Introduction to the Special Issue: Establishing More Equitable Systems in Schools

Abstract

Keywords

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

—The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)

Two of the most profound educational laws passed in this country include Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 (Brown, 1954) and Public Law 94-142 in 1975 (IDEA, 2004). Both of these laws sought to end some of the greatest injustices to children in our society, including segregation based on race and rejection of children with disabilities from receiving a free appropriate public education (FAPE). Even though these laws were passed many decades ago, today, one of the greatest challenges within public schools in the United States continues to be establishing more equitable systems. Individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those at risk, those with disabilities, and those with language differences, continue to enter schools that are not fully equipped to meet them, embrace and harness their differences, and teach them (Coutinho, Oswald, & Best, 2002; Moore et al., 2010; Skiba, Albrecht, & Losen, 2013). Sadly, students who demonstrate the greatest needs for support are often met with ineffective and sometimes detrimental practices. Inequities and disparities appear to be a function of a widespread range of variables, from an educator’s interpretation of behaviors and behavior management to cultural competency (Banks & Banks, 2012; Coutinho et al., 2002; Krezmien, Leone, & Achilles, 2006; Ladson-Billings, 1995; Okonofua & Eberhardt, 2015; Skiba et al., 2013; Skiba, Michael, Nardo, & Peterson, 2002), which are beyond the scope of this special issue. Despite growing concern with data from inequities over the past decade, very little progress has been made to date in reducing these disparities (Coutinho et al., 2002; Skiba et al., 2013). Thus, there is much room for improvement in this area overall, and this special issue is devoted to addressing this area for specific groups who are vulnerable for failure due to disabilities and risk for failure.

Preparing systems and personnel in schools to be more successful in meeting the needs of learners who are racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse (RECLD) and have disabilities is multifaceted. As a first step, educational professionals need to understand what is needed to establish more culturally responsive systems and the importance of this area for individual schools and society. This may be emphasized and reflected in inservice education, administrators, and as an overall commitment to educate all children and build a safe, effective climate where all feel valued and celebrated and can be successful. Schools also need to devote time and resources to building capacity to begin to adopt new practices and evaluate data, practices, systems, and policies currently in place. Finally, schools need to use the most effective, evidence-based practices to support learners with disabilities from diverse backgrounds.

Before schools can select practices that are the most effective, research studies need to have investigated the practice with specific samples that have characteristics that are reflective of the students intended to receive the practices. In schools that are committed to using research-based practices, research needs to be conducted, practice guidelines need to be established, and then it all needs to be disseminated to schools. Centers, organizations, and professional development staff are committed to assisting in the dissemination. But first, there needs to be research to direct practices (Yell, 2009). This is challenging as culturally responsive school practices have little research foundation and are often reliant on general themes from what is known of specific cultural groups and presumed preferences and values. Furthermore, the majority of research in some areas is qualitative (Shippen, Curtis, & Miller, 2009; Skiba, Poloni-Staudinger, Gallini, Simmons, & Feggins-Azziz, 2006) and cannot be generalized to different problems or schools.

Fortunately, there are emerging and established research-based or research-grounded approaches that can be utilized (Sugai, Sprague, Horner, & Walker, 2000). This special issue features strategies that can be used with students with disabilities and from diverse cultures. Given the span of time for evidence-based practices to be implemented after established in the field of education (Walker, 2004), it is important to use research to help shape practices as quickly as available while using data to monitor the effectiveness of all practices. The articles in the issue span areas including overall lesson planning, reading, implementing a peer-based intervention, and utilizing data to guide needed changes to practices. Themes across articles include the need to be focused, intentional, and structured in the way change is implemented within practices, systems, and interventions.

In the first article, Green and Stormont present specific strategies for teachers to create more culturally responsive and evidence-based lesson plans for students with disabilities from RECLD backgrounds. The strategies discussed in the article blend culturally responsive practices that create more continuity for students across their home, school, and community environments as well as evidence-based social behavior strategies. A sample lesson is provided on a recommended lesson plan template to (a) demonstrate how culturally responsive and evidence-based practices can be embedded within a math lesson and (b) assist teachers in implementing strategies with fidelity. Research has demonstrated that implementing evidence-based practices and sustaining those practices can be effective academically and behaviorally for students at risk or students with challenging behavior (Simonsen, Fairbanks, Briesch, Myers, & Sugai, 2008). This article includes multiple concrete ways to help teachers use and maintain optimal rates of evidence-based practices through the use of a scripted lesson plan and fidelity checklist.

McIntosh, Elwood, McCall, and Girvan discuss using data from discipline referrals within a positive behavior interventions and support (PBIS) framework to increase equity in school discipline. This second article addresses a significant educational problem, that of disproportionality in disciplinary practices for students from African American backgrounds, which is significant and has been a concern since before P.L. 94-142 was passed in 1975. For students with disabilities, these problems are even more significant. The innovative and practical approach discussed in this article can reduce inequities for students with disabilities from culturally diverse backgrounds. A case example is used to illustrate how a school used discipline data to identify, target, teach, and monitor specific problem behavior that was contributing to disciplinary referrals. The article provides a strong rationale and framework from which schools can begin to employ these practices in their schools.

The third article by Kourea, Gibson, and Werunga posits that culturally responsive and reflective educators build teacher-student relationships and use these relationships and the experiences of their students during the delivery of instruction. By assessing three domains of culturally responsive reading instruction (i.e., instructional delivery, environmental support, and curriculum context) for students with learning disabilities, the authors provide specific strategies to assist teachers in meeting the diverse needs of their students through culturally responsive reading instruction. This article is significant in that it provides another way of addressing the academic achievement gap, specifically in reading achievement, between students from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds with varying abilities and their White peers.

In the final article, Thorius and Graff provide suggestions for specifically incorporating diversity into the Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies in Reading (PALS) for Grades 2–6 by extending PALS to address student goals, teacher-selected materials, PALS methods, and assessment practices. Addressing the need to extend PALS in the aforementioned ways is critical as it provides a way to reposition and empower students from racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse backgrounds and students with disabilities and increases their school and post-school outcomes.

Conclusion

The time to increase opportunities for equity in public schools for all students is now. Students with disabilities from racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse backgrounds need schools that are prepared to harness and celebrate their differences (Moore Partin et al., 2010). The task of preparing systems and personnel in schools to develop more equitable practices for all students is multifaceted and requires commitment, resources, and time. However, the costs of not establishing fair, equitable practices are quite high (Coutinho et al., 2002; Skiba et al., 2013). The need to change practices in schools is clearly underscored in law, which mandates the use of positive and proactive practices as well as scientifically evidence-based practices (IDEA, 2004; Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, 2016). The purpose of this issue is to offer practitioners several options for embedding culturally responsive practices and using commonly gathered data to guide changes needed in practices to meet a goal of being more equitable in practices in schools.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

Banks

J. A.

Banks

C. A. M.

(2012). Multicultural education: Issues and Perspectives. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).

Coutinho

M. J.

Oswald

D. P.

Best

A. M.

(2002). The influence of sociodemographics and gender on the disproportionate identification of minority students as having learning disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 23, 49–59.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 USC §1401(d)(l)(A), 2004.

King

M. L.

(1963). Letter from a Birmingham jail. Tuscaloosa, AL: Author.

Krezmien

M. P.

Leone

P. E.

Achilles

G. M.

(2006). Suspension, race,and disability: Analysis of statewide practices and reporting. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 14(4), 217–226.

Ladson-Billings

(1995). But that’s just good teaching! The case for culturally relevant pedagogy. Theory Into Practice, 34(3), 159–165.

Moore Partin

T. C.

Robertson

R. E.

Maggin

D. M.

Oliver

R. M.

Wehby

J. H.

(2010). Using teacher praise and opportunites to respond to promote appropriate student behavior. Preseventing School Failure, 54(3), 172–178.

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. (2016). Assistance to states for the education of children with disabilities; preschool grants for children with disabilities. Federal Register, 81(243), 92376–92464.

10.

Okonofua

J. A.

Eberhardt

J. L.

(2015). Two strikes: Race and the disciplining of young students. Psychological Science, 26(5), 1–8.

11.

Shippen

M. E.

Curtis

Miller

(2009). A qualitative analysis of teachers’ and counselors’ perceptions of the overrepresentation of African Americans in special education: A preliminary study. Teacher Education and Special Education, 32(3), 226–238.

12.

Simonsen

Fairbanks

Briesch

Myers

Sugai

(2008). Evidence-based practices in classroom management: Considerations for research to practice. Education and Treatment of Children, 31(3), 351–380.

13.

Skiba

R. J.

Albrecht

S. F.

Losen

D. J.

(2013). CCBD’s position summary on federal policy on disproportionality in special education. Behavioral Disorders, 38(2), 108–120.

14.

Skiba

R. J.

Michael

R. S.

Nardo

A. C.

Peterson

R. L.

(2002). The color of discipline: Sources of racial and gender disproportionality in school punishment. The Urban Review, 34(4), 317–342.

15.

Skiba

R. J.

Poloni-Staudinger

Gallini

Simmons

Feggins-Azziz

(2006). Disparate access: The disproportionality of African American students with disabilities across educational environments. Exceptional Children, 72(4), 411–424.

16.

Sugai

Sprague

J. R.

Horner

R. H.

Walker

H. M.

(2000). Preventing school violence: The use of office discipline referrals to assess and monitor school-wide discipline interventions. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 8(2), 94–101.

17.

Walker

H. M.

(2004). Commentary: Use of evidence-based intervention in schools: Where we’ve been, where we are, and where we need to go. School Psychology Review, 33(3), 398–407.

18.

Yell

(2009). Teaching students with EBD I: Effective teaching. In Yell

Meadows

Drasgow

Shriner

(Eds.), Evidence-based practices for educating students with emotional and behavioral disorders (pp. 320–341). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Pearson.