Special education identification is disproportionate for English learner and socioeconomically disadvantaged students in California¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r1 · q2
Currency · newest study 2020 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2025: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? English learners are 19.3 percent of all California students but 28.6 percent of students with disabilities, and socioeconomically disadvantaged students are 60.9 percent of all students but 67.5 percent of students with disabilities. → Jason Willis 2020

Evidence¶

Jason Willis 2020¶

Jason Willis, Sara Menlove Doutre, Kelsey Krausen, Tyson Barrett, Tye Ripma, and Ruthie Caparas. (2020). Study of California's Special Education Funding System: Phase I Report — A Descriptive Analysis of Special Education Funding in California. WestEd. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED616102

q2 · i? · associational · r1

Descriptive analysis of DataQuest 2018/19 enrollment data (Figure E-2/Figure 1) reports disproportionality: English learners are "19.3 percent of all students" but 28.6 percent of students with disabilities; socioeconomically disadvantaged students are 60.9 percent versus 67.5 percent.

"The most disproportionate identification rates for special education are found among English learner students, who represent 19.3 percent of all students, but represent 28.6 percent of students with disabilities, and socioeconomically disadvantaged students, who represent 60.9 percent of all students, but represent 67.5 percent of students with disabilities."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• California's shift to attendance-based AB 602 funding stabilized disability identification rates for about a decade, but rates have climbed steeply since 2010, so the policy's long-term intended outcomes were not produced — related
• Multilingual learners in California are disproportionately represented in special education, especially in the Specific Learning Disability category — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• English learners, particularly Hispanic Spanish-speaking students, were disproportionately identified for special education in the Specific Learning Disability category — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Economically disadvantaged, English learner, special education, Black, and Hispanic students were more likely than peers to be ever below benchmark — related
• California serves more than 725,000 K-12 students with disabilities and invests roughly $12 billion annually in special education, with LEA unrestricted funds covering the majority of spending — related
• Student homelessness disproportionately affects Black students, LGBT youth, English learners, and students with disabilities — related
• Socioeconomic disadvantage is more prevalent among California students designated as LTEL7 (89%) than other ever-ELs (80%) — related
• Special education needs are much more prevalent among California students designated as LTEL7 (28%) than other ever-EL peers (11%) — related