ERIC Number: EJ1308001
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1547-1888
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Interrogating the Special Education Identification Process for Black Indigenous Students of Color
Connelly, Jeanne
Multiple Voices: Disability, Race, and Language Intersections in Special Education, v21 n1 p78-92 Spr-Sum 2021
The initial special education identification process (SPED IDP) determines which students have disabilities and corresponding rights to IDEA supports. However, the disproportionate identification of Black, Indigenous Students of Color (BISOC) as emotionally disturbed necessitates the problematizing of special education structures within the SPED IDP. This critical analysis of current norms of practice within SPED IDP structures discusses hidden ideologies of Whiteness, ableism, and racism. I apply DisCrit and Whiteness Studies frameworks to interrogate power within three SPED IDP structures (a) multidisciplinary team (MDT) decision-making, (b) social-emotional-behavioral (SEB) assessments and data collection, and (c) categorical identification of emotional disturbance (ED). I include critical reflection on my professional practice in elementary schools, consider my complicity as a member of MDTs, and offer critical questions for practitioners.
Descriptors: Special Education, Disability Identification, African American Students, Indigenous Populations, Minority Group Students, Racial Bias, Ethnicity, Social Bias, Attitudes toward Disabilities, Students with Disabilities, Power Structure, Participative Decision Making, Teamwork, Emotional Disturbances, Critical Theory, Race, Whites, Social Development, Emotional Development, Labeling (of Persons)
Division for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners, Council for Exceptional Children. Great Lakes Equity Center. Indiana University School of Education-IUPUI, 902 W. New York St., Indianapolis, IN 46202. Tel: 317-278-3493; e-mail: mvjourn@iupui.edu; Web site: https://meridian.allenpress.com/mvedel
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A