Significant Disproportionality in Special Education (2024)

speech or language impairment

autism

emotional disturbance

specific learning disabilities

other health impairments

intellectual disabilities

• Students may be over-identified or under-identified as eligible for special education services under one of 13 disability categories in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
• Speech or language impairment is one of the 13 categories in IDEA.
• Under IDEA, students may receive speech and language services based on a primary diagnosis of speech or language impairment or as a related service, secondary to another diagnosis.

Resources on Eligibility

• A Critical Analysis of State-Level Policies Impacting Racialized Emergent Bilinguals Suspected or Labeled as Dis/abled in Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools
• Developing Evidence-Based Assessment to Prevent Over- or Under-identification of Disorders for New Language Learners in Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups
• Eligibility for Special Education in Elementary School: The Role of Diverse Language Experiences in Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools
• Evaluation and Eligibility for Speech-Language Services in Schools in Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups
• Implicit Bias and Multilingual Assessment in School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists in Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups

• Some students do not receive a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE).
• LRE means being educated with children who do not have disabilities “to the maximum extent appropriate” to meet the student’s specific educational needs.
• School-based SLPs and other IEP team members must consider the child’s ability to be involved in academic, nonacademic, and extracurricular activities when making placement determinations

Educational Placement Resources

• Who Believes in Me? The Effect of Student–Teacher Demographic Match on Teacher Expectations [PDF]
• Developing Evidence-Based Assessment to Prevent Over- or Under-identification of Disorders for New Language Learners in Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups
• Identifying Racial and Socioeconomic Biases in New Jersey Special Education Eligibility in Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools

• Some students may be disproportionately subject to disciplinary action in school due to gender, race, or ethnicity.
• Students with language-learning disabilities and impairments may appear on an SLP’s caseload as early as elementary school.
• Students who demonstrate academic difficulties due to undiagnosed communication disorders may commit delinquent acts as a way to avoid academic tasks.
• Students who experience disciplinary punishment at school may become increasingly involved in the criminal justice system, which is known as the school-to-confinement pipeline.
• Students who are male, experience social and/or economic disadvantage, and come from a minoritized racial group may be overidentified as having SLI or misdiagnosed as having mental health needs or emotional disturbances.

Resources on Disciplinary Action

• Disciplinary Action
• Addressing Disproportionate Discipline
• K–12 Education: Discipline Disparities for Black Students, Boys, and Students with Disabilities
• The School-Based Speech-Language Pathologist’s Role in Diverting the School-to-Confinement Pipeline for Youth With Communication Disorders in Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups
• Exploring the School-to-Prison Pipeline: How School Suspensions Influence Incarceration During Young Adulthood
• Speech-Language Pathology and the Youth Offender: Epidemiological Overview and Roadmap for Future Speech-Language Pathology Research and Scope of Practice in Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools