Jump to Main Content

STEEP

Over Representation of African American Students
In Special Education Programs:
A National, State and Local Issue

 Each year the U.S. Department of Education issues a report detailing the number of students across the Nation who are served in special education programs, and how many of these students are from a culturally diverse background. 

Limes

 

Data presented in the 2000 Annual Report shows that on a national level over-representation of African American students in special education is a serious problem that undermines efforts to provide equitable education for all children in this country.  Nationally, no other minority group appears over-represented in special education.

From a national perspective in the year 2002, African American students were:

  • 2.9 times as likely as white students to be labeled mentally retarded
  • 2 times as likely to be labeled emotionally disturbed
  • 1.3 times as likely to be labeled as having a learning disability
  • African American students were less likely than their white counterparts to be returned to general education classrooms once they enter a special education program.

An analysis of the Wichita Public Schools current racial distribution indicates that while African American students constitute 23% of total student population:

  • African American students represent 40% of the district’s students in MR. 
  • African American students represent 38% of district’s students in ED.

 

 These figures indicate that within the Mentally Retarded and Emotionally Disturbed programs, African American students are over-represented in the Wichita Public Schools. At present, no other minority group is over-represented in special education in the Wichita Public Schools.

 The Office of Civil Rights has become extremely focused on conducting audits to determine whether school districts are over-representing African American students into special education programs. Among the concerns of the OCR are the detrimental effects of inappropriate special education identification including

  • Denial to access of the general education curriculum

  • Receiving services that do not meet their needs

  • Being misclassified or inappropriately labeled, with life changing consequences
     

 The Wichita Public Schools are working in conjunction with the Office of Civil Rights to address our current over-representation of African American students in the two programs of ED and MR. Because the Wichita Public Schools has approached the OCR before an audit has been ordered, we were able to proffer a proposal to address over-representation issues with a proactive corrective plan that has been developed internally. Most school districts are not granted this option; rather the Office of Civil Rights imposes its own plan for corrective action.

 The Wichita Public Schools will implement selected features of the STEEP Program (Screening To Enhance Equitable Educational Placements) which has been piloted at three district schools; Isely, Park and Kensler Elementary schools.

The Wichita Public School’s corrective action plan is called the Individual STEEP Referral’ (ISR) and will be used in all elementary schools.

The ‘Individual STEEP Referral’ is initiated when a the GEST or SIT team at the building is considering an evaluation of an African American student where the primary concern is extremely low functioning (possible Mental Retardation) or when behavior/emotional concerns are the primary issue (Emotionally Disturbed).

 School social workers and school psychologists will receive additional training and will act as the primary contacts at each site for processing the ISR by sitting down with the referring teacher and filling out the ISR form. The ISR form is designed to help pinpoint the referral concern and whether it is appropriate to make an Individual STEEP Referral.

Once the ISR referral is deemed appropriate, the ISR form is sent to the office of  Liz McGinness, Assistant Director Special Education. Next, a STEEP team will come to the school to meet with the referring teacher and Child Study Team. The STEEP team will train the Child Study Team on the utilization of curriculum based measurement probes, scoring and implementation of interventions. The STEEP team will support the team throughout the entire STEEP process.

A Very Brief Overview of the STEEP Model follows:

  • Class wide probes are given to the entire class of students where the referred child attends, (the probe process is 3 minutes for math and approximately 30 minutes for reading probes.)
  • The entire class of students is rank ordered based on their performance on the reading and math probes,
  • If the class has a number of students who need intervention, (not just the referred student) then a class wide intervention is implemented first
  • Students falling in the lowest 16th percentile of the class are given an additional probe that incorporates motivation, called the ‘Can’t Do/Won’t Do’ assessment. This step is only done when the median of the class falls in the instructional range. Students who are able to improve their scores through incentive will have their needs addressed through motivational strategies rather than academic intervention.
  •  If an individual intervention is determined appropriate for the referred child, this is implemented with the help of the STEEP team. The intervention lasts only 10-15 days, during which the rate of learning is determined. Interventions typically take 20-30 minutes per class, consisting of ‘practice, follow-up probing, scoring and graphing of results by the students themselves.
  • If the student appears to learn like a regular learner then it is unlikely that a comprehensive evaluation should be undertaken but a continuing intervention plan is developed with the STEEP team.
  • If the student appears to learn like a disabled learner, a comprehensive evaluation should be considered. The data gathered during the STEEP process is used in the evaluation itself to help determine eligibility and need.
  • The classroom teacher, along with other staff such as CST or even volunteers, administers the intervention with the support of the STEEP Team.
  • The intervention is checked for ‘integrity’ through follow-up by the STEEP Team. An integrity check involves periodic visits by the STEEP Team to ensure that interventions are being implemented as designed.
  • Regardless of whether a comprehensive evaluation is undertaken, an intervention plan is in place to support the student.

The Wichita Public Schools recognizes that the Individual STEEP Referral process will require a new way of thinking about special education evaluations and will no doubt offer multiple challenges as we all work together to reduce the percentage of African American students being placed into special education when a true disability does not exist. However, we know that this course of action is not only necessary for legal compliance with IDEA but it is also the ethical and right thing to do to ensure that we place all students into special education in an objective, equitable manner.

The STEEP program is fully endorsed by both the Board of Education and the Office of Civil Rights.