Dr.
Wanda J. Blanchett
Associate Professor
Department of Exceptional Children
University
of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
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to LASER Programs
|
A
Case Study of the Special Education Referral, Placement,
and Exit Process
in Two High Referring Urban Schools
In theory, special education was conceived
to provide much needed educational support and training
to students
with disabilities to ensure that they would reach
their maximum potential. Students who were eligible for
special
education services were to be provided individualized
instruction, tutoring, and other specialized services
and interventions to assist them in reaching their
potential. Once students’ needs were either met and/or appropriate
strategies or modifications implemented, they would
return to general education settings. In reality, however,
it has not worked out this way for many students. “Special
education has too often been a place- a place to segregate
minorities and students with disabilities” (The
Civil Rights Project, 2001). This project will examine
the issue of overrepresentation in a major urban school
district, the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). Applying
Dunn’s (1968) definition, the extremes of the
overrepresentation and many of the connecting, interdependent,
and recurring variables that might be contributing
to it will be explored. |
