Identifying Racial and Socioeconomic Biases iNew Jersey Special Education Eligibility

Authors

Megan Theresa Papandrea, Kean University
Mahchid Namazi, Kean University
Iyad Ghanim, Kean University
Sarah Patten, Kean University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-1-2023

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to determine if eligibility for special education anrelated services (SERS) in New Jersey (NJ) is biased based on a child’s racicultural background or socioeconomic status (SES). Method: A Qualtrics survey was administered to NJ child study team personnincluding speech-language pathologists, school psychologists, learning disabilities teacher-consultants, and school social workers. Participants were presented with four hypothetical case studies, which differed only in racial/culturabackground or SES. Participants were asked to make SERS eligibility recom-mendations about each case study. Results: An aligned rank transform analysis of variance test found a significaneffect of race on SERS eligibility decisions, F(2, 272) = 2.391, p = .09Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests further yielded that Black children had significantly higher levels of SERS ineligibility at the high-SES (z = −2.648, p = .008) and mSES (z = −2.660, p = .008) levels compared to White children. When compariSES levels within race using Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests, White low-SES children had significantly higher levels of ineligibility for SERS compared to White highSES children (z = −2.008, p = .045). These results suggest that Black childrfrom high/mid SES are treated comparably to White children from low SES; thesgroups are more likely to be found ineligible for SERS compared to peers. Conclusions: Both race and SES play a role in SERS eligibility decisions in NStudents who are Black and/or from low-SES households are at risk for facinsignificant biases in schools that influence their educational placements. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.22185820.

Publication Title

Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools

First Page Number

600

Last Page Number

617

DOI

10.1044/2022_LSHSS-22-00138

Recommended Citation

Papandrea, Megan Theresa; Namazi, Mahchid; Ghanim, Iyad; and Patten, Sarah, "Identifying Racial and Socioeconomic Biases iNew Jersey Special Education Eligibility" (2023). Kean Publications. 178.
https://digitalcommons.kean.edu/keanpublications/178