Elizabeth B. Kozleski

Justifying and Explaining Disproportionality 1968—2008: A Critique of Underlying Views of Culture

Special education has made considerable advances in research, policy, and practice in its short history. However, students from historically underserved groups continue to be disproportionately identified as requiring special education. Support for color-blind practices and policies can justify racial disproportionality in special education and signal a retrenchment to deficit views about students from historically underserved groups. We respond to these emerging concerns through an analysis of arguments that justify disproportionality. We also identify explanations of the problem and critique the views of culture that underlie these explanations. We conclude with a brief discussion of implications and future directions.

Learning in inclusive education research: Re-mediating theory and methods with a transformative agenda

This is the authors accepted manuscript. The original publication is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/0091732X030001065.

The Persistence of Highly Restrictive Special Education Placements for Students with Low-Incidence Disabilities.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) data that states and U.S. territories report from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and discuss the status of the most restrictive special education placement settings for students with disabilities. In this analysis, we found that (a) states do not set rigorous improvement goals to reduce restrictive placements, (b) the percentage of students with disabilities placed in restrictive placements have remained essentially unchanged over the past decade, and (c) students with low-incidence (severe) disabilities are disproportionally placed in restrictive placements. These results suggest that segregated educational experiences continue for thousands of students with disabilities in spite of evidence that shows that opportunities to learn and develop are enhanced in more inclusive educational settings.

Positive Behavior Support A Proactive Strategy for Minimizing Behavior Problems in Urban Multicultural Youth

The social—emotional needs of children in urban school communities place these students at risk for educational failure. For these children, successful teaching and learning models appear particularly complex because they must combine both multicultural approaches and effective positive behavior support (PBS) strategies that promote healthy, prosocial behaviors. This article examines trends in the racial disparity in exclusionary discipline procedures that impact the schooling experiences of urban children, presents a conceptual framework for understanding culturally influenced social behaviors, and discusses ways to incorporate multicultural education into PBS programs.

Witnessing Brown Pursuit of an Equity Agenda in American Education

The 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision provides a critical opportunity to reflect on Browns importance, impact, and the lessons it provides on achieving racial desegregation and its relationship to the progressive inclusion of students with disabilities into public schools across the United States. This article explores the parallels and intersections between the racial desegregation of Americas public schools and the inclusion of students with disabilities in these schools.

The Complexities of Systems Change in Creating Equity for Students With Disabilities in Urban Schools

This article explores the complexities of urban school improvement and systems change through the lens of educational equity policy initiatives. The authors situate urban schools within a critical context where contested identity politics, sociopolitical agendas, and economic stratification marginalize culturally and linguistically diverse students. The study uses the elements of a framework for systemic change and examines urban schools. Analyzing local educational change, the authors examine the interaction between structural reform, collective, community narratives about children, and their impacts on the urban schools. Along with lessons learned from school improvement and technical assistance activities, these perspectives look at how local-activity arenas respond to reform and how understanding the complexities of local practice could inform the next-generation policy initiatives. Without deep and shared understanding, the strategies employed to achieve short-term improvements will circumvent work on the changes required to shift students from the margins while simultaneously changing the mainstream conditions.

Visual symbol acquisition by students with autism

Abstract Given the need to help develop communication skills in individuals with autism, an examination of visual symbol systems is critical. In this study, I focused on the exploration of a hierarchy of visual symbol systems that may aid practitioners in selecting more readily acquired symbol systems. Although evidence suggests that persons with cognitive disabilities attach meaning more readily to symbol systems that display higher levels of iconicity, it is not clear that this same hierarchical progression exists for persons with autism. I used a modified multiple baseline with four students with autism, ranging in ages from 7 to 13 years, to investigate the number of trials to criterion for five visual symbol sets: (a) photopictorial, (b) rebus, (c) Blissymbolics, (d) orthography, and (e) Premack‐type tokens. All four students reached criterion with fewer trials in systems that had a higher degree of iconicity.

Teacher learning for inclusive education: understanding teaching as a cultural and political practice

In this article, we describe a model of teacher learning which is grounded in an apprenticeship approach to developing both practical knowledge and a critical understanding of the everyday practices that result in marginalisation. Beginning with an exploration of self and the lenses that teachers use to understand, assess and predict the performance of their students, apprentice teachers explore their practice from cultural perspectives. An intense focus on learning after the grounding in identity and culture braids psychological and social cultural perspectives to deepen teachers’ understanding of the learning process. The apprenticeship experience culminates in a final theme around assessment. To summarise, this teacher learning model is organised to prepare teachers who design learning environments that respond to the cultural histories, intellectual experiences and psychological characteristics of each learner.

Expectant delay procedure for teaching requests

An expectant time delay strategy for teaching two students with physical and cognitive disabilities to initiate requests for high interest items was investigated. A three-choice communication board that displayed Polaroid photographs of high interest objects was built for each student. The expectant time delay procedure entailed (a) presentation of high interest items, (b) presentation of the communication board, (c) obtaining eye contact, (d) gazing at the student with raised eyebrows, and (e) a wait period of 45 seconds. No verbal or physical prompts were used. If no response or an incorrect response was made the trainer modeled the correct response and an intertrial interval of 15 seconds was observed. A multiple probe design revealed that both students were able to initiate requests after relatively brief training sequences.

Where Differences Matter A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Family Voice in Special Education

U.S. education policy acknowledges the troubling differential rates of special education identification and placement for students who are culturally and linguistically diverse by requiring states to review annually student identification data from all local education agencies to identify and address disproportionate representation. Yet, little is known about the interaction between families that are culturally and linguistically diverse and the service providers they encounter at their local schools. The authors examine those relationships in South Africa and the United States, two countries where the legacy of racism lingers in the ways in which school personnel and families negotiate differences in how children are viewed, assessed, and offered support for learning needs. In both countries, sustained efforts from families and school personnel were needed to develop supports and services that worked well for students with disabilities and their families.