Wanda J. Blanchett

Urban School Failure and Disproportionality in a Post-Brown Era Benign Neglect of the Constitutional Rights of Students of Color

The decision in the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) case was one of the most significant events in American history in general and specifically in the educational system. Brown is so highly regarded because it held promise of placing America on the path toward equitable treatment of all of its citizens and laid the foundation for the civil rights and disabilities rights movements. Fifty years after Brown, however, it is very clear that many of the promises of Brown have not been fulfilled with regard to students of color living in urban settings, students who live in poverty, and students with disabilities. This article will discuss (a) the state of urban schools in the post-Brown era, (b) special education in the post-Brown era, (c) disproportionality and resegregation of African American students, (d) the double jeopardy of disproportionality and urban school failure, (e) the reasons why Brown is not working from the perspectives of urban community leaders, and (f) recommendations for fufilling the promises of Brown.

The Intersection of Race, Culture, Language, and Disability: Implications for Urban Education.

To date, few researchers have sought to examine the effect of issues of race, culture, language, and disability, let alone to look specifically at the intersection of these issues, as it relates to special education identification, special education service delivery, and students of color’s access to an equitable education. Thus, this article will attempt to help urban education researchers and educators understand (a) why the intersection of race, culture, language, and disability is an urban education issue; (b) how issues of race, culture, language, and disability affect students’ and their families’ quest for an equitable education; (c) how to advocate for and provide culturally responsive services to racially, culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse students and their families; and (d) the implications of the intersection of race, culture, and disability for urban education practice, research, and policy.

A Retrospective Examination of Urban Education From Brown to the Resegregation of African Americans in Special Education—It Is Time to “Go for Broke”

Despite the fact that African American and other students of color, students labeled as having disabilities, and poor students in urban schools are indisputably linked in terms of the quality of schooling they have experienced, few attempts have been made to examine the relationship between special education and urban education. Both students placed in special education and those who attend urban schools have a long history of being miseducated, under-educated, and treated inequitably by the American educational system, with the American educational system at times excluding these students altogether from receiving a free and appropriate public education. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to provide (a) a historical analysis of special education and the treatment of students with disabilities prior to the Brown decision; (b) an analysis of the challenges that students with disabilities, African American and students of color, poor students in urban schools, and students affected by all three have historically experienced in their quest to receive a free and appropriate education in the American educational system; (c) a discussion that illustrates that special education is the new tool for the resegregation of African American and other students of color in special education; (d) a discussion of who the real beneficiaries of failed urban schools are and why they resist providing an equitable education to all children; and (e) specific examples of what it means to go for broke in calling out educational inequities and advocating for African American and other students of color, poor students, students with disabilities, students in urban settings, and students affected by all of these factors and issues.

Sexual Risk Behaviors of Young Adults with LD and the Need for HIV/AIDS Education:

AIDS has become a leading cause of death among youth and young adults between the ages of 15 and 24. Given that there is no known cure for AIDS, effective and comprehensive health education is the strongest weapon available to prevent the spread of this deadly disease. The purpose of this exploratory study was to generate information that could be used to highlight the critical need to develop, implement, and evaluate comprehensive education for students with disabilities. Eighty-eight young adults with learning disabilities were recruited to complete a questionnaire. Fifty-one percent of the study participants reported that in high school they had engaged in behaviors that would put them at risk of contracting HIV and/or AIDS. Implications for future practice and research are discussed.

Deepening Culturally Responsive Understandings within a Teacher Preparation Program: It's a Process.

Given the crucial issues of disproportionality and the growing diversity of our K–12 student population it is imperative that today’s classroom teachers be prepared to critically examine, reflect on and respond to practices for learners with diverse needs and from diverse backgrounds. While effective teachers are the key to meeting the needs of diverse learners and critical in preparing these learners for the twenty-first century, teacher preparation programs must examine how equipped they are in modeling and teaching culturally responsive practices. For one teacher preparation program in the western United States, integrating culturally responsive content and learning experiences into course and field work meant that every aspect of the urban, elementary and secondary and special education programs warranted attention. Informed by an external evaluation of their program that highlighted: a near absence of community-based learning experiences for teacher candidates, a glaring concern regarding our limited conceptualization of social justice and diversity, and a need for enhanced efforts at recruitment of diverse teacher candidates, faculty first began by increasing their own knowledge about culturally responsive teaching. The authors describe how professional development was designed and implemented and ensuing programmatic changes.

Reframing Urban Education Discourse: A Conversation With and for Teacher Educators

This article represents a conversation between two urban educators—one African American and one White. Not only the influence of race, but also the influence of personal and cultural histories on urban classrooms and colleges, unfold during their conversation. Providing important insights into the nature and significance of the work of urban education, their dialogue also demonstrates the need for, and examples of, multiple divergent voices in the struggle for practical and theoretical thinking in urban education to give direction to meaningful improvements.