Correcting Misconceptions of Racial/Ethnic Bias in Mild Disability Identification and Labeling Research

• In Event: 29.060 - Uncovering Complexity: Intersectionality and Interdisciplinary Approaches

Abstract

Some argue the disproportionate identification and labeling of nonwhite minority students for mild disabilities reflects racial/ethnic bias, while others stress that the underlying reason is SES disparities along racial/ethnic lines. The research informing this debate treats race/ethnicity and SES as competing factors despite their inherent conflation. We advocate a view of bias that is essentially independent of SES effects, one allowing the possibility for bias to exist despite the disadvantages of low SES disproportionately affecting nonwhite students. This view sets the stage for utilizing propensity score reweighting (PSR) methodology, an approach that approximates a robust experimental design in using observational (non-experimental) data to examine bias. We find evidence of significant bias in identification and labeling across multiple grades.

Authors

• Thomas M. Skrtic, The University of Kansas

• Argun Saatcioglu, The University of Kansas

• Austin Nichols

• Eugene T. Parker, The University of Kansas