Issues and Interventions for African American Students with and At-Risk for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: An Introduction to the Special Issue

Abstract

* In the past two decades, research on minorities in special education has received increasing explicit attention (Vasquez et al., 2011), with much of that work focused on the dis- proportionate representation of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) youth in special education programs (e.g., Artiles, Kozleski, Trent, Osher, & Ortiz, 2010; Sullivan & Bal, 2013). Although the research for some groups is equivocal (e.g., Hispanic and Native Americans), a persistent and unequivocal finding is the disproportionality of African Americans in high incidence special education, particularly in programs for students with behavior disorders (Bal, Sullivan, & Harper, 2014; Sullivan & Bal, 2013). More specifically, African American males have the highest odds of being identified with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Disproportionate placement in special education is a major concern because (a) place- ments are often questioned due to the sub- jectivity of the process (Harry & Klingner, 2014); (b) students with EBD tend to have the poorest outcomes of all the students in our schools (Artiles et al., 2010); and (c) the stigma and restrictiveness associated with programs for EBD make them placements of last resort, made only if truly warranted (Artiles et al., 2010).As the proportion of minority students continues to grow in the U.S. public schools, issues related to special education and EBD will escalate accordingly. African American children are disproportionately concentrated in high poverty schools, which are characterized by teaching and resource inadequacies as well as pupil underachievement (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2015). Much of the research on special education and minorities has focused on either statistically documenting risk or on identifying contributing risk factors (e.g., Hosp & Reschly, 2004; Osher et al., 2004). Although this research is essential, of equal if not greater importance are discussions and research on how educators can effectively mitigate behavior problems and bring about desired outcomes for all students, regardless of race or background. Skiba et al. (2008) aligned themselves with the work by Klinger et al. (2005), asserting that these programs need to be culturally responsive, which not only improves academic and behavior outcomes but also reduces inequity.As we look at the state of education in the U.S. broadly, and for EBD in particular, we realize that equitable education for culturally and linguistically diverse learners is a protracted, complicated undertaking. This is especially the case for African American students who evidence the most consistent reports of special education disproportionality and corresponding poor school outcomes (Cartledge, Gardner, & Ford, 2011; Harry & Klingner 2014). Similar to Klinger et al. (2005) and Skiba et al. (2008), other authorities have asserted the importance of caring schools, positive studentteacher relationships, increased resources, and culturally relevant competencies for these students (Artiles et al., 2010; Bal, Sullivan, & Harper, 2014; Sullivan & Bal, 2013). Accordingly, this special issue focuses on issues and interventions related to meeting the needs of African American learners with or at risk for EBD.Excessive exclusionary actions are often the precursor for referrals for EBD identification, and African American students and students with EBD have the highest rates of exclusion and discipline disproportionality (Martinez, McMahon, & Treger, 2016; Skiba, Arredondo, & Rausch, 2014). Smolkowski, Girvan, McIntosh, Nese and Horner (this issue) in the article, Vulnerable Decision Points for Disproportionate Office Discipline Referrals: Comparisons of Discipline for African American and White Elementary School Students, analyze public school office discipline referral (ODR) data to study the role of implicit bias in teacher referrals. From a national data source of ODRs, the authors draw observations and implications about the most vulnerable decision points (i. …