Chapter 3
Today’s Multicultural, Bilingual,
and Diverse Schools
Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today’s Schools, 6e
ISBN: 0135027012
© 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Chapter 3 Objectives
At the end of this chapter you should be able to:
 Describe the social context of Special Education
 Articulate the history of discrimination in education
against students from various cultural, ethical, and
linguistic backgrounds.
 Clearly articulate disproportionate representation
 Explain the impact that race, poverty, family structure, and
parents’ education have on placement into special
education.
 Identify ways to become a culturally responsive educator.
Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today’s Schools, 6e
Ann Turnbull, Rud Turnbull, and Michael Wehmeyer
ISBN: 0135027012
2
© 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Culture and the Schools


Culture is the customary beliefs, social forms, and
material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; a
shared way of life
Microculture is a smaller group within a culture that
share similar common identities such as
race/ethnicity, religion, language, and geographic
origin.
Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today’s Schools, 6e
Ann Turnbull, Rud Turnbull, and Michael Wehmeyer
ISBN: 0135027012
3
© 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Cultural responsiveness
The extent to which research and practice in
instruction and assessment take into
consideration the cognitive, linguistic, and
social assets of an individual that are culturally
determined and shape ways in which that
individual learns and makes sense of his or her
experiences.
Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today’s Schools, 6e
Ann Turnbull, Rud Turnbull, and Michael Wehmeyer
ISBN: 0135027012
4
© 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Social Context of Special
Education


History before IDEA:
 Theories about genetic and cultural deficits
 Re-emerged in the 1990s with The Bell Curve
 Theories about cultural differences
Different theories resulted in different responses by
schools and school systems
Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today’s Schools, 6e
Ann Turnbull, Rud Turnbull, and Michael Wehmeyer
ISBN: 0135027012
5
© 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
School System Responses





The common school
Treatment of second- and third-generation European
Americans, immigrant students, and African
Americans
Tracking practices
School segregation
Civil rights movement/Brown v. Board of Education
Desegregation resulted in high numbers of
students from culturally and linguistically diverse
backgrounds being increasingly tracked into
programs for students with mental retardation
Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today’s Schools, 6e
Ann Turnbull, Rud Turnbull, and Michael Wehmeyer
ISBN: 0135027012
6
© 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Court Cases Related to
Nondiscriminatory Evaluation

Larry P. v. Riles (1972, 1974)
Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today’s Schools, 6e
Ann Turnbull, Rud Turnbull, and Michael Wehmeyer
ISBN: 0135027012
7
© 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Disproportionate Representation



Risk Ratios
Percentage of Students in Special
Education
Gifted Education Placement
Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today’s Schools, 6e
Ann Turnbull, Rud Turnbull, and Michael Wehmeyer
ISBN: 0135027012
8
© 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Factors Associated with
Disproportionate Representation and
Educational Equality




Racial/Ethnic Considerations
Language Considerations
Poverty Considerations
Relationships Among Race/Ethnicity,
Language, and Poverty






Majority Values
State/federal Policy Factors
Community Factors
School Factors
Family Factors
Student Factors
Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today’s Schools, 6e
Ann Turnbull, Rud Turnbull, and Michael Wehmeyer
ISBN: 0135027012
9
© 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Becoming a Culturally Responsive
Teacher and Advocate




Enhancing your Self-awareness
Increasing your knowledge and Experiences of Other
Cultures
Advocating for Systems Change
Implementing Culturally Responsive Instruction
 Use the Adapted Posture of Cultural Reciprocity
 Incorporate Five Components for Delivering
Culturally Responsive Instruction
 Capitalize Upon Instructional Consultation Teams
 Implement Response to Intervention
Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today’s Schools, 6e
Ann Turnbull, Rud Turnbull, and Michael Wehmeyer
ISBN: 0135027012
10
© 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.