The Overrepresentation of African American Males in Special Education Classroom: Advantages of Single Sex Education

African American males are more likely to be placed in a special education classroom setting than any other racial and gender combination. Current research suggests that African American males are less likely to be placed in a special education classroom if they attend a single sex school. With this information, I wanted to find out if the current literature review research could be applied to the Rochester City School District. I analyzed public data provided by the New York State Department of Education. I looked at three particular schools in the Rochester City School District, Leadership Academy for Young men, an all male public school, East High School, a multi-gender school with a similar population, and James Monroe High School, a multi-gender school with a larger population. Through my data analysis, I was able to conclude that the current literature review research can be applied to the Rochester City School District. At the Leadership Academy for Young Men, African American males only made up 17% of the total population labeled as having a disability, whereas at East High School, African American males made up 26% of the total population labeled as having a disability. This data supports the theory that African American males are less likely to be placed in a special education classroom if they attend a single sex school