Beyond Over-representation: The Problem of Bias in the Inclusion of Minority Group Students in Special Education Programs

Abstract

The over-representation of ethnic and cultural minorities in Special Education Programs (SEPs) is a problem for education systems whenever objective features in each subject cannot explain this excess. In contrast to what is normally claimed, the problem lies not in over-representation of minorities, but in bias against these groups. In this article, bias is defined as the difference between the probability of being included in a SEP conditioned not only by belonging to an ethnic minority group, but also by the presence or absence of objectively-identifiable problems.

The normal procedure for determining over-representation is based on an analysis of the remainder from a logistic model in which the dependent variable is given by an odds ratio. However, over-representation does not necessarily show the presence of bias. In this article, we argue that the presence of bias can be demonstrated using the density of minorities in each district as a predictor of over-representation.

In order to determine the presence of bias, this article proposes three methodological changes to the normal procedure for the measurement of over-representation. First, a modification is suggested for the calculation of the traditional odds ratio, taking as the reference group the culturally dominant group, independent of its size in the given district. Second, the criteria for the determination of over-representation are the statistical significance of the difference in the proportion of minority students when compared to the reference group. Finally, the density of minorities is used as a predictor of statistically significant differential placement (SSDP).

To illustrate the method, data from The Fall 1994 Elementary and Secondary School Civil Rights Compliance Report (U.S. Department of Education, 1994) is used. Using this data we will describe the pattern of Differential Placement (DP) of ethnic minority students in the disabled programs of Serious Learning Disabilities (SLD) and Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) using the variable of minority density in the district.

Results show ethnic minority membership implies a higher chance of being placed in the SEP mentioned below. However, as minority group density increases, this probability also increases to a maximum point. At this point, the probability of minority students being diverted towards a Disabled Program starts to decrease. This inflexion point in the distribution of placement changes according to ethnic minority group and SEP. The innovative feature of this work is the study of the density of minority groups as the main predictor of over-representation in SEPs.