the author suggests “Atlanta public schools and the State of Georgia is not improving when it comes to the overrepresentation of African American students in special education” (Fanion, 2010). The headline “The overrepresentation of African American students in special education” implies that in 2010, African American students still are disproportionately placed in special education. “Data reported by the Georgia Department of Education demonstrates a silent epidemic is plaguing many metro Atlanta school districts. In some districts the disproportionate number of African American students identified as having emotional and

An alarming problem has recently been brought to light. It appears that minorities seem to be under-identified when determining if a child qualifies for special education. Concerns over minorities not be treated equally in the education system has long been a problem. The Smartbrief on June 26th 2015 titled “Are minorities under-identified for special education?” explores how minorities are not being correctly identified with a learning disability when they are present. This shocking issue needs to be addressed and changes must be made to better identify minorities with disabilities.

Disproportionate identification of minority students in special education is a major concern in schools today. This paper describes the issues in the assessment process with minority students and how we have arrived at a situation where minorities are being misdiagnosed into special education programs. Additionally, several legal cases are mentioned which show numerous actions and rulings that have tried to correct the disproportionate identification in special education. Some of the legal cases discussed include Larry P. v Riles, Diana v. State Board of Education, and Guadalupe v. Tempe Elementary School, which all significantly impacted special education today. Additionally, the Individual with Disabilities Education Act has enforced

Students from one racial class are often discriminated in different fields of practice, especially in education. Notably, black students have been seen to suffer most based on the statistics from a survey such as that highlighted in Beratan (2008). The issue becomes critical when the group being discriminated has a special need, and the effect is that stigmatization occurs where the learners feel uncomfortable and end up not gaining from the education they are given. According to Hornby (2015), one of the key factors leading to the disproportional placement of black students in special education is the case of overrepresentation in gift and talent schools. This digest presents recommendations that can be used to eliminate disproportional placement and representation in special education.

Children being affected from ADD, dyslexia, and ADHD are often sent out of the room for not paying attention or disturbing the class, even though this is because of their disability. The ratio of suspensions for black boys to white boys is three to one, while black girls are four times as likely to be suspended as white girls. Notwithstanding many assistances to the contrary, racism still seems common in schools, and it's unfair and unjust to punish disabled children for “misbehavior” that they can’t control. Additionally, to make sure discipline is appointed out fairly and without race discrimination, for specific circumstances there should be prearranged punishments. It would also be helpful for students with disabilities if teachers gotten more instruction on how to take care of their specific needs, certifying them to share equally in the benefits of the classroom

Tyler et al. describe some of the obstacles standing in the way of CLD people who want to get into the field of special education. Typically, “low-income neighborhoods are disproportionally populated with families from historically underrepresented groups” (Tyler et al., 2004), which means they will most likely go to a school with inappropriate funding. Schools in high-poverty areas cannot afford things other schools can, which means the schools also cannot afford to diversify their instructors properly. Since the diverse special education teachers start out as students, and since these students are usually from low-income families, they have challenges they have to overcome in order to become special education teachers. The challenges are plentiful, which explains the low number of diverse special education teachers. Sometimes the challenges are too much to overcome. Of course, there are those that do make it into college, but challenges follow them too. Tyler et al. describe the difference between the pass rate of African American potential teachers and White potential teachers as dramatic. Tyler et al. also say that this may be one reason CLD students pursuing teaching are deterred (2004). They offer solutions to this problem including, academic support, cultural sensitivity, funding, and interpersonal

Employers and schools are required to have goals and a time frame, for hiring or recruiting women and minorities to achieve racial diversity. Affirmative action programs were created to make sure the inclusion of all qualified individuals and to prevent gender and race discrimination. An employer is not required to hire someone who lacks the qualifications needed to perform the task or job successfully, or to choose one that is less qualified then the other based on his/her race or gender. It has been said that in some colleges students are picked because of their race.

I agree that many minority groups are discriminated in education. Not only Hispanics who want to go to law school are discriminated. There are also many African Americans and young women’s who have been discriminated in other education paths. A family friend who came from El Salvador had big goals for the future; he wanted to be a psychologist. That family friend was outstanding student in high school with a GPA of 4.6. That friend name Tony, had a friend who also wanted to be a psychologist but Tony was a better student than his friend was. When time came for college application, Tony and his friend both apply for NC State, UNC and ECU. Not surprisingly Tony’s white friend got accepted to all 3 colleges but Tony only got accepted to ECU.

But as Karl Subban of Brookview Middle School explains in the video “The Pros & Cons of Labeling Children” the danger comes when we begin teaching to the labels, and not the children. Too often do classes become centered around the labeling of the students, rather than their needs. This was an issue in the early years of special education, where students in “Special Ed.” Classes were not given quality education simply because they were labeled as such, regardless if they were given a diagnosis for downs syndrome, a cognitive disability, or cerebral palsy, a physical

According to many Federal laws there are laws that are supposed to outlaw discrimination in all educational fields. How someone can be discriminated is based on their race, color, disability, or sex. This matter has been an issue for a very long time, even with laws in place. This research paper is about the laws in place, the minority students and teacher discrimination, recent college protests, racially motivated police shootings and relation to school discrimination, and the issues of affirmative Action and discrimination in American schools.

My perspective on “labeling” is very similar to yours. “Labeling” in Special education is something that causes both advantages and problems. It is a very important aspect in Special education so that the student get the education they need. It does not have to be a demoralizing experience for the special needs students, if we as Educators do not condone those actions. Growing I also witness other students making rude remarks, but I also noticed teachers did little to discourage them from doing so. I not saying it was the teachers fault, but I think that the biggest problems people have with “labeling” is the bullying that usually associated with it. Since most of that happens in school I think teachers can make a big difference in how students

In the Special Education program, Special Ed for short, students are placed in smaller classes that give them more time with the teacher, and the contents of these classes are much easier than the standard classes. According to an article written by Harry and Anderson “approximately 29% of the students in Special Ed programs are African Americans” (Harry, Anderson). Many politicians blame racism to be a factor for such a large percent of African Americans in Special Ed. However, a study done by the New York Times shows that the opposite is true. The study states that African Americans are actually underrepresented in Special Ed programs and there should be more of them in these programs. The study provides evidence that African Americans are more likely to develop some sort of a learning disability due to their upbringing. The study provides compelling evidence for its claim, “Thirty-six percent of inner-city black children have elevated levels of lead in their blood” (Paul, Farkas). The figure for suburban white children is only 4 percent.” Also, “black children are about twice as likely to be born prematurely and three times more likely to suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome (Paul, Farkas)”. The study provides these claims as a support to why so many African American develop learning disabilities. Assuming that all these claims are true, where should one go from here? To many proponents of the Special Ed program, the answer is

Can you imagine being an adolescent and not being able to obtain the same education  or rights as everyone else? Many times you hear about young adults dropping out of school. What if the reason for dropping out was due to having  to work and help your family survive. The vicious cycle of poverty impacts many Americans today. There are many children of migrant workers who leave school to work in the fields. Often times these kids have  no say so in whether or not they can complete their education. Not only are these kids missing out on their education, but there also subjected to harsh conditions. Many are exposed to pesticides that are sprayed on the very vegetables that they are picking.These pesticides will later cause health conditions in the children that the family can afford to pay to maintain. In addition to working in extreme heat with no breaks often times these children and their families are cheated out of money and receive little to no pay for their labor. Many times they are taken advantage of because they are immigrants and are looked down upon by some. Why should a child be faced with such horrendous hardships at such a young age? I believe that everyone should receive an equal opportunity for  education and benefits regardless of race,class, or religion.  one group of people should not have to experience such prejudice.. Education and assistance should be available to anyone in need regardless of where they  may have came from. I feel that this is a huge