African American Achievement, Access, and Wellness: Beyond Disproportionality

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African American Achievement, Access, and Wellness: Beyond Dispropor9onality

A Presenta9on at CASP Conference April 18, 2013 Dr. Brandon E. Gamble

AA Access, Achievement & Wellness

1

Objec9ve

ì  Address ideas beyond assessment towards empowering communi9es to improve the achievement and wellness of African American youth


2

Topics

ì  Common issues in access to quality services and schooling

ì  Theory – Discrimina9on & Determina9on Cycles

ì  Over-‐representa9on in special educa9on in CA (e.g. 5 different coun9es)

ì  Cri9cal Race Theory

ì  Issues and Alterna9ves

ì  Recommenda9ons


3

Today’s Situa,on

ì  Overrepresenta9on and Achievement gap between Black students and White students … last 50+ years (Algozzine et al, 2002; NABSE, 2002)

ì  Dispropor9onate sentencing of minority youth mirrors the trend of ED placements (Noguera, 2003)

ì  One large urban district’s school psychologists were shocked and embarrassed when put under an independent monitor study (Hernandez & Ramanathan,

2006).


4

Common Issues w/ Access

ì  Policy inconsistently applied or no policy in place à Discrimina9on

ì  School psychologists in 2006 (Dawson & Simmons) survey from N. CA Diagnos9c Center, many unsure of policy

ì  Graves and Mitchell (2011) most African American school psychs in the survey felt RtI would fare no be`er in addressing issues of dispropor9onal placement

ì  Dr. Dizon’s recent study (2013) found similar issues.

ì  Despite over 30 years of test ban in CA dispropor9onality remains (Powers, Hagans, & Restori, 2004)…


5

Psych Services Issues with Access

ì  The 6 hour retarded child. Able to func9on and church and home but not school. EMR classes (Hilliard, 1992)…

ì  80-‐90’s IQ tes9ng stopped in CA and revisited elsewhere & ED became a broader category (Powers, Hagans, & Restori, 2004)

ì  Brown v. Board of Educa,on was about access to high quality text books and facili9es

ì  Larry P, Pase v. Hannon in Chicago, and Consent Decree in a large S. Cal District (more specific examples next)

ì  About high quality access to the best in psychological services and placements…


6

Discrimina8on Cycle Gamble©2011

Discrimina8on

Disorienta8on

Numb or highly Emo8onal

Random Ac8on

Disempowerment


7

Gamble©2011 Determina8on Cycle

Determina8on

Oriented

Confident and Passionate

Plan of Ac8on

Empowerment


8

Independent Monitor Study (Hernandez & Ramanathan, 2006)

ì  A large urban Southern California school district. N ~ 450

ì  Poor assessment prac9ces monitored by an independent auditor

ì  The situa9on was so bad the evaluators could not even determine if students were appropriately placed, psych reports were accurate, and/or if a consistent process was followed


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Indp. Monitor Study Viola,ons (Hernandez & Ramanathan, 2006)

ì  No parent at 1st IEP

ì  No psychological report

ì  No clear ED defini9on just a box checked

ì  No Counseling services, goals&/or behavior plan

ì  Made some improvements in this district by 3rd year via 9ght protocols, 3 team panel on ED, and ongoing training


10

Discipline & “Juvenile Injus9ce” Issues w/ Access

ì  CA’s School to Prison Pipeline

ì  African-‐American students are far more likely than their white peers to be suspended, expelled, or arrested for the same kind of conduct at school (Skiba, 2000)

ì  There is no evidence that students of color misbehave to a greater degree than white students. They are, however, punished more severely, oken for behaviors that are less serious (Snyder, 2003).

ì  Policy of 0 tolerance cri9qued (e.g. ACLU, CA Endowment, Children’s Defense Fund, US Department of educa9on etc.)


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Na,onal Trend (Legal)

IDEA Requires that we keep track of Dispropor9onality:

ì  IDEA 1997 34 CFR 300.755: Dispropor9onality… Each state that receives assistance… shall provide for the collec9on and examina9on of data to determine if significant dispropor9onality based on race is occurring in the state…

ì  Placement… Review and revision of policies, prac9ces, and procedures. In the case of a determina9on of significant dispropor9onality with respect to the iden9fica9on of children… with disabili9es, of the placement in par9cular educa9on sepngs…


12

Na,onal Trends Overrepresenta,on

ì  “Overrepresenta9on… occurs when a group’s membership in the program is larger than the percentage of that group in the educa9on system within a given disability category (NABSE, 2002)

ì  26.4% of students are placed in special educa9on due to ED are Black vs. 17% of Black students in the general popula9on (CEC, 2005)

ì  Some large urban districts that 26.4% is 40 or 50%.

ì  Hasn’t changed much


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Na,onal Trend Contd.

ì  Black students are 1.6% of all students placed in ED classes vs. 1.0% of White students in ED Classes (Reschly, 2003)

ì  No other ethnic group besides Blacks are overrepresented in ED placements

ì  Trend is similar across na9on, state, and local southern CA school districts


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CA African American Sp Ed % by Disability (CA Dept. of Ed. 2011)

10.3

19.4

12.4 11.25

7.4

0

5

10

15

20

25

MR/ID ED OHI SLD AUT

Enroll 6.35%

Placements in Special Educa9on for California (CA Dept. of Ed. 2011)

ì  MR or ID -‐ nearly all popula9ons propor9onal, with African Americans (AA) slightly overrepresented

ì  OHI & SLD -‐ Both Whites and AA 2x likely to be labeled

ì  ED -‐ AA 3x’s likely to be ED Classes Whites 2x’s likely to be in ED classes and Na9ve Americans slightly overrepresented.

ì  Au9sm -‐ Asians 3x as likely to be placed. With Whites, Mul9-‐ethnic, Hispanics, and AA slightly over-‐represented


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Alameda County African American Sp Ed % by Disability (CA Dept. of Ed. 2011)

28.7

42

22.5 24.3

11.8

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45


Enroll 12.8%

Placements in Special Educa9on for Alameda County (CA Dept. of Ed. 2011)

ì  AA -‐ 2x’s likely labeled MR, OHI & SLD. Nearly 4x’s likely ED

ì  Whites – 2x’s as likely in ED & OHI. Slightly overrepresented in Au9sm

ì  Mul9-‐Ethnic & Asian -‐ slightly overrepresented in Au9sm

ì  Hispanic -‐ slightly overrepresented in SLD


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Kern County African American Sp Ed % by Disability (CA Dept. of Ed. 2011)

7

11.8

8.4 9.2

5.7

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14


Enroll 5.7%

Placements in Special Educa9on for Kern County (CA Dept. of Ed. 2011)

ì  AA -‐ Slightly overrepresented in Au9sm MR, OHI & SLD.


ì  Mul9-‐Ethnic – 3x’s as likely Au9sm and 2x’s SLD

ì  Asian -‐ slightly overrepresented in Au9sm


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L.A. County African American Sp Ed % by Disability (CA Dept. of Ed. 2011)

11

25

18

12 11

0

5

10

15

20

25

30


Enroll 8.4%

Placements in Special Educa9on for LA County (CA Dept. of Ed. 2011)

ì  MR or ID, nearly all popula9ons propor9onal

ì  Both Whites and AA 2x likely to be labeled OHI

ì  Hispanics slightly over-‐represented in SLD

ì  African Americans (AA) 3x’s likely to be ED Classes.

ì  Whites 2x’s likely to be in ED classes.

ì  Au9sm… Whites 2x as likely to be placed. With Asians and AA slightly over-‐represented.

ì  Hispanics propor9onal to popula9on for au9sm


22

Riverside County AA Sp Ed % by Disability (CA Dept. of Ed. 2011)

10

17.7

12.5

10

6.5

0 2 4 6 8

10 12 14 16 18 20


Enroll 6.6%

Placements in Special Educa9on for Riverside County (CA Dept. of Ed. 2011)

ì  AA – 3x’s as likely in ED & nearly 2x’s as likely MR & OHI.


ì  Hispanic – slightly overrepresented in MR & SLD

ì  Mul9-‐Ethnic – slightly overrepresented in Au9sm

ì  Asian – 3x’s as likely labeled Au9s9c


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San Francisco County AA Sp Ed % by Disability (CA Dept. of Ed. 2011)

24

47.6

28.2 27

7.9

0 5

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

MR/ID ED OHI SLD AUT Enroll 9.7%

Placements in Special Educa9on for San Francisco County (CA Dept. of Ed. 2011)

ì  AA – 5x’s as likely in ED & nearly 3x’s as likely MR, OHI, & SLD as well as total Sp. Ed.

ì  Na9ve Americans – 3x’s as likely in MR, ED, OHI, & SLD

ì  Whites – Slightly overrepresented in ED & SLD. Also, 3x’s as likely labeled Au9s9c

ì  Hispanic – slightly overrepresented in SLD

ì  Asians – slightly overrepresented in Au9sm


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Cri,cal Race Theory (CRT) (Ladson-‐Billings & Tate, 1995)

Similar to CRT of legal scholarship by developing three proposi9ons:

ì  Race con9nues to be significant in the United States;

ì  U.S. society is based on property rights rather than human rights; and

ì  The intersec9on of race and property creates an analy9cal tool for understanding inequity


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CRT contd.’ (Ladson-‐Billings & Tate, 1995)

ì  The veracity of the systems of privilege underes9mated in 1860’s and 1960’s

ì  Even though a program would be in place, the programs were done away with in less than 20-‐30 years.

ì  We did not deal with the root cause of dispropor9onality (i.e access to the property… quality service and instruc9on)

ì  Authors cau9on us to look at legal issues


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How Did We Get Here (a).?

ì  40 years ago 1 of the AB Psi’s 7 demands to APA

ì  AB Psi lead CA and Na9on in developing equitable assessment prac9ces (Williams, 2008)

ì  Much of which lead to current “RtI” talk in School Psychology and special educa9on

ì  CASP worked with CA task force but most studies on issues of over-‐rep with school psychs end up being about test kits rather than placement process and policy change. Excep9on is Skiba (2000)

ì  AB Psi and CASP have not worked together in a sustained effort… However, not just psychologists’ issue to solve


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How Did We Get Here (b).?

ì  Lack collec9ve effort of general educa9on, community, parents, local officials, and state department of educa9on

ì  Everybody is wai9ng for someone else -‐ Leadership

ì  Professional Development not required for school psychology creden9aling since 2003 (i.e. 0 tolerance ins9tuted at same 9me)

ì  CASP could not get people to pay for “mul9-‐cultural trainings by 2006)

ì  Assessments and placements have not been sufficient to remediate the issues (Powers et al, 2004; Hernandez & Rathmana9on, 2006)

ì  “Pockets of success” with achievement gap (Tyrone Howard at UCLA) and dispropor9onality overall


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How Did We Get Here (c).?

ì  The rise in suspensions, expulsions, and school-‐based arrests may be due, in part, to the rise of high-‐stakes tes9ng (Figlio, 2006)

ì  African-‐American students with disabili9es are three 9mes more likely to receive short-‐term suspensions than their white counterparts, and are more than four 9mes as likely to end up in correc9onal facili9es (Wald & Losen, 2003)

ì  A survey of correc9onal facili9es found that students with disabili9es are represented in jail at a rate nearly four 9mes the rate of students iden9fied in general educa9on courses (Quinn et al, 2001)


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Recommenda9on – Data a. (e.g. ED) (Sidhawa, 2008)

ì  Composi9on index: What percentage of children classified as ED are African American? Calcula,on: number of students labeled ED that are African American/number of students labeled ED

ì  Risk index: What percentage of African American school-‐age children are classified as ED? Calcula,on: number of students labeled ED that are African American/number of all African Americans


32

Recommenda9on – Data b. (e.g. ED) (Satcher, 2006; Sidhawa, 2008)

ì  Risk ra9o: Are African American school-‐age children more likely to be labeled ED than children from other ethnic backgrounds?

Calcula9on: risk index of minority group/risk index of comparison group

ì  Record Review: What do individual cases tell us about the disposi9on of cases where students are ini9ally placed in ED/SDC classes?

e.g. N = 30 to 100. Review for Bx Plan, Prior placement in Sp Ed, Prior MH services, Prior Interven9ons etc…

ì  Other Psych. -‐ Keep track of own cases of students with IEP & germane data


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Recommenda9on – Coali9ons a.

ì  As an MFT, LCSW, Clinical, School… psych… ask, “Who defines my prac9ce? How can I update it to address equity”?

ì  Discuss with school psychs about services (e.g. RS/DIS, CMH, Referrals)

ì  Other Psychs, let school psychs know how you work with children… vice/versa

ì  Share trends in data on the issue of overrep.

ì  Remember many solu9ons for issues (e.g. gangs, Rx, “Juv. Jus9ce,” Courts etc…)

ì  Visit local youth deten9on facility and develop knowledge of and contacts with programs there


34

Recommenda9on – Coali9ons b.

ì  Read and share Assoc. of Black Psychologist’s (AB Psi)Posi9on Statement on Special Educa9on (2010)… www.abpsi.org

ì  Also, NASP’s Posi9on Statement on Dispropor9onality (2013/drak) h`p://nasponline.org

ì  Share salient ideas with local school boards and parent organiza9ons

ì  Collaborate on reducing s9gma with ethnic specific organiza9ons such as AB Psi, La9no Psychologists, Asian American Psychologists from APA to reduce s9gma


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Recommenda9on – Coali9ons c.

ì  Meet with parents by any means necessary

ì  At student performances

ì  Places of Worship

ì  School events

ì  Community events

ì  Develop an advisory group for feedback and purpose


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Recommenda9on – Restora9ve Jus9ce (Nicolas et al, 2008)

ì  Student driven conversa9ons as alterna9ve to punishment and to promote healing

ì  “Resilience” new trend -‐ passive

ì  Resistance -‐ ac9ve, leaders, our wellness

ì  Learn from posi9ve student situa9ons (e.g. Restora9ve Jus9ce efforts in Fresno, Long Beach, Los Angeles etc. CA Endowment)


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Recommenda9on – The Good

ì  Collect examples of what is right with Black folk (e.g. “Black Diamond/ Lilly” story from Dr. Wade Nobles)

ì  Market services and listen to feedback about what works with your school psych assessment, interven9on, and placement decision

ì  Ask students about how they overcome in your evalua9ons and/or day to day

ì  Share success with colleagues and friends in and out of school district

ì  Develop scorecard based on literature of good prac9ce


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Q & A

ì  Only have 10 minutes… ;-‐)


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Contact

Brandon E. Gamble, Ed.D., N.C.S.P.

Assistant Professor

California State University Long Beach

College of Educa9on

School Psychology Program

1250 Bellflower Boulevard, ED2-‐192

Long Beach, CA 90840-‐2201

562-‐985-‐2527p

562-‐985-‐4534f

[email protected]


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African American Achievement, Access, and Wellness: Beyond Disproportionality

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