Addressing Disproportionality in California's Special Education Programs Prepared by Dr. McDaniel 1 The California Picture Ethnic Disproportionality in

1Addressing Disproportionality in California's Special Education Programs Prepared by Dr. McDaniel

The California Picture

Ethnic Disproportionality

in California’sSpecial Education

Programs

Presented by Kimberly L. McDaniel, Ph.D.California Department of Education

Addressing Disproportionality in California's Special Education Programs Prepared by Dr. McDaniel 2

Policy Context

California Demographics

Measuring Ethnic Disproportion

Statewide Actions

Presentation Overview


WHAT


Disproportionality

“Disproportionality refers to the relationship

between student representation in both general and

special education.”

Harry and Anderson, 1995


Contextualizing Disproportionalityin California Federal “interest”

No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

State Accountability (KPI)

History = 2 Primary Lawsuits (Language/Misidentification)


WHO


Enrollment in Public Schools California, 2003-2004

510,696704,681

2,898,110

52,706

2,046,339

249,6226,069

303,800

40,68781,802

0

500000

1000000

1500000

2000000

2500000

3000000

3500000

African Americian Asian or PacificIslander

Hispanic Native American White

General Education Special Education

Student Representation in GE and SE


Percent of Students Meeting NCLB AYP in Math California, 2002-2003

35.10

19.40

60.40

44.60

29.1031.70

47.50

23.20 21.10

9.409.204.80

16.60

24.00

4.50

11.80

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

Overall AfricanAmerician

Asian Filipino Hispanic NativeAmerican

PacificIslander

White



Percent of Students Meeting NCLB AYP in ELA California, 2002-2003

35.90

22.70

58.20

48.60

31.40 31.00

53.50

20.00 19.70

8.308.304.50

15.60

23.20

4.00

11.00

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

Overall AfricanAmerician

Asian Filipino Hispanic NativeAmerican

PacificIslander

White



In 2002- 2003:

26% of all students in California were English learners

20% of all special education students were English learners

41% of Hispanic students receiving special education services were English learners

English Learners in California


HOW


Three Ways to View Concept

Composition Index

Risk Index

Odds Ratio


Risk Index

16.01

5.77

10.48

11.51

12.2

10.18

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Risk Index: Percent of students in a given ethnic group identified as receiving special education services

Sample/Example Statement: In California, 16.01% of African American students receive special education services


Odds Ratio

Odds Ratio: Comparative index

Statement: African American students have a 48 percent greater likelihood of being assigned to special education than all students in California

1.48

0.53

0.95

0.97

1.13

1.00

0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60


Composition Index

Composition Index: The proportion of all children serviced in special education from the ethnic group

Example/Sample statement: African American students comprise 12.00% of all special education students

44.55

36.60

6.00

12.00

0.89

46.01

32.49

11.198.11

0.840

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

AfricanAmerican

Asian or PacificIslander

Hispanic NativeAmerican

White

Special Education General Education


E-Formula is on the Record

E=A+Sqrt[A*(100-A)÷N]

E=maximum percentage of enrollment allowed for a racial/ethic group

A=percentage of racial/ethnic group in total school enrollment

N=total number of students in special education


Action


Quality Assurance Process

Statewide Special Education District Review

Compliance and Educational Benefit Focus

Risk Index


(Special) Education Equity Implementation Workgroup

Primary Goal~ Develop Work Plan

Secondary Goals~ Identify Partners~ Education ~ Inform Research


“Reducing ethnic overrepresentation is a matter of creating a successful school environment for all students and accurately distinguishing disabilities from so-called cultural differences, political influences, and socioeconomic factors. We must realize that the causes of low academic performance and challenging behavior do not reside solely within the child or family.”-National Institute for Urban School Improvement, 2001

Recommendations:Policy and Program Direction


#1: Focus on early intervention.Action: Provide universal screenings for kindergarten

students.

#2: Improve the quality of the pre-referral process.Action: Implement proven pre-referral strategies.

#3 Strengthen state technical assistance capacity in the area of ethnic disproportionality in special education.

Action:Train field staff in the area of ethnic disproportionality in special education.

#4 Create cross-systems relationships to facilitate access to services beyond special education.

Action: Establish Interagency State Task Force.

#5 Pursue Scholarly Inquiry.Action: Conduct multivariate research.

Recommendations:5 Areas with Actions


Statewide ethnic disproportionality data

Multiple measures

Current state efforts

Cross-systems solutions

Research role

Summary

23Addressing Disproportionality in California's Special Education Programs Prepared by Dr. McDanielQ&A

State of California Department of EducationSpecial Education DivisionAssessment, Evaluation, and Support Unit1430 N. StreetSacramento, CA 95814-3321

(916) 322-3254Fax (916) 327-3730Tdd (916) 327-3678

[email protected]

Kimberly L. McDaniel, Ph.D.Education Programs Consultant

Documents

Addressing Disproportionality in California's Special Education Programs Prepared by Dr. McDaniel 1 The California Picture Ethnic Disproportionality in