Studies Examine Racial Disparities In Special Education

By Lisa Fine

Black students are classified as needing special education far more often than white students, and are less likely, once they have been identified as having disabilities, to be placed in mainstream classrooms, according to a report by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University.

The report, based on four studies commissioned by the Harvard project, offers fresh statistics on minority representation in special education, long an issue of concern among advocates for racial and ethnic minority groups. For example, the studies found that African-American students were three times more likely than white students to be labeled mentally retarded, and therefore relegated to less challenging special education classes.

Authors of the report, released March 2, view bias against minorities as at least partially...