Black children are categorized with emotional disturbances in Montgomery County schools in ratios nearly double their representation in the total student body, according to a county special education report released Tuesday.
Roughly 42 percent of county public students in “emotional disturbance” programs in 2006 were black, despite blacks making up only 22 percent of the 2006 student population as a whole. White students receive the emotional disturbance label in nearly equal proportions to their representation in the student body, while Asian and Hispanic students are underrepresented in emotional disturbance categories.
The racial makeup of students in other special needs categories, such as speech and language problems, are more proportionate with the racial composition of the total student population.
Board of Education member Christopher Barclay said Tuesday he was concerned about the methods used to designate a student as emotionally disturbed.
“I’m not amazed [at the findings] given that it is so subjective and given that we don’t do a great job of teaching our instructors cultural competency,” Barclay said. “The methods of identification [of emotionally disturbed students] aren’t particularly scientific.”
Carey M. Wright, associate superintendent in the office of special education and student services, said the indicators used to flag a child for emotional disturbance evaluation include the degree to which a student is “fighting, talking back, being disrespectful and insubordinate.”
Then a team of counselors, administrators and teachers will investigate potential causes and remedies for students’ behavior prior to placing them in programs for students with emotional disturbances.
“You only get to an emotional disturbance designation after all other options have been exhausted,” MCPS spokesman Brian Edwards said.
“The overidentification of African-Americans in certain special need areas is a nationwide problem,” Edwards said.
Superintendent JerryWeast said now that the data has been collected, school officials will investigate the reasons behind the racial disparity shown in the study.
MCPS students called emotionally disturbed
» 44 percent white
» 42 percent black
» 11 percent Hispanic
» 3 percent Asian
All MCPS students
» 41.2 percent white
» 22 percent black
» 20.7 percent Hispanic
» 15 percent Asian
» 1 percent American Indian
Source: Montgomery County Public Schools
