Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Construction of Educational Exceptionalities

SES-1335217亚当·加莫伦威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校学校数据显示，在特殊情况下存在极端的种族和族裔不平等，有色人种学生被认定为残疾的可能性是白色学生的三倍，白色学生被认定为天才的可能性是有色人种学生的三倍。据推测，家长和教师打算支持学生的学术和社会成果时，他们通过介绍学生进行测试的例外情况进行干预。这些微观层面的良性互动如何与宏观层面的种族和民族不平等联系起来？现有的研究解释了特殊和天才教育中的种族和民族歧视，认为要么1）学校做出有偏见的决定，要么2）共同因素，如贫困，解释了种族和民族差异。这种文学是有限的，它的治疗例外作为一个自然的范畴。本研究将学生的特殊性视为一种社会建构，而这种建构的意义会随着学生的种族和民族而改变。主要的研究问题是，学校如何塑造这种基于种族和民族的例外结构？为了解决这个问题，本研究采用混合方法，1）通过实验性审计设计，检查学生种族和民族对教师决定将学生转介到特殊教育的影响的学校水平差异; 2）通过观察和与教师和家长的访谈，确定创建特殊性结构的机制。这项研究的中心假设是，在充分的种族和民族多样性，例外的方式，复制种族和民族不平等的建设。 更广泛的影响这个项目对政策和实践有明确的影响，因为学者，政策制定者和从业人员已经证明了需要进一步了解特殊教育和天赋服务中的非智力因素。联邦和州法律优先考虑记录和改善教育中的种族/民族不平等，但我们还不明白为什么会存在这种不平等。研究结果将阐明学校环境的作用，对学校废除种族隔离政策，教师培训和特殊性识别过程的潜在影响。

SES-1335217Adam GamoranRachel E. FishUniversity of Wisconsin-MadisoU.S. school data has revealed extreme racial and ethnic inequality in exceptionalities, with students of color up to three times more likely to be identified with disabilities as their white peers, and white students up to three times more likely to be identified as gifted as their peers of color. Presumably, parents and teachers intend to support students' academic and social outcomes when they intervene by referring students to be tested for exceptionalities. How do these benevolent micro-level interactions connect to macro-level racial and ethnic inequalities? Existing research explains racial and ethnic disproportionality in special and gifted education by arguing either 1) that schools make biased decisions or 2) that co-factors, such as poverty, explain racial and ethnic differences. This literature is limited by its treatment of exceptionality as a natural category. This research treats exceptionality as a social construction, and the meaning of this construct changes with there are with a student's race and ethnicity. The major research question is how do schools shape this construction of exceptionalities based on race and ethnicity? To address this question, the research uses a mixed-methods approach to 1) examine school-level variation in the effects of students' race and ethnicity on teachers' decisions to refer students to special education through an experimental audit design; and 2) identify the mechanisms creating the construction of exceptionality through observations and interviews with teachers and parents. The central hypothesis of the study is that under sufficient racial and ethnic diversity, exceptionalities are constructed in ways that reproduce racial and ethnic inequalities. Broader ImpactsThis project has clear implications for policy and practice, as scholars, policy-makers, and practitioners have demonstrated the need for further understanding of the causes of disproportionality in special education and gifted services. Federal and state law has prioritized the documentation and amelioration of racial ethnic inequality in education, yet we do not yet understand why the disproportionality exists. Research findings will illuminate the role of school context, with potential implications for school desegregation policy, teacher training, and exceptionality identification processes.