Disproportionality

Two student silhouettes face each other one overflowing with vegetation and the other almost empty by comparison. Learning Differences. Over and under diagnosis.
Nix Ren for Education Week
Special Education 'Handcuffed and Pushed Out': How Schools Fail Some Students With Disabilities
What can happen to students and schools when disabilities are over- and under-identified in children.
Brooke Schultz, October 7, 2024
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8 min read
Photo of teen girl waiting outside office.
iStock
School Climate & Safety How Did School Discipline Get Dragged Into the Presidential Election?
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have different track records on racial disparities in school discipline.
Libby Stanford, September 30, 2024
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9 min read
Sign on door that reads "Principal's Office" from a school.
Liz Yap/education Week with E+
Equity & Diversity Educators Tend to View Black Girls More Harshly. Here Are the Consequences
Schools discipline Black girls more frequently and severely than their white peers—even for similar incidents.
Brooke Schultz, September 19, 2024
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8 min read
Timothy Allison, a collaborative special education teacher in Birmingham, Ala., works with a student at Sun Valley Elementary School on Sept. 8, 2022.
Timothy Allison, a collaborative special education teacher in Birmingham, Ala., works with a student at Sun Valley Elementary School on Sept. 8, 2022.
Jay Reeves/AP
Special Education How a Mindset Shift Can Help Solve Special Education Misidentification
Many educators face the problem of misidentification of special education students. Here are strategies educators are using to fix it.
Isaiah Hayes, June 27, 2024
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3 min read
Tue., June 18, 2024, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
Special Education Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table - Special Education: Proven Interventions for Academic Success
Special education should be a launchpad, not a label. Join the conversation on how schools can better support ALL students.
Register
June 18, 2024
Glossary abstract concept open book with special education iconography
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + iStock/Getty Images
Special Education Explainer A Guide to Special Education Terms
The number of students in special education has increased steadily in the last four decades. Here are some of the common terms used.
Brooke Schultz, May 21, 2024
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7 min read
The image displays a lonely teenage boy facing away from the camera, sitting on the curb in front of his high school.
Discipline data from the 2020-21 pandemic era, released by the U.S. Department of Education, shows persisting disparities in discipline based on race and disability status.
iStock/Getty
School Climate & Safety Disparities, Bullying, and Corporal Punishment: The Latest Federal Discipline Data
As most schools offered hybrid instruction in 2020-21, Black students and students with disabilities were disproportionately disciplined.
Eesha Pendharkar, November 21, 2023
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5 min read
Tanya Holyfield, a second grade teacher with Manchester Academic Charter School, teaches remote students from her classroom on March 4, 2021, in Pittsburgh.
Tanya Holyfield, a 2nd grade teacher at Manchester Academic Charter School, teaches remote students from her classroom on March 4, 2021, in Pittsburgh. New federal data from the 2020-21 school year show that longstanding inequities among groups of students did not change much even in a year when many students spent all or part of the year in remote and hybrid learning.
Andrew Rus/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP
Equity & Diversity What the Research Says New National Data Show Depth of Disparities in a Chaotic Year of Schooling
The first federal civil rights data released since the pandemic show that inequities persisted even when school buildings shut down.
Eesha Pendharkar & Sarah D. Sparks, November 15, 2023
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10 min read
Special Education Reports Gifted Education: Results of a National Survey
Learn more about how districts and schools define, identify, serve, and instruct students in gifted and talented programs.
November 25, 2019
Fifth grader Zachary is among the growing number of students identified as “twice exceptional” in Sacramento, Calif.
Fifth grader Zachary is among the growing number of students identified as “twice exceptional” in Sacramento, Calif.
Sarahbeth Maney for Education Week
Special Education 'Twice Exceptional' Students Miss Out on Gifted Classes
Students who both have disabilities and are gifted are often overlooked when it comes to screening for gifted education. A California district found that it could buck the trend by casting a wider net for gifted students.
Alex Harwin, November 25, 2019
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7 min read
After reading the book, “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,” gifted education teacher Tiffani Morrison asks kindergarten students at Wheeler Elementary School in Louisville, Ky., to draw “what they would want to have fall from the sky if they could choose anything.”
After reading the book, “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,” gifted education teacher Tiffani Morrison asks kindergarten students at Wheeler Elementary School in Louisville, Ky., to draw “what they would want to have fall from the sky if they could choose anything.”
Jared Hamilton for Education Week
Special Education Pointillism in 1st Grade? Teachers Use Unfamiliar Lessons to Mine for Giftedness
Some districts are using new “response lessons” to identify the talented students that traditional assessments miss.
Sarah D. Sparks, November 25, 2019
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6 min read
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Special Education From Our Research Center Even Gifted Educators Say Their Classes Don't Reach All Who Need Them
Students of color, low-income students, and English-language learners are underrepresented in gifted classes, according to a survey.
Corey Mitchell, November 25, 2019
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5 min read
Special Education Does Special Education Work for Students With Learning Disabilities?
The answer is yes, especially for students who enter special education before middle school, find the authors of a recent report.
Corey Mitchell, November 6, 2019
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3 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
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Teaching Profession The Push to Get More Teachers of Color in Special Education Classrooms
Eight in 10 special educators are white, but some teacher-preparation programs are working to make the field more diverse.
Madeline Will & Corey Mitchell, September 9, 2019
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7 min read
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