Placing Children in Special Education A Strategy for Equity (1982) / Chapter Skim
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Classifying Mentally Retarded Students: A Review of Placement Practices in Special Education
Classifying Mentally Retarded Students: A Review of Placement Practices in Special Education
Pages 182-229
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From page 182... ...
Sections three, four, and five review empirical research in the areas of evaluation, individual education plans and least restrictive environments, and parental involvement and due process procedures. The concluding section summarizes major trends in the empirical research on placement and minority representation in special education.
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and compensatory education programs are discussed where appropriate. Explicit attention is given to the empirical research on placement practices directly related to minority representation.
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From page 184... ...
A child enters the placement process either through referral by a teacher, parent, or administrator or through identification by some routine screening process, such as a review of test scores in a district (step 11. The referral is reviewed by an individual or group of persons who function as gatekeepers in the system (step 21.
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From page 185... ...
Most of the studies reviewed focus on the placement process, broadly defined, without specifically addressing the minority representation issue per se. However, much of what is uncovered is relevant to the question of minority representation in the sense that the results of these studies provide an important contextual background.
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Studies that specifically investigate issues related to minority representation are described in detail. Finally, it should be noted that the methodological strategies used in each study are not reviewed in depth, although the studies reviewed were selected on the basis of three criteria: (1)
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increased their special education population by more than 10,000 students in a single year. OSE reports that by 1979 approximately 3.71 million children were receiving special education services (USHEW, 1979b)
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. One study found that "school districts with more special education staff, facilities, and services identify more children needing help" (USHEW, 1979c:3~.
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The obvious question is: Are minority students referred at a higher rate, thus influencing the higher placement rate in EMR classes? A few studies have lool~ed at this question through the review of actual referral data.
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These researchers concluded their study with a call for further research to "determine if referral behaviors of minority students are quantitatively or qualitatively different from those of majority students, and the extent to which SES status alone would account for differences obtained" (p.
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Only race and sex were varied in the samples. These researchers reported that "black students, although with the very same mental capacity and achievement test scores were referred to EMR classes .
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If urban districts have more services available and more staff concerned with placement (this, of course, would have to be shown) , this availability coupled with the concentration of black students may act to inflate referral rates for these populations overall.
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From page 193... ...
300.532-41. Specific requirements for IEPs are that the document be a written record containing current levels of performance, annual and short-term goals, designation of the least restrictive environment, objective criteria and evaluation procedures, expected duration of services, and provisions for annual and three-year reviews (Sec.
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Another study (National Association of State Directors of Special Education, 1980) indicates that placement team meetings tend to be dominated by administrative personnel or psychologists.
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From page 195... ...
Since many referrals are made by teachers, the referral data may subtly influence the placement of the child. The importance of the referral statement to the final decision also adds additional significance to the findings cited above, that, on one hand, the referral process involved a great deal of personal discretion and that, on the other hand, in states with rigid criteria, the initial referral is made with a final potential placement already in mind.
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From page 196... ...
One major impression to be drawn from these studies is that placement decisions are remarkably inconsistent. This seems to be particularly true in LD placements (Larson, 1978; Thurlow and Ysseldyke, 1979; Ysseldyke et al., 1979a)
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From page 197... ...
The findings on the use of IQ in placement decisions, coupled with those concerning the importance of achievement to initial referral, suggest a process in which poor achievement "nominates" a student for assessment and the IQ "anoints" him or her in a particular classification. Minority Representation and Evaluation The major issue, and the focus of most of the research related to evaluation procedures and minority representation, concerns test bias and the possibility of developing technically sound and culturally fair test instruments.
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Several studies have examined the impact that the use of such additional measures might have on minority representation measures. One study (Fisher, 1977)
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Stevens reports that "the school district continues to have black EMR enrollment above the percent of its total black enrollment. However, the actual numbers of black students and the percentages have declined from 1976 to 1979 by 976 students or 19.6 percent" (p.
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One survey mentioned earlier (Poland et al., 1979) examined the influence of race on placement decisions and did not find this kind of relationship: Special education directors judged that the factors of race and sex were not influential in making a placement decision.
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The finding that is most relevant for the purpose of this paper concerns a three-way interaction effect in which more traditional psychologists tended to regard lower-income black students as less mentally retarded and less suitable for placement in a custodial care situation. Caution is warranted in interpreting such an interaction, as it would necessarily require further inspection and verification.
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Turning to other questions related to evaluation processes and minority representation, two studies (Mishra, 1980; Swanson and Deblassie, 1979) investigated the effects of test administration on their outcomes when bilingual Mexican-American students were involved.
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IEPS AND LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENTS The development of an IEP in the theoretical model of placement discussed earlier in this paper occurs after a child's assessment and determination of eligibility. In theory, once an IEP is developed, a placement decision is reached.
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A second problem concerns anxiety among participants over the use that was to be made of IEPs in evaluating special education services. Teachers and administrators seemed to be particularly concerned that IEPs would be used for purposes of accountability (Marver and David, 1978; National Association of State Directors of Special Education, 19801.
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From page 207... ...
While the final regulations specifically exempt special educators from accountability for the progress of an individual student, it is nevertheless important to understand where progress is being made in order to develop a better picture of the efficacy of special education programs generally. Requirements for Least Restrictive Environments A specific component of the IEP is the specification of the final placement of a child and the amount of regular instruction he or she will receive.
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From page 208... ...
Minority Representation and IEPs The writing of an IEP does not directly affect the numbers of minority children that are classified as EMR. However, it is important to know whether, in the process of writing IEPs and assigning the least restrictive environment, minority students are given significantly different goals and types of assignments.
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From page 209... ...
Research on parental involvement includes, of course, the examination of procedural due process mechanisms; it also extends to a consideration of the quality of the interaction between parents and school personnel as students are being identified, assessed, and placed in special education programs. Federal Mandate Specific due process regulations in P.L.
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From page 210... ...
Problems in Implementation Difficulties in implementing due process protections can be divided into two parts: one relating to parental involvement in decision making about placements and one relating to the use of hearings to resolve disputes. Several studies find that, while more parental contact has occurred in placement processes as a result of P.L.
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From page 211... ...
First, the due process procedures have tended to formalize the interactions between school officials and parents to the point, in some instances, where recordkeeping takes precedence over communication. Second, the costs, in terms of time and attorneys' fees to parents and districts, may have the effect of depressing the use of due process hearings in cases in which it is warranted.
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From page 212... ...
However, these studies do not provide specific information on the question of whether due process procedures are affecting the rates of minority representation in special education programs or whether they would affect these rates if parents were fully involved. Several studies have addressed the question of whether black parents and white parents are differentially treated during the evaluation process.
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The description here of the research on placement processes highlights both the progress made and the need for continued improvement. It also points out that gaps in knowledge still exist, particularly with regard to the impact of the law on minority students.
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Rigid eligibility criteria for specific programs in some districts actually influence the referral process. That is, students are not referred for a general assessment of needs, but rather for an ED, LD, or EMR evaluation.
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Some psychologists tended to place minority students at a lower rate (or in less restrictive environments) than their majority counterparts when majority students had similar test scores.
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Research on efficacy is needed, especially as efficacy relates to minority students. IEPS AND LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENTS Research on IEPS and least restrictive environments has investigated issues concerning the status of the implementation of P.L.
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Another study finds a tendency to place minority students in less restrictive environments than their white counterparts (Tomlinson et al., 1977~. This may be a result of a trend in the referral process that refers fewer majority students; these students pre
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School officials often see parental involvement as an unhelpful intrusion on the exercise of their professional expertise. Unrealistic regulations place extreme burdens on the time and energy of parents and school personnel in requiring attention to IEPs, more comprehensive assessment, and increased parental involvement all with due speed.
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From page 225... ...
Regardless of the circumstances of placement, one question remains: Does placement in special programs lead to the effective treatment of a child's actual problems? It is on these grounds that special education programs must justify themselves to minority students and to all other students who are placed in them.
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H 1977 Characteristics and classification of educable mentally retarded, learning disabled, and emotionally disturbed students.
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K 1978 Validity of psychologists' identification of educable mentally retarded students in the perspective of the California Recertification experience.
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J In Assessing mild mental retardation: the influence of adaptive behavior, sociocul press tural status and prospects for non-biased assessment.
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B 1979 Racial Determinants of Teacher's Perceptions of Placement of the Educable Mentally Retarded.
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