Examining the Underrepresentation of Asian Americans in Special Education: New Trends from California School Districts

Despite decades of research on racial disproportionality in special education, the underrepresentation of Asian Americans in services tends to be overlooked in policy and practice. Underrepresentation, however, raises the possibility of similar concerns about misidentification, bias, and racial inequality within schools as overrepresentation. Yet, little is known about the scope and magnitude of underrepresentation for Asian Americans in special education. National and state-level data are helpful in documenting trends but tend to ignore the wide variation in Asian American representation across local areas. This study assesses Asian American underrepresentation in special education across all school districts in California and explores district-level factors that may predict these disparities. The results show that while Asian Americans are underrepresented in special education in nearly all districts, the disparities are greater in those with larger Asian American populations. In the case of autism, however, Asian Americans are overrepresented in most districts. A consistent predictor of these disparities is the racial composition of the teaching staff. Overall, the study shows that national data can underestimate the extent of Asian American underrepresentation in special education and calls attention to Asian American students who may be overlooked for needed services.     

Understanding When Teachers Disagree about Student Disability

The persistent racial and ethnic disparities in special education in the United States raise concerns about the potential misidentification of students. While previous studies have focused on how various student and school factors influence teacher decisions, there is less attention on when teachers disagree about student disability or special education. The current study uses national data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 to examine when teachers disagreed in their perception of student disability for more than 10,000 high school students. A unique feature of the data is each student is observed in two different subject classrooms, providing an opportunity to examine how differences in student achievement, behavior, and teacher characteristics influence when teachers disagreed in their judgment of student disability. The results indicate that teachers were more likely to disagree when student behavior varied across classrooms, while differences in student achievement and teacher characteristics were not related to disagreement. The study also found that teachers disagreed more for students who were Black, male, and from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. The main findings highlight how disability is often a context-dependent social construct and have implications for how students are identified for special education.     

Recruiting and Retaining Asian American and Pacific Islander Teachers

The Urban Review - The lack of Teachers of Color in the United States raises questions about their recruitment and retention and the responsiveness of schools to racial and linguistic diversity....