Excessive minority representation in special education has been a problem since the 1960s. According to Dunn (1968, as cited in Zhang and Katsiyannis, 2002, p. 180), identifying and placing "socioculturally deprived" minority children in special education "was of concern because of the placement of these children into segregated settings, the questionable benefits of these placements, and the detrimental effects of labeling." In part, this excessive minority representation in special education is due to the fact that African American students come from families with lower incomes; these families cannot afford preventive health care, and thus when the children have vision problems, these are untreated and are misdiagnosed as reading problems (Noguera, 2003, p. 436).
Of particular concern is the fact that African American students are too often identified as mildly mentally retarded (MMR) or seriously emotionally disturbed (SED); the results of one study indicated that "African American students were about 2.4 times more likely to be identified as MMR and about 1.5 times more likely to be identified as SED than their non-African American peers" (Oswald, Coutinho, Best, & Singh, 1999, p. 194). Cartledge (2005, p. 27) adds that "special education placements for racial minority students tend to be highly restrictive and permanent."
The negative consequences of the overplacement of African American students in special education can be significant. As Zhang and Katsiyannis (2002, 184) point out, "More restrictive placements often result in fewer opportunities for students to access postsecondary education and in fewer employment opportunities," and "in some districts, disproportionate representation results in racial segregation." Cartledge (2005, p. 27) notes that even when students are diagnosed with learning disabilities the move to a more restrictive environment negatively impacts learning. Moreover, she...