“Years of research point to inequities in education for students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, and students with disabilities. These inequities are particularly apparent when it comes to rates of discipline and special education enrollment. The term “significant disproportionality” is used to describe the widespread trend of students of certain racial and ethnic groups being identified for special education, placed in more restrictive educational settings, and disciplined at markedly higher rates than their peers.
Due to bias within the education system (including within assessments and academic and other policies), students of color can be misidentified as needing special education, and are then placed in more restrictive settings and experience harsher discipline because of the intersectionality of race and special education. Being misidentified as needing special education, placed in a restrictive setting, or disciplined more harshly can negatively affect student outcomes. It is imperative that education professionals and policymakers understand the magnitude of significant disproportionality for students of different races, ethnicities, and incomes and take actions to correct it.

Significant Disproportionality

In general, significant disproportionality can lead to poor academic outcomes for students. However, there are unique considerations for Black students … . Black children are overrepresented in special education and are subject to harsher discipline than their White peers.

…Black students are subject to disparities in special education identification and discipline practices but have a unique experience compared to other students of color.” https://www.ncld.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2020-NCLD-Disproportionality_Black-Students

The “unique experience” mentioned above is slavery’s residual, which is, waking up black in America, every day! Being black in America is inherently rife with significant overt and covert traumatizing and re-traumatizing experiences from birth to death. The epigenetic markers from ancestral slavery are carried into the classroom every day on the genes of unsuspecting African American students. That ancestral trauma combines with the historical trauma of African Americans in America, leaving emotional scarring as a result of living in a racially hostile environment. Layered with probable childhood ACEs, all of this leads to a buildup of trauma scar tissue that goes unrecognized by the trauma indifferent and trauma uninformed educator. To the untrained, uninformed, indifferent educator, that trauma scar tissue can manifest itself in perceived behavior difficulties that lead to discipline disparity; “poor” academic achievement, leading to special education identification; and, of course, denied access to advanced coursework.

States and districts can… focus on:

• seeking outside expertise to implement training on disability identification that includes considerations for linguistic and cultural differences;
• investing in and prioritizing hiring educational professionals with expertise in cultural and linguistic consideration in identification;
• completing an audit of their discipline and special education policies and processes to uncover and address bias within the system itself and the actors within the system; and
• investing in developing relationships with families and creating an open dialogue with parents and families to better understand a student’s familial, social, and cultural background and to incorporate parents’ observations into the special education evaluation.” https://www.ncld.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2020-NCLD-Disproportionality_Black-Students

Other Resources:

Addressing Race and Trauma
in the Classroom: A Resource for Educators The National Child Traumatic Stress Network