Educational Issues
Disproportionality InformationLegal Issues In EducationTrends in DisproportionalityStrategies in Reducing Disproportionality

disproportionality in education
"Disproportionality is the over or underrepresentation of a given population group often defined by racial and ethnic backgrounds, but also defined by socioeconomic status, national origin, English proficiency, gender, and sexual orientation in a specific population category" (EMSTAC:www.emstac.org).

Specifically disproportionality includes:

•The overrepresentation of children of color within a program as a result of institutional racism. www.casey.org

•The representation of a particular group of students at a rate different that found in the general population (Gravois & Rosenfield, 2006)

•More (or fewer) children from a particular group who are experiencing a given situation than we would expect, based on the group’s representation in the general population. (Oswald, 2006)


Histrorically, racial and ethnic minorities are protected from discrimination in The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1974, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The overrepresentation of ethnic and linguistic minorities in special education has resulted in several well known court cases.


Presentation By:

Sheila Ashley
William Travis Burns
Jamie Carpenter
Antoine Hickman
Kathleen Hybl

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Background | Trends | Legal Issues | Strategies