Parental Characteristics and Resiliency in Identification Rates for Special Education

Abstract

Even with increased risks, many children demonstrate resiliency and avoid being labeled for special education; however, research on risk and resilience has been problematic because of inadequate statistical models, limitations of available data, and the exclusion of key protective factors. This study used a national sample to examine the influence that family and school risk and protective factors had on special education identification longitudinally. Discrete-time hazard longitudinal modeling indicated that being female, from a higher socioeconomic environment, and having parents with higher expectations for postsecondary education protected against being labeled for special education between Kindergarten and fourth grade. Higher parental expectations for postsecondary education attainment was associated with lower rates of special education identification and also appeared to moderate the effects of poverty on identification.

How do educational reforms change the share of students in special education? Trends in special education in Finland

“…Since socioeconomic and ethnic minority backgrounds are related to demand for special education (e.g. Anderson et al, 2015; Kvande et al, 2018; Skiba et al, 2008; Sullivan and Bal, 2013), the following characteristics of municipalities were included in the predictors: share of the population aged 15 and over with a tertiary-level qualification (including all lower, higher and doctorate-level tertiary degrees); unemployment rate (i.e. ratio of unemployed to employed of the same age (aged 18–74) within the labour force); and share of population speaking a foreign language (i.e.…”

Understanding Disability: High-Quality Evidence in Research on Special Education Disproportionality

“…The body of research on special education disproportionality is ever expanding. From a sociodemographic perspective, researchers have focused on a range of questions related to disproportionality, describing the extent to which a student’s race (e.g., Sullivan & Artiles, 2011; Zhang et al, 2014), linguistic background (e.g., Estrem & Zhang, 2010; Sullivan, 2011; Umansky et al, 2017), nation of origin (e.g., Cooc, 2019), family immigration history (e.g., Hibel & Jasper, 2012), and socioeconomic background (e.g., Kincaid & Sullivan, 2017) are predictive of being classified as disabled, both in special education generally (e.g., Anderson et al, 2015) and in specific disability categories (e.g., Bal et al, 2019; Dickerson et al, 2017; Mandell et al, 2008; Mandell et al, 2009; Morgan, Farkas, Hillemeier, Li, et al, 2017; Morrier & Hess, 2012; Robinson & Norton, 2019; Travers et al, 2011). There is also an emerging list of studies examining the differential rates in access to early-childhood interventions and supports (e.g., Mann et al, 2007; Morgan et al, 2012; Morrier & Gallagher, 2012).…”

Balance of reciprocity and influence in family-school interactions in early childhood education: A socio-psychological perspective

“…Children's long term academic success is therefore directly related to a wide range of contextual factors (Burchinal et al, 2011;Dotterer, Iruka, & Pungello, 2012;McCoach et al, 2010;Mollburn, Lawrence, James-Hawkins, & Fomby, 2014). Research findings show that many children from less endowed socioeconomic status have a tendency to develop vocabulary skills slower than those from higher socioeconomic status (Anderson et al, 2015;Noel et al, 2008). Poverty limits parental resources and sensitivity to effective engagement in their children's education, heightens stress and impact negatively on physical, socioemotional as well as cognitive development (Dawson-McClure, Calzada, Huang, Kamboukos, Rhule, Kolawole, Petkova, & Brotman, 2015;Dotterer et al, 2012;Mollburn et al, 2014).…”

“…This is also in line with other studies suggesting that parental high level of education and for that matter of higher social class has more heightened preference for cared-for children. This explains why children from less endowed socioeconomic status, compared to their peers have a tendency to develop vocabulary skills slower than those from higher socioeconomic status (Anderson et al, 2015;Noel et al, 2008. Deprivation, most often limits parental resources and sensitivity to effective engagement in their children's education.…”