Universal Screening for Behavioral and Emotional Risk: A Promising Method for Reducing Disproportionate Placement in Special Education

Abstract

The overrepresentation of U.S. minority students identified for emotional and behavior disorders special education programs plagues schools and challenges researchers and practitioners. Arcane methods including teacher nomination continue to guide referral processes, despite compelling evidence of their influence on disproportionate special education placement for children of color. As universal screening practices are deployed, emerging evidence suggests that requiring a teacher, parent, or student to complete a rating scale may reduce disproportionality. By using available research to posit that if schools engage in universal screening of behavioral and emotional risk using formal scales, fewer children of color would be placed in special education programs. The logical and evidentiary case for universal screening is made and questions requiring more research are presented.Keywords: disproportionality, emotional behavior disorder, behavioral and emotional risk, special education referralEarly intervention and prevention programs have been linked to positive school outcomes such as high school completion, promoting increased well-being, and enhanced resilience (Blair & Diamond, 2008; Greenberg, Domitrovich, & Bumbarger, 2000). Blair and Diamond (2008), for example, found that intervening to improve emotional and behavioral regulation among students at risk for school failure increases their likelihood of academic success. However, current practices for identifying students in need of behavioral and emotional support in schools often fail to identify all students who need support, are implemented after student problems have increased in magnitude, and tend to identify a large number of minority students (Ferri & Conner, 2005; Skiba, Simmons, Ritter, Kohler, Henderson, & Wu, 2006).Increasing pressures on school districts and state education agencies to address the disproportionate number of African American students in special education programs have had little impact on the practices employed for identifying students for these programs (Artiles & Bal, 2008; Artiles, Bal, & King-Thorius, 2010). School districts continue to use teacher referral practices that identify an over representative number of African American students for special education and related services (Ferri & Conner, 2005; Semmel, Gerber & MacMillian, 1994). These practices also overlook the value of norm-referenced child data; these data are rarely used in special education decision-making, including the eligibility determination process (Ferri & Conner, 2005; Kim & Rowe, 2004). For these reasons, a change in the methods used to identify students with behavioral and emotional disorders is warranted. This article reviews research suggesting that the use of student self-report universal screening instruments may diminish the overrepresentation of African American students in special education programs, and guide early intervention for students at risk for behavioral and emotional disorders.DlSPROPORTIONALITYDisproportionality refers to the disproportionate or unequal number of students of color in special education programs. Research in the area of disproportionality generally investigates both the overrepresentation of minority students in special education programs and the underrepresentation of these groups in programs for the gifted and talented, (Waitoller, Artiles, & Cheney 2010). This article will focus on the overrepresentation of Black students being referred for special education services.Researchers have attempted to understand the cause of, and develop remedies for, the overrepresentation of African American students in special education programs for more than five decades (Dunn, 1968; Ferri & Connor, 2005; Ferri, Connor, & Connor, 2010; Harris, Brown, & Richardson, 2004). According to the U.S. Department of Education (2006), African American students are identified with a disability and placed in special education programs at a significantly higher rate than their White peers. …