Number
and Percentage of Students in Special Education by Race/Ethnicity and
Disability: 1994
|
|
White,
non-Hispanic |
Black,
non-Hispanic |
Hispanic |
American
Indian |
Asian/ Pacific
Islander |
Total |
|
Learning
Disabilities |
5.7% 1,587,918 |
5.7% 407,848 |
5.7% 308,136 |
7.3% 32,413 |
2.0% 31,968 |
5.5% 2,368,283 |
|
Mental
Retardation |
1.2% 350,699 |
2.6% 190,885 |
0.9% 50,091 |
1.6% 7,152 |
0.5% 8,197 |
1.4% 607,024 |
|
Emotional
Disturbance |
0.8% 214,442 |
1.1% 80,253 |
0.5% 25,514 |
0.9% 4,227 |
0.2% 2,786 |
0.8% 327,222 |
|
Total
Student Population by Race/Ethnicity |
28,039,068 |
7,193,038 |
5,425,976 |
445,105 |
1,588,124 |
42,691,311 |
Source:
U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 1994 Elementary
and Secondary School Compliance Reports.
Summary
The
disproportionate representation of racial and ethnic minorities in special
education has been an issue for educators for more than 25 years, yet African
American students continue to be overrepresented in programs for students with
mental retardation. Furthermore,
relative to White, non-Hispanic students, Asian students are underrepresented in
all four of the disability categories for which the OCR collects data.
It has been postulated that poverty,
rather than race/ethnicity, may account for some of the overrepresentation of
minorities in special education programs. Therefore,
without attention to poverty and its effects on children, the use of unbiased
assessment alone will not eradicate the disproportionate representation
described.