students labeled with mental retardation in connecticut analyses of the issis database: patterns of...
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Students Labeled with Mental Retardation in Connecticut
Analyses of the ISSIS Database:
Patterns of Labeling and Placement
Testimony of James W. Conroy, Ph.D.
The Center for Outcome Analysis
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The ISSIS Database
• Integrated Special Student Information System• Data going back to 1986-87• Contents: ID, age, grade, ethnicity, gender, disability
type, special services, classroom placement, proportion of time spent with nondisabled peers, etc.
• In 1998-99, 99,632 students in special education are represented (excluding gifted/talented)
• Among them, there are 4,965 students with the Mental Retardation label
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Disability Breakdowns Over Time86-87 95-96 98-99
AUTISTIC 0.2% 0.6% 1.1%DEAF-BLIND 0.1% 0.0% 0.1%HEARING 1.2% 1.1% 1.1%HEARING: HARD LD 48.8% 49.3% 46.8%MR, ALL 7.0% 5.5% 5.4%MR TRAINABLEMR SEVERE MR PROFOUND MULTI-HC 1.3% 2.5% 2.6%NEUROLOGICAL 1.1% 2.3%ORTHOPEDIC 0.5% 0.3% 0.4%OTHER HEALTH 0.6% 4.6% 8.3%SOC-EMOT MALADJ 22.3% 16.5% 12.7%SPEECH: ARTIC 16.2% 16.4% 20.9%SPEECH: LANGSPEECH: VOICE FLUENCY TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY 0.0% 0.1% 0.1%VISUALLY HC 0.7% 0.7% 0.5%VISION PLUS OTHER
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Findings from ISSIS• There are 169 school “districts”
• The proportion of students assigned the label “mental retardation” varies greatly across districts– This shows that the label cannot possibly be
reliable– In turn, it thus becomes possible for non-
objective influences to affect the labeling process (chance, ethnicity, gender, parent preferences, district ‘style’ and leadership)
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View Data in Excel Spreadsheet
File Name = CERPT99m.xls
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Variations in Labeling
• These variations cannot be explained by “social class” or ERG (Educational Reference Group) – [View Excel %MR by ERG]
• Labels do in fact vary strongly according to ethnicity and gender
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Once Students Enter Special Education, Which Labels Do They Receive?
Percentage of Each Group Entering Special Ed Who Are Assigned the Mental Retardation Label
8.4%
2.5%
6.7%
13.9%
4.9%
11.7%
0.0%
2.0%
4.0%
6.0%
8.0%
10.0%
12.0%
14.0%
16.0%
Blackmale
Whitemale
Hispanicmale
Blackfemale
Whitefemale
Hispanicfemale
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What Can Possibly Explain This Pattern of Selective Labeling?
• There is no clear explanation for this pattern of selective labeling and wide variations
• We can conclude that it cannot be explained by poverty or social class– By district, %MR is correlated with %Minority,
even when “controlling for” ERG via partial correlation r=.47, then controlled r=.44;
– Data organized by district/ERG show the same conclusion
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Labels Influence Placement(Regular Class Experiences)
• The facts show that placement is strongly influenced by label (right or wrong, this is simply a fact shown by the data)– Percent of students in “regular class,” now defined as
80% or more time spent with nondisabled peers, is a consistent measure
– (We could also use % time directly, or hours per week, but for consistency, we stick to one measure in this presentation)
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Percent of Students in “Regular Class” by Disability Group, 1998-99
9.117.1
21.2
31.5 32.0 33.3
41.849.6
56.560.8
64.370.3
75.4
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
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More Than Just Disability Group Influences Placement
• There are also direct effects of ethnicity and gender
• The percentage of students experiencing segregated settings – (by the Federal definition of less than 40% of
time is spent with nondisabled peers)
• varies by ethnicity and gender, within the mental retardation group
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Variations in Classroom Segregation (Students with the Mental Retardation Label)
71.1%
61.9%
77.9%
68.3%
60.4%
75.6%
0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0% 90.0%
Black male
White male
Hispanic male
Black female
White female
Hispanic female
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Summary To This Point
• Hence regular classroom experience is strongly affected by ethnicity and gender, and also by which district the student happens to live in
• Students with mental retardation are far less likely to experience regular classrooms than students with other disabilities
• Hence the ethnic/gender bias in mental retardation labeling, plus the tendency to exclude students with mental retardation, constitutes “double jeopardy” for minorities and females
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Regular Class Experiences for Students with Mental Retardation• Segregation of students with mental retardation
varies tremendously across school districts– [See Excel MR Place x LEA]
• Even within Education Reference Groups (ERGs), the variations are huge, and therefore ERG cannot “explain” practices of exclusion– [See Excel MR Place x LEA x ERG]
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Bias Unchanged Over Time
• The pattern of ethnic and gender bias in labeling has not changed much since 1986-87
• The regular classroom experiences of students with mental retardation has not changed much since 15 years ago
– But the regular classroom experiences of other students with disabilities have changed radically for the better
– Students with mental retardation have simply been “left behind”
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Ethnic and Gender Bias in MR Labeling is Stable Over Time
0.00%
2.00%
4.00%
6.00%
8.00%
10.00%
12.00%
14.00%
16.00%
18.00%
CaucasianMale
African-American
Male
HispanicMale
CaucasianFemale
African-AmericanFemale
HispanicFemale
1986-87 1995-96 1998-99
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Have Students with Mental Retardation Become “More Severe”?• The claim by state’s experts is that there have
been increases in severity since mid-1970s
• This is trivial; many students with mental retardation, particularly severe, were not in the public education system at all in the mid-1970s
• From 1987 to 1996, the claim is patently untrue
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Changes in Severity of Mental Retardation Over Time
Changes in Severity Of MR Over 10 Years:Connecticut's ISSIS Data
1986-87 N=4173, 1995-96 N=3837
65.1%
26.7%
8.2%
78.0%
19.1%
2.9%0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
MR "Educable" MR "Trainable" MR "Sev/Prof"
% W
ith
Eac
h L
abel
86-87 95-96
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How Has Regular Class Participation Changed in CT Over 15 Years?
• For students with disabilities in general, considerable progress has been made
• (As estimated from “Regular Classroom” in 1987-87, and 80% or more time with nondisabled in 1999)
• But for students with the Mental Retardation Label, …..
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Percent of Students in Regular Class: MR and Other, “Then and Now”
8.4 9.18.8
55.1
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1987 1999
MR Other
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Progress Toward Regular Classes in Special Ed Has Been Made
• Overall in CT
• For students with most disabilities
• But students with the Mental Retardation label have been “left behind”