ELC News - Summary Of Findings

A Brief Report on the Over-Representation and Over-Segregation of Students of Color in Special Education in New Jersey

This month, the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs released data from the 2002-2003 school year on the extent of special education classification and placement for students in the United States, including New Jersey. A review of the data reveals the following key facts:

African American and Latino students in New Jersey are much more likely to be classified for special education than their white counterparts. Almost 25% of African-American males and 12% of African-American females are classified with a disability compared to less than 20% of white males and 10% of white females.
African-American students are more likely to be classified with disabilities that result in more segregated placements, and less likely to be classified with disabilities that result in more inclusive placements. In the eligibility categories that are most likely to lead to segregated placements mental retardation and emotional disturbance -- African-American students are vastly over-represented. African-American students are classified as having mental retardation at 3 times the rate of white students, and as having emotional disturbance at 2.3 (males) and 1.3 (females) times the rate of white students. In speech-language disabilities, a classification that is more likely to result in the inclusive placements, African-American students are underrepresented.
African-American students are more often totally segregated from their non-disabled peers through out-of-district placement: 13% of African-American students with disabilities are in out-of-district placements compared to 9% of Latino students and 8% of white students. (This statistic actually undercounts out-of-district placement rates because it excludes students in separate juvenile justice placements, where almost 70% of classified students are African-American, and separate Department of Human Services placements, where almost 50% of classified students are African-American).
African-American students are much less often included in the general education classroom. 50% of white students with disabilities are included for more than 80% of the school day in general education classrooms with their non-disabled peers, compared to only 30% of Latino students and 26% of African-American students. Overall, 36% of classified Latino students and 43% of classified African-American students spend the majority of their day in separate settings, compared with only 20% of white classified students.
African-American and Latino classified students have disproportionately high drop-out rates. 40% of Latino and 42% of African-American classified students drop out almost double the white rate of 22%.
Overall, the percentage of students with disabilities in out-of-district placements is higher in New Jersey than any other state in the nation. New Jersey leads the nation in the percent of students with disabilities who are educated in out-of-district placements often a great distance from their home schools and friends -- and the number and percentage has increased over the past 10 years. In 2002-2003, 9% of New Jersey's classified school-age students were sent out of district, compared to less than 3% nationally; 9.5% of all special education students (ages 3-21) were in out-of-district placements. Special education segregation starts early: almost 80% of New Jersey's preschoolers are in segregated placements, and 11.4% of New Jersey's preschoolers are in out-of-district placements compared to 4.4% nationally.

A detailed report comparing the state of segregation in special education in New Jersey today with ten years ago and highlighting specific recommendations aimed at the New Jersey Department of Education, "Still Separate, Still Unequal," will be issued by the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities in June, 2004.

For more information, contact:
Diana MTK Autin, SPAN, 973-642-8100 x 105 or 106
Ruth Lowenkron, ELC, 973-624-1815 x 21
Janice Harris Jackson, NAACP, 908-753-3920
Paula S. Lieb, Coalition for Inclusive Education, 732-613-0400
Susan Richmond, Council on Developmental Disabilities, 609-292-3745
Joseph B. Young, NJ Protection and Advocacy, 800-922-7233