Evaluating Special Education Services for Learners from Ethnically Diverse Groups: Getting it Right

Abstract

One of the greatest challenges in evaluating special education services for ethnically diverse groups is obtaining accurate, valid, reliable, and relevant information. This can be achieved by the right person asking the right questions of the right people in the right way at the right place and time. These deceptively simple requirements are discussed in the context of research studies evaluating special education services for indigenous Maori children in New Zealand. Examples of crosscultural misunderstanding and miscommunication are described and strategies to avoid them are discussed.

Gate-keeping and the ambiguities in the nature of ‘informed consent’ in Confucian societies

“…Second, as the literature on cross-cultural studies emphasizes even deep immersion in a particular culture over a long period of time will not guarantee that one's interpretation of data will not be flawed (Bevan-Brown 2001). At the beginning of the study I was aware of the fact that though I was very familiar with the local culture, having lived here for some years prior to the study, my own cultural cognition might make the drawing of objective inferences difficult.…”

Te Pikinga ki Runga: Raising Possibilities

“…International and national research alike both highlight the critical importance of education professionals building and maintaining positive relationships with whänau/family and caregivers. In Aotearoa New Zealand, we now recognise that effective engagement and consultation with the whänau/family (and the cultural community) is a crucial component for educational decision making and for education outcomes achieved by students (Bevan-Brown, 2001Kingi & Durie, 2000;Macfarlane, 2005). But what does effective partnering look like?…”

Special Education Referral, Evaluation, and Placement Practices for Preschool English Language Learners

“…Also, the selection of instruments needs to be appropriate to the children's cultural and linguistic characteristics. Recent studies have outlined some of the problems with screening and assessing ELLs, including the disproportionate number of children being identified for special education services (Artiles, Rueda, Salazar, & Higareda, 2005;Bevan-Brown, 2001;Espinosa, 2005;Keller-Allen, 2006;Mardell-Czudnowski, Chen, Elliott, Goldenberg, & Wang, 2001). Federal and state mandates support nondiscriminatory testing, and it is, of course, the right thing to do.…”

“…Within North Carolina and nationwide, early childhood teachers and administrators in both regular and special education are being challenged in new ways by the cultural and linguistic differences of ELLs. These circumstances are exacerbated by the speed at which these changes have taken place, thus creating enormous challenges to service providers responsible for assessing, determining eligibility, and providing educational services to young ELLs (Bevan-Brown, 2001;Burnette, 2000;Rolstad, Mahoney, & Glass, 2005). All too frequently, children who are culturally and linguistically diverse fail initial developmental screenings.…”