California's Efforts to Mitigate Significant Disproportionality of African American Students in Special Education

Disproportionality of African American students in special education is a component of current racial injustices. African American youth are often assessed for and inappropriately identified as a student with a disability at higher rates than other ethnic and racial groups. California Department of Education enlisted the State Performance Plan Technical Assistance Project (SPP-TAP) to support local educational agencies (LEAs) identified for having significant overrepresentation of African American students within special education. In this study, five LEAs identified as significantly disproportionate in California were examined. The degree of adherence to research-based strategies in LEAs’ improvement plans was examined. LEAs’ improvement plans were also qualitatively analyzed based on a Critical Race Theory framework. Rates of disproportionality across 4 years were examined. LEAs’ improvement plans were rated highest on focus areas for intervention and lowest in evaluating these efforts, and four LEAs decreased rates of disproportionality. Implications for LEAs’ practices to curb rates of disproportionality of African American students in special education in California are then discussed