Teach Effectively!

The number of students with disabilities suspended or expelled by the School District of Beloit (WI, US) has increased dramatically, rising from 117 in 2002-03 to 330 in 2003-04 and to 362 in 2004-05, according to Rebekah Danaher of the Beloit Daily News. Ms. Danaher reported that the local education agency is seeking ways to address the increases. She also described some of the impediments to the effort.

Late in the report, Ms. Danaher raises an entirely different topic, racial-ethnic disproportionality in identification rates for special education. She does not connect this to the lead part of the story. There may be a very important connection, however. Does anyone know whether rates of suspensions and expulsions of students from different ethnic or racial groups differs by special education status? I need to go to the library.

Ms. Danaher’s report provides some misinformation that is does not alter the basic content of her story. She has several mistakes, including one in which she confuses IEPs with how students are identified (“Students categorized as special needs through an Individualized Education Program…”) and another in which she uses Learning Disability as if it was a synonym for disabilities in general (“Whereas other students might face immediate suspension or expulsion, in many cases special needs students are kept in the classroom because of leniency afforded by their learning disability”).

Link to Ms. Danaher’s story.