Disproportionality Main Page

Research Highlights

Models and Classroom Instruction

Case Study

Principles and Tips

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Definitions

Events

Case Study

Background
Awareness of Disproportionality and Community Response
Strategies that Address Disproportionality
Results of the Implementation
Discussion Questions

Background

Flowerton school district is located in an older suburb near Philadelphia and comprises families from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. The district enrolled 7,000 students during the 1992-1993 school year, which makes it a medium-sized school district in the state of Pennsylvania. School enrollment has been on the rise over the past several years and according to the assistant superintendent, the school district has built a solid reputation for educational excellence and high academic standards. More than 80 percent of the students matriculate to some form of higher education. Currently, the school district has 11 schools (6 elementary, 4 middle schools, and 1 high school) and approximately 10 percent of the district's school population receives a free or reduced-price lunch.

The percentage of students from minority racial and ethnic groups has roughly doubled over the past decade. The student population for 1999-2000 school year was 77 percent European-American, 15 percent African-American, 5 percent Asian-American, and 1 percent Latin-American. Although two minority community members (one African-American and one Asian American) currently participate on the nine-person school board, there is almost no representation of minorities on the teaching staff.

Special education data from the 1998-1999 school year (the most recent data available to the public) indicate disproportionality in three major disability categories-specific learning disability, serious emotional disturbance, and mental retardation. The percentages of African-American students in these categories are 20, 25, and 27 percent, respectively, compared with 15 percent of African-Americans in the total school population.

Awareness of Disproportionality and Community Response

In 1993 (approximately 5 years before the latest demographic data were reported), the State Department of Education (SDE) cited the Flowerton district as being disproportionate in several disability areas. Since then, principals have voiced concern about this issue and have discussed it at meetings with the superintendent, the assistant superintendent, and central administrative staff. However, the administrators feel at a loss to deal with the situation, because no one is certain of the best way to determine special education referral. Several administrators are aware that the assessment tools that Flowerton currently uses for referral may be biased toward middle-income European-American students. These administrators have brought up the subject of re-evaluating current assessment tools, but there is widespread consensus that developing and implementing new assessment methods would be too costly because money for support services in both special and regular education has become increasingly scarce over the years.

In addition to the main school board the district has a human relations board which typically meets four times a year and comprises school system and community leaders from minority and non-minority groups. Several African-Americans have been on the board since it was established in 1989, but in recent years no members from the Asian or Hispanic communities have been members on the board. To date, this board has not expressed concern about disproportionality, but has addressed two related issues: (1) recruitment of African-American staff and (2) representation of the African-American experience in the K-12 curriculum. As a result of the board's efforts, a revised recruitment policy has been adopted and a thorough analysis of the curriculum is currently under way.

The parent community has not voiced concern to school district officials about disproportionality. In fact, school district personnel have been told that families with children receiving special education services often move into the district to receive the high-quality services that Flowerton offers. Although some African-American community leaders have privately expressed concern about the relatively few African-American students in programs for the gifted, this concern has not become a public issue.

Strategies That Address Disproportionality

About a year ago, pressure to address minority disproportionality mounted heavily on Flowerton district officials because the SDE issued a follow-up to the 1993 citation, inquiring about plans to rectify the situation. Soon after, the superintendent, special education director, special education teachers, and several school principals met with SDE officials to discuss strategies for reducing the disproportionate representation of minority students in special education classes. During the meeting, everyone brainstormed different approaches to the complex issue. At the meeting's conclusion, Flowerton officials focused on two strategies they thought would work best for their district:

(1) Subscribing to an SDE-maintained listserv that provides information on disproportionality issues and links individuals from school districts and educational organizations nationwide,

(2) Implementing a prereferral approach in every school in the district.

The prereferral system is designed to support general education teachers with students who exhibit academic problems, behavior problems, or both, in class. Mandated by the 1990 State Special Education Regulations and Standards, the role of the preferral team is to identify effective instructional approaches for students prior to referral for special education services with the goal of maximizing individual success in the general education classroom. When a student is referred to the prereferral team, data such as school performance, reading ability, and behavior are collected and individual goals for the student are defined. The team meets, brainstorms strategies to meet the goals, and an action plan is developed. The strategies are in place for 30 school days. The team meets again to assess the progress that has been made and to determine which strategies will be continued. A "What Works" form ensures that successful interventions follow the student to the next grade level. The preferral process is a compilation of all the support systems available in the school. The prereferral team adapts the programs to fit the student's needs instead of placing the student in established programs.

Both SDE and district officials agreed that it would be most prudent to phase in TATs over a 4-year period, with a maximum of two schools beginning the process each school year. The purpose of slowly phasing the program into the district was to assess progress and the process of implementation with the goal of refining and adapting the program and its implementation to maximize success. State funds were provided to the districts to initiate the TAT and to offset the cost of a TAT support teacher. (The amended state law mandated such a team in at least one elementary school in each district by the 1996-1997 school year.)

After careful examination of the options, Flowerton adopted the TAT concept and sought training. The SDE trained the TATs, including the instructional support teacher, and then the district trained the school staff on how to access and use the prereferral intervention. The school staff underwent four to six training sessions. The training sessions were mandatory paid sessions in line with the negotiated teacher contracts.

A few months after the first TAT implementation, the assistant superintendent received information through the listserv about a program called Corrective Action Plan (CAP), which he presented to the district. This program was developed by an elementary school with a disproportionately high number of African American students receiving special education services. The CAP focuses on general education practices such as pre-referral intervention. The first part of the CAP profiles the students currently receiving services in the school by examining the medical, family and socioeconomic factors contributing to the need for such services. Taking this information into consideration, the CAP makes a commitment to the following:

• Continuing the TAT model
• Implementing behavioral interventions
• Expanding relationships with outside agencies
• Developing a parent support network
• Revising the Chapter I program to be an early intervention program
• Training the teaching staff to use effective instructional techniques/support (e.g., curriculum adaptation, curriculum-based assessment, flexible grouping, cooperative learning)
• Implementing conflict resolution, and peer mediation

Pursuant to the implementation of the TATs, CAP, and the efforts of the human relations board, the superintendent established a district-wide multicultural sensitivity committee. This committee, in turn, spurred the establishment of such an entity in all 11 schools. One task of the school-based committee is to provide quality professional development on multicultural issues. In the 1996-1997 school year, the district identified multicultural issues as one of the five major areas of need. An initiatives committee examined a broad array of multicultural issues (e.g., curriculum, hiring, training) with the goal of determining what was appropriate for the school district. The committee's recommendations will be incorporated into the strategic plan required by the state. New staff orientation includes training on working with a multicultural, multiethnic, and multilingual student body.

The special education director reinforced the work of the TATs and CAP by emphasizing that special education is not a place, but a system of support services available to students. No student enrolled in one of the district's 11 schools spends the full school day in a special education classroom. This is true even for students with disabilities who have recently returned to the community from out-of-district placements.

The Flowerton human relations board issued a recommendation that minority candidates be actively recruited for teaching positions in the district, which the superintendent approved and signed into policy. Over the last two years, about 25 percent of the elementary teaching staff have retired and are being replaced. During the interview process, prospective staff are asked to share their views about flexible grouping, cooperative learning, and TATs to determine whether their training and experience fit with the mission and orientation of the school district. In addition, the assistant superintendent and one African-American teacher now work with a group of community leaders to establish linkages with historically Black colleges and universities and other potential sources of teacher applicants.

Results of TAT Implementation to Date

The TAT/CAP effort has been in place in two Flowerton schools for one year. Thus far, its effects appear auspicious. Although special education demographic data are not yet available for the current school year, evidence indicates that the program already shows promise. In the end-of-the-year teacher's survey, 87 percent of general education teachers rated the TAT Support Teacher in their school as "helpful" or "very helpful." Additionally, there was a 60 percent increase from the previous year in teachers who rated the resources available to them as "good" or "excellent." Flowerton officials are encouraged by these early results and hope the results continue to be promising as they implement the program in more schools throughout the district. Further, as the first method of addressing disproportionality is taking hold and meeting success, several administrators have looked into the idea of using different methods of assessment for special education and hope to continue to implement new programs that address their needs.

Flowerton officials attribute the programs' success to two primary factors. First, collaboration increased among departments that previously had little interaction - Special Education, General Education, Curriculum, Pupil Services, Administration, and the Board of Human Relations. Second, the district significantly expanded its horizons by linking with different districts and organizations to learn about new opportunities for improvement. As one administrator put it, "Without the Internet and other technological advances, very little of this would have been possible."

Discussion Questions

1. Who are the major stakeholders in this story? How do they react and reflect on the school system? Are any stakeholders not mentioned who have a vested interest in the school and the problem of disproportionate representation of minority children in the special education programs?

2. Does the district's explanation seem reasonable that the special education data appears disproportionate because minority racial/ethic students enter the district with IEPs and are being served in the district's consortium arrangement? What other factors might explain the special education data? Why might the district not have realized these other factors?

3. The parents in Flowerton have not expressed any concerns about disproportionality. Do you think that the parents, particularly African American parents are aware that the problems exist? What strategies might benefit the district's efforts to collaborate with parents to keep them informed and involved? What, if anything, can parents do to decrease the disproportion? Who might be resistant to this effort? Why might they feel his way?

4. How might a district-wide multicultural sensitivity committee help to address the issue of disproportionality in the school district?

5. In what ways could professional development on multicultural issues help to reduce the number of minorities in special education programs?

The Teacher Assistance Team (TAT) is made up of members from three departments: Curriculum, Pupil Services, and Special Education.

6. What do you think the rationale was for including members from these areas?

7. Are all of these departments necessary?

8. Were other potentially beneficial departments overlooked?

9. Would the members be different for elementary and secondary schools?

10. If so, why would such differences be necessary?

This case study was based on a study from a Guide Prepared by Project Forum at NASDSE: Strategies That Address the Disproportionate Number of Students from Racial/Ethnic Minority Groups Receiving Special Education Services: Case Studies of Selected States and School Districts.

Back to Top