TY - JOUR
T1 - An Initial Study of the Emotional and Behavioral Characteristics of Black Students School Identified as Emotionally Disturbed
AU - Lambert, Matthew C.
AU - Katsiyannis, Antonis
AU - Epstein, Michael H
AU - Cullinan, Douglas
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2021.
PY - 2022/2
Y1 - 2022/2
N2 - For years, the research and policy focus on Black students with emotional disturbance (ED) has been on racial disproportionality. The disproportionality issue has sparked professional debate and raised major questions about racial bias, cultural fairness, appropriateness of assessment instruments, the adequacy of special education programs, poverty, exposure to risk factors, and research approaches. Unfortunately, minimal progress has been made on understanding the overrepresentation of Black students in ED programs. The purpose of the present study was to initiate research on the emotional and behavioral functioning of Black students with ED, by comparing the teacher-completed ratings from the Scales for Assessing Emotional Disturbance for Black students with ED (n = 139), Black students without ED (n = 421), White students with ED (n = 271), and White students without ED (n = 1,218). The results demonstrated that (a) Black students with ED were judged to demonstrate significantly higher levels of emotional and behavioral problems than their Black and White peers without ED, and (b) Black students with ED differed minimally from White students with ED. Research limitations, directions for future research, and implications for assessment and service delivery are discussed.
AB - For years, the research and policy focus on Black students with emotional disturbance (ED) has been on racial disproportionality. The disproportionality issue has sparked professional debate and raised major questions about racial bias, cultural fairness, appropriateness of assessment instruments, the adequacy of special education programs, poverty, exposure to risk factors, and research approaches. Unfortunately, minimal progress has been made on understanding the overrepresentation of Black students in ED programs. The purpose of the present study was to initiate research on the emotional and behavioral functioning of Black students with ED, by comparing the teacher-completed ratings from the Scales for Assessing Emotional Disturbance for Black students with ED (n = 139), Black students without ED (n = 421), White students with ED (n = 271), and White students without ED (n = 1,218). The results demonstrated that (a) Black students with ED were judged to demonstrate significantly higher levels of emotional and behavioral problems than their Black and White peers without ED, and (b) Black students with ED differed minimally from White students with ED. Research limitations, directions for future research, and implications for assessment and service delivery are discussed.
KW - assessment
KW - behavioral
KW - disorders/disabilities
KW - disproportionate representation
KW - emotional disturbance
KW - psychometrics
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U2 - 10.1177/01987429211038022
DO - 10.1177/01987429211038022
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85118257302
SN - 0198-7429
VL - 47
SP - 108
EP - 117
JO - Behavioral Disorders
JF - Behavioral Disorders
IS - 2
ER -