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- Title
A NEW "IDEA": ENDING RACIAL DISPARITY IN THE IDENTIFICATION OF STUDENTS WITH EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE.
- Authors
Oelrich, Nicole M.
- Abstract
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) represented a gallant effort by Congress to decrease discrimination against students with physical and developmental disabilities and to create an inclusionary school environment for all students. To facilitate IDEA's purposes, Congress created two unique mandates. First, the free and appropriate public education (FAPE) mandate requires schools to provide students with disabilities an education tailored to their needs. Second, the least restrictive environment (LRE) mandate requires schools to educate students with disabilities in classrooms with their non-disabled peers to the greatest extent possible. Currently, African-American students, particularly African-American male students, are disproportionately identified as having emotional disturbance. Due to this disparity, these students are increasingly segregated from their non-disabled peers, violating the FAPE and LRE mandates. The current definition of emotional disturbance, codified at 34 C.F.R. § 300.8(4)(ii), contributes to this over-identification problem and, therefore, needs revision. This Article traces the history of the Department of Education's emotional disturbance definition, the policy and legal issues that the current definition creates, and the effects of over-identification on students and society. The Article then analyzes why current IDEA enforcement mechanisms do not correct the problem. Finally, this Article presents a definition of emotional disturbance that addresses the need for culturally-sensitive assessments, proposes definitions of key terms, and provides guidelines for courts to utilize when reviewing a challenge to a student's identification of emotional disturbance.
- Subjects
UNITED States; UNITED States. Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004; UNITED States. Congress; EMOTIONAL Disturbance Decision Tree; FREE appropriate public education; INCLUSIVE education; AFRICAN American students
- Publication
South Dakota Law Review, 2012, Vol 57, Issue 1, p9
- ISSN
0038-3325
- Publication type
Article