State Reporting of Overrepresentation: Does Policy Legitimize the Racialization of Disability?

• In Event: 46.085 - Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: 46.085-7 - Disciplining From Washington: Analyses of Federal Policy

Abstract

This article examines the issues surrounding the equity-focused legal reform that prioritized disproportionality. We present a critique of the federal policy focused on the lack of a definition of “significant disproportionality” and on the methods (risk ratios) of reporting of disproportionality. We posit that federal compliance reporting limits meaningful approaches to addressing inequities inherent in school systems and reinforces these inequities. Based on the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) compliance reports submitted to Congress, we report each states’ definitions of and methods of calculation of disproportionality. We suggest that the absence of a federal definition of “significant” overrepresentation in IDEA, coupled with variability in operationalization of overrepresentation, nullify the purported goal of the mandates designed to reduce disproportionality.

Authors

• Wendy Morrison Cavendish, University of Miami

• Alfredo J. Artiles, Arizona State University

• Beth Harry, University of Miami

• Anabel Espinosa, University of Miami

• Ana Maria Menda, University of Nevada - Las Vegas

• Margarette Mahotiere, University of Miami