This comparative case study analyzes the overrepresentation of African American males in special education. The overrepresentation of African American children and youth in special education programs for students with learning disabilities, severe emotional or behavioral disabilities, and mental disabilities has remained a persistent reality, even…

Recent reports on discrimination in private schools have led some observers to decry the fact that private and charter schools receiving public tax dollars selectively exclude some populations from both employment and enrollment; others, however, note that in these and similar instances the schools have broken no laws. Both may be right. How can…

This article reports a U.S. Supreme Court decision last week which supports the parents of a Massachusetts student who claimed that school officials failed to respond adequately to sexual harassment of their daughter--then in kindergarten--by a 3rd grade boy on her bus. The parents sued the district under both Title IX and Section 1983. In the…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1975 has made a profound impact on millions of children with disabilities who now enjoy their right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE). It is the goal of national policy, endorsed by Congress, to ensure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic…

While research has documented the predominance of boys in US special education programmes, similar attention to girls' under-representation has been rare. Recent research suggests that there may be just as many girls in need of these services, but for various reasons they are less likely to be identified through the referral process. Girls who…

By reducing class size we will close the achievement gap in public school education, caused by prior neglect especially since the civil rights era of the sixties. Additional, highly qualified and specialized teachers will more effectively manage a smaller class size and serve more individual student needs in the crucial early grades, where a solid…