Identifying Racial and Socioeconomic Biases in New Jersey Special Education Eligibility

Autor/inn/en	Papandrea, Megan Theresa; Namazi, Mahchid; Ghanim, Iyad; Patten, Sarah
Titel	Identifying Racial and Socioeconomic Biases in New Jersey Special Education Eligibility
Quelle	In: Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 54 (2023) 2, S.600-617 (18 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Namazi, Mahchid)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0161-1461
Schlagwörter	Eligibility; Racism; Social Bias; Special Education; Socioeconomic Status; Cultural Background; Children; Minority Group Students; Low Income Students; Student Placement; Disproportionate Representation; Educational Legislation; Equal Education; Federal Legislation; Students with Disabilities; Standardized Tests; New Jersey + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Eignung; Rassismus; Special needs education; Sonderpädagogik; Sonderschulwesen; Socio-economic status; Sozioökonomischer Status; Child; Kind; Kinder; Schülerpraktikum; Bildungsrecht; Schulgesetz; Bundesrecht; Student; Students; Disability; Disabilities; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin; Behinderung; Standadised tests; Standardisierter Test
Abstract	Purpose: This study aimed to determine if eligibility for special education and related services (SERS) in New Jersey (NJ) is biased based on a child's racial/ cultural background or socioeconomic status (SES). Method: A Qualtrics survey was administered to NJ child study team personnel including speech-language pathologists, school psychologists, learning disabilities teacher-consultants, and school social workers. Participants were presented with four hypothetical case studies, which differed only in racial/cultural background or SES. Participants were asked to make SERS eligibility recommendations about each case study. Results: An aligned rank transform analysis of variance test found a significant effect of race on SERS eligibility decisions, F(2, 272) = 2.391, p = 0.093. Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests further yielded that Black children had significantly higher levels of SERS ineligibility at the high-SES (z = -2.648, p = 0.008) and mid-SES (z = -2.660, p = 0.008) levels compared to White children. When comparing SES levels within race using Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests, White low-SES children had significantly higher levels of ineligibility for SERS compared to White high-SES children (z = -2.008, p = 0.045). These results suggest that Black children from high/mid SES are treated comparably to White children from low SES; these groups are more likely to be found ineligible for SERS compared to peers. Conclusions: Both race and SES play a role in SERS eligibility decisions in NJ. Students who are Black and/or from low-SES households are at risk for facing significant biases in schools that influence their educational placements. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 2200 Research Blvd #250, Rockville, MD 20850. Tel: 301-296-5700; Fax: 301-296-8580; e-mail: lshss@asha.org; Web site: http://lshss.pubs.asha.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01