Minority overrepresentation in special education referral processes

¶ … Northcentral University, 2013

The Overrepresentation of Minorities in Special Education

Concept Paper

Requirements for the Degree of

CHESTER R SMITH II

Prescott Valley, Arizona

Abstarct

Over representation of minorities in special education has been an issue that has been raised over many years. Dunn (1968) questioned this when he noted that the placement of these children in such settings was questionable as the benefits they received were not evident. He also noted that the labeling of these children as disabled had negative effects, in addition to the fact that even the special education setting was segregated. In the period 1978-1984, it was observed that African-Americans were overrepresented, especially with regard to mental retardation and emotional and behavioral disorders. It has thus been an issue that has plagued the American society for many years. While government efforts to provide children with learning disabilities the correct environment for learning have been commendable, the implementation of these has been the problem.

Literature will be reviewed on the issue to highlight what different authors have found out about the issue and how this particular study will progress discussion in this area and highlight new points coming up. It is with the understanding that there are factors that have not been considered that may influence this over representation that this paper hopes to improve (Guiberson, 2009).

The purpose of the qualitative study is to explore the special education referral processes, linking the underpinnings of social factors and cultural relationships within the education community when addressing the placement of students into the high incidence category. Many proponents of the current processes believe there is still a need for reliable and valid screening and assessment of the special education referral, evaluation, and placement process, and a need for more teacher training on meeting the needs culturally (Beratan, 2008).

The cause of this over representation will be investigated in the study as the disproportionality is measured in terms of the risk and ratio index as well as the composite index. The composite index will clarify whether the proportion of the one group in the population in the U.S.A. is reflected in the proportion of the special education referrals. The risk and ratio index will indicate to what degree the group qualifies for a service more than the other members of the population.

Introduction

The United States has made considerable progress from a nation whose schools were once legally segregated (Foster, 2004). However, there remain a great many indicators that we have quite a distance to travel in order to establish true racial equality in our schools. Data from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) annual reports to Congress on the implementation of IDEA show that over-representation of minority students in special education is a problem that affects educational equity in our country (United States Department of Education 2010). The U.S. educational system has a long history of utilizing classifications and other isolating measures to impose limitations; which may or may not affect the educational experience of minorities but strongly influences population and placement (Beratan, 2008). In addition, a brief exploration of minority social structures will attempt to explain the cause and effect of ethnic disparity in special education. This provides a suitable point of entrance into a discussion about the unequally high representation of minorities in special education, with the understanding that this overrepresentation is likely a consequence of racial disparities in our society, culture and educational system (Beratan, 2008). Furthermore, belief systems of students, parents and teachers of the high incidence student will be explored and analyzed to determine its effects on population. A collective case study anchored by a multi-perspectival analyses' of collected data will be used to assist in a more transparent understand of phenomena as seen through a social structure lens.

Background of the Problem

Special education is designed to provide support, attention and personalization to the academic experience for those who are most in need. As such, it is seen as an opportunity to assist and advance the learning and enrichment of students with particular learning deficiencies, developmental delays or other cognitive obstacles. The resources and educational training that are channeled into special education are, in their simplest form, designed to improve the educational experience and future prospects of students assigned there within (Watras, 2014). However, this same special classification that is aimed at advancing those who require it may function as a barrier for those who are unfairly relegated to this setting. Unfortunately, this is the risk that faces many students in a cultural context where minority status makes one more predisposed to such classification.

Although, students with disabilities can be classified in many different ways such as; mental retardation, emotional disturbed and specific learning disabilities, currently the classification high incidence disability is the focus of this research. High incidence students are categorized as; communication disorders, specific learning disabilities, mild/moderate mental retardation and emotional disorders (Beratan, 2008). Students classified as high incidence disabled represent ninety-four percent of students with disabilities and have been at the center of research in recent years, yet it is still unclear if high incidence students affect minority populations and disparity in special education (Salend, 2005).

In addition, the IDEA has established uniformed procedures and fundamental rights, providing financial assistance, and providing support for research to prevent variances in state and local programs. The National Council on Disability and the Beach Center on Families and Disability examined the IDEA procedures on a State and Local level and determined "No matter how effective IDEA has been, there are still significant shortcomings in its implementation" (United States Department of Education 2010). The National Council on Disability urged Congress, and state and local education agencies to still do more to ensure that every student with a disability has an individualized program of free, appropriate education in the least restrictive environment.

Statement of the Problem

The problem to be studied is the nature and degree of social factors and cultural relationships within the education community that disproportionately influence the identification and placement of minority students in special education. The proposed research links the effects of socio-economic climate, cultural barriers, and the belief systems of educators when addressing the placement of students into the high incidence category in New Jersey. The state special education best practices are monitored and governed by the uniformed programs established by the IDEA (United States Department of Education 2010). One would expect that the incidence of students who have disabilities would be equally distributed among different student populations. However, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (OSERS) state that state and local agencies still yield high numbers of minority students identified for special educational services (United States Department of Education 2010).

Furthermore, paramount in the referral process is professional judgment of counselors, teacher observations as well as parent input, which are bound by personal and social belief systems that could also affect special education populations. This issue has been of great concern for many years and touches on many elements of educational practice, from the referral process for special education, to the instructional strategies used by teachers, including beliefs about socio-economic status, race and culture.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the qualitative study is to explore the special education referral processes, linking the underpinnings of social factors and cultural relationships within the education community when addressing the placement of students into the high incidence category. Many proponents of the current processes believe there is still a need for reliable and valid screening and assessment of the special education referral, evaluation, and placement process, and a need for more teacher training on meeting the needs culturally (Beratan, 2008). A Multi-perspectival analysis of the special education processes may explain the current disproportionality in high incidence special education populations.

Research Questions

The students of the minority communities are continuously over-represented in many of the schools across the entire nation. The proposed research questions will address key factors from a multicultural perspective of phenomena such as, belief systems of students; parents and teachers of the high incidence students, producing a clear depiction of phenomena. In addition, current referral systems and best practices are also analyzed to determine its effects on population, climate and culture. There have been other discrepancies observed in society, but the focal point of this research will address key factors from a multicultural perspective.

Q1. What factors play into the classification and placement of high incidence disabilities?

Q2. How do minority parents/students view themselves within the special education climate and culture?

Q3. To what extent do IDEA regulated best practices consider belief systems and cultural backgrounds in the referral and placement process of high incidence students?

Definition of Terms

Disproportionality. This term refers to the concept of various groups being misrepresented in particular categories in comparison to other groups. Thorsen et al. (2011) defines disproportionality as the "over or underrepresentation" of a group within a given context. This empirical analysis focuses specifically on overrepresentation, which is essentially how a particular group is reflected in terms of its enrollment in special education programs (Murtagh 2003).

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. IDEA is a comprehensive Federal statute, which entitles each student with a disability to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to meet his or her unique needs. 20 U.S.C. 1400 et. seq.

Learning Disabilities. These disabilities are another controversial category because of their subjective nature. These again are neurodevelopmental disorders that impact a student's ability to learn and focus on educational content (Environmental Protection Agency 2011). It is estimated that these types of disabilities affect over 12% of children in the United States under the age of 18.

Mental Retardation. Mental retardation is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is "associated primarily with the functioning of the neurological system and brain" (Environmental Protection Agency 2011 p 2). This is primarily a disorder that has a number of causes, including physical trauma at an early age, genetic conditions, and environmental toxins (Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2007).

Minority. The term minority is something of an obtuse way of describing the populations targeted by the proposed study. However, for the purposes of efficiency, the concept paper and subsequent research will use this term to describe groups that are impacted both by economic disadvantage and by cultural otherness relative to predominant white, English-speaking cultures. This strategy is informed by Blanchett (2009), which focuses on "African-American and other students of color, poor students, students with disabilities, students in urban settings, and students affected by all of these factors and issues." (Blanchett, p. 370) Excluding the antecedent of disability, the terminology here provides a good working definition for 'minority' in the context of the present research.

Multicultural Education. Multicultural education encompasses theories and practices that strive to promote equitable access and rigorous academic achievement for students from all diverse groups, so that they can work toward social change. As a process of educational reform in PK-12 schools, higher education, and increasingly in out-of-school contexts, multicultural education challenges oppression and bias of all forms, and acknowledges and affirms the multiple identities that students bring to their learning (U.S. Department of Education, 2001).

No Child Left Behind Act. The Act requires states to develop assessments in basic skills. To receive federal school funding, states must give these assessments to all students at select grade levels. The Act does not assert a national achievement standard. Each individual state develops its own standards. NCLB expanded the federal role in public education through annual testing, annual academic progress, report cards, teacher qualifications, and funding changes (U.S. Department of Education, 2001).

Special Education. Outside the body of the present research, Special Education refers to a specific educational track provided for individuals with disabilities and special needs. Within the scope of the present research, this definition applies but also extends to include certain sociological implications relating to placement in the Special Education tract. According to the text by Cartledge & Dukes (2009), "the special education label suggests that there is some disorder within the child and, accordingly, a need for more resources such as specialized instruction and other therapeutic interventions." (Cartledge & Dukes, p. 383)

Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework, which will define this study, is that of multiculturalism, which stresses the need to treat children in a manner, which is sensitive to their individualized needs (Kim & Mason 2015). It also emphasizes how cultural misinterpretations can create different perceptions of students' relative abilities and disabilities (Kim & Mason 2015). Multicultural theories of educational research note how actual student abilities, sociocultural and socioeconomic factors affect teacher perceptions of students. Although this concept is relatively well established, NCLB and IDEA regulations have changed the dynamic of how multicultural understandings have been integrated into special education and the quantification of school success. The provisions of IDEA, while noble in their intent, have often been derided as toothless measures that are unenforceable, and this report attempts to quantify their effect on mitigating disproportional placement of minority students in special education (Beratan, 2008). For example, educators, parents and students must examine their own culture and life experiences, as some may be bicultural, born of one culture and living in another. Researchers Martin and Baldwin (2012) have determined that there is further need to explore the implications of their background culture, and be aware of their belief systems towards other cultures. Research also has identified that a disproportionate representation of high incidence students in special education is due to inappropriate diagnosis (Artiles & Bal, 2008). Exposure to other cultures may help educators' to realize their own ethnocentricity. Martin and Baldwin (2012) noted that decisions of special education referral evolve from the educators' attitudes and core beliefs.

The emotional impact of the referral process and how this can be assessed in a qualitative fashion, based upon the narrative input of children and other significant parties, will be the focus of the study. This Multi-perspectival analysis of the special education processes incorporated into this study may or may not contest current practices by decision makers however it will bring about awareness of multicultural influences which effect minority high incidence populations. Ultimately, the goal of multicultural perspectives in special education is to contribute to the transformation of society and to the application and maintenance of social justice and equity (Anyon, 2009).

Brief Review of Literature

Special education literature indicates that the problem of over-representation of minority children is increasing in U.S., and that few effective interventions appear to be adopted by education systems. The students of the minority communities are continuously over-represented in many of the schools across the entire nation (American Institutes for Research, 2015). Consider an example, wherein the African-American students comprise of 16% of the total student population, and still these students are provided with 33% of the total seats in special education programs. Similar cases have been observed for the Latinos and other minority communities.

Consider another example, wherein the students of minority ethnicity backgrounds are provided with special education classes as per the government instructions. These students no doubt lag behind from the socio-cultural and economic perspective. Hence, by providing proper and special education these students are presumed to be able to achieve a good career status equal to that of any white students in U.S. (Grant, 2003).

However, state and federal mandated reviews of school and program enrollment shows that even when 13% of enrolled students are members of minority communities, the actual representation in special education is roughly 30-35%. On the other hand, the other groups of students are under-represented in such processes. There could be several concerns leading to such issues. As per one of the research it has been found by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) that, such disproportionate representation will lead to unwanted outcomes (Jimenez, 2001). The students are provided with special education services; however, these students do not actually need them. In addition due to inappropriate classification, students are often unable to matriculate to other desirable (college prep) courses in the future, Hence, there is a need to stop such over-representation of the students that belong to the minority groups.

Disproportionality

A majority of schools calculate both a risk index and a composition index. To provide context for these indices, consider a student population of 1200 pupils with 350 African-American students out of 1200 overall. Thus, one would expect that, around 29.16% of the African-American students studying or attending the special education or the gifted programs. On the other hand, if out of those 350 around 65 students receive special education services the risk index would turn out to be 18.57%. Now, if the schools represent their composite index more than 29.16% and risk index to be more than 18.57%, one can conclude that, disproportionality is occurring at the respective school.

When a group receives more representation than it is expected to, especially as compared to the representation that other groups are receiving, it is termed disproportionality. It is a term that indicates that this group is getting more than their fair share as compared to others. This disproportionality can happen in many settings, especially in the education sector. The opposite can also be true where a group is under represented in areas, such as education for the gifted or those with disabilities.

It is not easy to measure disproportionality as it is an issue that is quite composite. On the one hand, someone may try and measure disproportionality by assessing the group in terms of how much of the population it makes, and whether this proportion is reflected in the amount of representation that it gets, whether more or less. This will be the measure of the composite index. The second measure would be focused on the degree to which the group qualifies differently for a service as compared to the other groups in society. This is the risk index and the risk ratio. An example of this disproportionality is given when considering the African-American population and the fact that they form 17% of the population of school age children, yet they form 33% of the intellectually disabled children in school (Skiba, Simmons, Ritter, Gibo, Rausch, Cuadrado and Chung, 2008).

Figures obtained from the U.S. Department of School Education indicate that, over-representation occurs in majority of schools across U.S. (U.S. Department of Education, 2001). There could be several reasons for such issues such as pre-conceived notions about the race and ethnicity, or it could be the socio-economic status of such students. If the researchers look at the socio-economic perspective, the basic cultural information is likely to differ for students from different socio-economic status or countries of origin.

The issue of misconceptions about the race often leads to over-representation of these students. A student who is eligible for a regular or a gifted class is never provided with such opportunities; instead, he is provided with the classroom, which he neither deserves nor does he require in his educational career. Such students are mis-referred, and, hence, are further provided with all the unnecessary instructions (Zhang & Katsiyannis, 2002). It thereby becomes an obstacle in the life of such students. Special education classrooms often carry the tag of social stigma, which could hurt the inner motivation and self-esteem of such students. There is definite a dilemma between what should be provided to all the students, and what claims are being made about the facilities and expertise provided to the students. Due to the mismatch of the needs and requirements, it is the students that suffer the most in such cases. The issue of over-representation thus seems to be a great challenge for all the teachers' and education community. Hence, the researchers need to identify the solutions that will focus on the school's composition and risk indexes. The researchers need to first of all find out the exact needs of the students, and then focus upon the solutions on the basis of observations, testing, and the parental inputs.

Prior research suggests that there maybe a need to promote an environment including the parents and the family members of these students (Constantino, 2003; Anderson & Minke, 2007). The schools have failed to involve the parents of those students that belong to minority groups as well as belong to the poor socio-economic class in the society. There could be issues from the other end as well, since the parents neither do not have proper formal education nor had negative experiences during their schooling career. Hence, the parents will not be able to contribute properly in such cases.

However, the schools need to sort out on this issue, by involving the parents for different roles (Parsons et al., 2011). The major role will be of sharing the governance, as it will directly help in improving the career of those students. There are various solutions and recommendations available on promoting the parents, which would be discussed in the later sections.

As per one of the statistics obtained from the U.S. government, it is found that, the students belonging to the African-American, Native American and Hispanic groups are identified as having more disabilities as compared with the students belonging to the white community. As a result, for every single student belonging to the white community placed in the special programs, there will be 2.89 students placed in the special education programs.

Even, for the gifted education classes and other MR and ED programs, the ratios are 1:1.92 and 1:32 respectively. Thus, the ratios seem to be significantly high in all the disability categories. It is also found that, the reading levels and the students achievements inside the schools are higher for the white students as compared to the students belonging to the whites' community. Thus, if the major issue is reading and other instructions, which these students find it difficult to follow, there is a need to provide with the school environment and education classes that will focus more on this issue.

By providing them with an altogether different learning environment, it would be waste both time and resources, and the final outputs will be zero. Thus, after identifying the issues of failures of these students, there is a need to find out the solutions that will be implemented in the right direction.

To reduce this disproportionality, there are strategies that must be adopted and these need to be inclusive, cover all aspects of this and result in solutions. One of the key things in these strategies will be to deliberately focus on the interventions that reflect the cultural aspect and the examination of these interventions. This will shift focus from just collecting information, evaluating it and trying to draw conclusions from it. In the interventions that are proposed, there must be an intentional effort to prepare teachers adequately to relate with minority students better. When a teacher is lacking in the knowledge and capacity to properly relate with these students, their interactions may not bear much fruit. Secondly, improved behavior management must be taught because when teachers lack this, the result may be that they are unable to manage the classroom properly and may even over refer these minority students. A third intervention will be the reform of policy and systems of education so that there is an acknowledgement of culture and a response that is positive (Skiba, et al., 2008). Skiba et al., (2008) go on to say that the issue of disproportionality with regard to special education can be addressed by putting together efforts from the education system as well as those outside of it.

Disabilities

As discussed in the above section, the students are not provided with the learning and educational facilities. There seems to be discrimination occurring in classifying the students in the disabilities section, since as noted earlier, there have been the evidences regarding the high-incidence disabilities (Logan et al., 2013). There are ratios available, which clearly reflect the discrimination in the disability categories.

There is no proper system, which shall be looking after the implementation procedures, creating specific criteria and also evaluating the various solutions provided to solve such issues. All those factors should be eliminated that might seem to be hindering the progress of academic education amongst all the students. Instead of highlighting factors such as cultural issues, or economic issues of the families, or the lack of English language proficiency, the researchers need to highlight the issue of disabilities since it is playing a key role in the over-representation of these minority students.

When considering disabilities with regard to the special education programs, the picture that one gets is not a good one. It seems that the only good results in this case are the ones for the students with severe disabilities. These are the students who have benefited the most as they are now able to attend school and even hold jobs after school. However, the case is not the same for the students who have mild disabilities. These are the most occurring disabilities in society and have especially come up as a result of the special education laws. These laws have created an avenue for students to be labeled as mildly retarded, which has negative connotations. These are not labels that flatter either the children or the parents. The people who went through segregation or had their relatives go through the same, feel that this is a discriminatory term. They feel that having their children labeled thus sets them apart as different from what is considered normal in the society, and they cannot support this. This is also the case with people whose schooling in public schools was unpleasant and thus do not engage in the processes of these schools with a positive mind, and thus view all these developments, especially the special education laws as something to be wary about (Patton, 1998; MacMillan and Reschly, 1998).

There should be different assessment measures so as to make a valid determination on the placement and eligibility of the students. One cannot just rely on the IQ scores since the educators also need to adhere to the Section 504 and IDEA educational practices. One thereby needs to ensure removing all the discrimination issues in the low and high incidence classification of the students. There should be certain pre-determined standards set for the students so as to remove the bias in the high incidence disabilities.

For this purpose, the educators should provide proper training to all the staff members to know the criteria and accordingly can make the classification of the students on the basis of their education needs. Further, there should be proper instructional strategies formulated that will keep an eye on the student's areas of difficulty. It will also include tactics to include the views and opinions of the parents. On the basis of these strategies, the teaching and the administrative staff should be able to achieve the desired culturally responsive learning environment (Risko & Bromley, 2000).

The educators should not apply the tests that are not technically acceptable in the cultures of the students. Even, the procedures should adhere to the norms of the linguistics of these cultures. The personnel that are involved in all these procedures should be well-trained and should have enough experience in making good decisions with this regard. The researchers have found that, even students with minor disabilities are immediately placed in the special education services. Such issues should not happen, unless a proper check is made and determined that, such students do require such classroom and education requirements (Parrish, 2002).

However, one should note that, special education is meant for providing services that will help in tracking the progress of a given student. The educators do not provide additional learning materials or environment that will immediately boost up the education or the knowledge levels of these students. One thereby, needs to ensure and confirm that, a general education learning environment assisted with the additional aids and services are not enough for such students, due to their disability limitations. And, only then, the students should be placed in the classrooms of special education.

With response to the IDEA principles and to the Section 504, the Department of Education of U.S. needs to monitor the education services provided to all the students. The local governments need to keep monitoring the enrollment of the students. This governmental agency needs to collect the geographic, demographic and cultural data of the students such as the language, ethnicity, race, gender, disability, socio-economic status, and age (Parrish, 2002).

As per the principles of IDEA, the governments require collecting all the data regarding the disabilities of the students, and classify them on the basis of their ethnicity and race. The efforts should thereby be made on the local fronts so as to remove the disproportionate representation of the students as well as solve the different educational needs of these students.

Further, there is a need to involve the parents by eliminating the obstacles of parent participation. There needs to be meetings arranged between the parents and the school staff to better understand each other's need and accordingly, help each other in this issue. The schools should even include other family members as well, since their opinions and views are equally important in this matter. There is a need to support the Title I liaison activities. Further, the schools and the teaching staff should install communication that will reflect appreciation and respect for all the cultural differences amongst the various communities.

There have been several roles defined for any teaching staff within a given education system. In addition, he needs to establish relationships not only with the management of the school or any other education institution, but also with the students (Tatum, 2000). It will help him to understand his role clearly. Further, with the help of other supporting staff members, a given student will be able to overcome the challenges faced by the students in today's contemporary world.

From the surveys carried out by the local organization, and from the discussions with the school authorities of the Central Florida, it has been come to know that, these students are having several personal goals, as far as English as a language is concerned (Verplaetse 24-28). The students want to learn English for their daily communication needs, for participating in the conversation in the classes, in understanding and learning other courses, and in getting involved in various community interactions.

The government is thereby, seeking help from several other institutions to develop programs that will help in technical training, in their school completion, in providing professional techniques, as well as for communicating in English throughout the given day, with any people in their surrounding environment.

English Language Learners (ELL) children do not know English at all, and hence, are easily recognized by the teaching staff in a given classroom environment. There have been from different cultural backgrounds and speak foreign language, due to which it becomes difficult for the teachers and other teaching staff to first of all communicate with them (Tatum, 2003). However, despite of the recommended solutions in such cases, it has been found that, due to disability issues, minority students are not provided with proper educational support and other mechanisms.

Some of the people who have not had positive experiences from the special education programs are athletes who have made a name for themselves. Some of these people, because of labeling and being transferred to special education, lacked the proper instruction and were given low expectations, and thus their learning was poor and they left school without an adequate education. These people would not view these programs as positive because of their experiences. The main thing that is clear is that the majority of these come from races other than Western European race (MacMillan and Reschly, 1998). This is a clear indication of prejudice as one race is deemed better able to learn than other races. Efforts have been made to guard against this, but they have not been fruitful as evidenced by the Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the U.S. Office of Civil Rights reports, which are made twice a year.

Identifying the existence of a disability is something that must be done with caution, unlike what is seen in public schools. Before assigning a particular label or diagnosis of disability, professionals interact with the person concerned greatly and deliberate together. In these professional circles, the diagnosis of disability takes time and a lot of effort. This is because of the serious consequences that follow this, in terms of the inherent financial losses or gains that can come from the diagnosis. People can gain access to finances in form of disability insurance and be eligible for rehabilitation services (Valles, 1998).

Reschley (1988) states that when comparing low incidence disabilities with high incidence disabilities, he noted that there was overrepresentation of minorities in the high incidence disabilities. These are cases of behavior disorder, learning disabilities and cases of mild mental retardation. However, the case was not the same for low incidence cases, such as cerebral palsy, severe retardation and deafness and/or blindness. There must be a lot of professional interaction for a case of high incidence disability to be diagnosed (Macmillan and Reschley, 1998). The high incidence disabilities have not been specifically defined because it has often been the case that when a student who has been labeled in one state moves to another, the disability tends to disappear. This indicates that students are erroneously referred, accounting for the high incidences of these disabilities in the public schools (Ainsworth, 2002).

When it comes to the diagnosis of these high incidence disabilities in public schools, there is a lack of professional input in the process. Macmillan and Reschley, (1998) and Reschley, (1988) noted that it was not difficult to come across schools, which had many cases of high incidence disabilities yet were lacking in terms of psychologists, social workers, counselors and even nurses. Thus, students are referred to special education where there has not been enough professional input to support the referral.

Cultural Differences

While discussing all the challenges on the given perspective, the educators and the teaching staff also need to take into consideration the cultural influences on the education. The teachers are required to undergo a training that will help them to better understand the cultural values, behaviors, beliefs, values, and expectations. In addition, by identifying the perspectives, values, and attitudes of the respective culture, will further make easy for the teachers to deal with such students.

The teachers need to become expert in the matter of cross-cultural communication to conveniently involve the students, their parents and other community members in the discussion. In addition, the school administrators will also utilize the multicultural interventions as a part of the overall strategy to provide better education to the minority students.

As per one of the research reports of the U.S. Department of Education, it was found that, the basic issue with the minority students is regarding the problem of reading. This is demonstrated in Figure -- 1, wherein it identified the reading achievement gap. These students are not able to read properly, which further fails them to understand the topic of a given subject. Hence, it is more important to focus upon the reading sessions and reading instructional strategies, which will not only overcome the cultural barriers, but will also, improve the cross-cultural issues in the field of education. The curriculum should be so designed that, it will incorporate the cultural background and ethnicities of these students; (Dombey, 2010) it will be created on the basis of their experiences, which will help in increasing their interest in securing education.

Response to Intervention and PBIS

Programs are being designed, developed, and implemented to differentiate instruction and provide supplemental behavioral and academic supports to students who demonstrate a need for individualization. Two approaches that have been used in schools for decades are Response to Intervention and Positive Behavior Instruction and Support. Since considerable similarities exist between the two approaches, only Response to Intervention is detailed below. The U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) operates a Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. The PBIS approach serves to evaluate the capacity of the multi-tiered methods to improve the capacity of schools across the country to establish, bring to scale, and sustain the PBIS framework in order to positively impact outcomes for students with disabilities in academic, emotional, and social areas.

This is a program with many levels, which has been developed to help the students who are struggling through interventions, services and increasing the intensity of the learning process. This intervention is informed by how the child learns and their outcomes, so that it can actually be adjusted for an individual child. It helps in making decisions, regarding whether the learning should be general, should try and compensate or if special education is required. RTI requires that the needs of the learner, both behavioral and learning, be identified first. The parents of the child should also be included in RTI so that they work in collaboration with the teachers. The process also involves making resources available to ensure that the learner is achieving his/her education goals. It, hence, is a program that is run within the education system (Gresham, 2002; Ladner and Hammons, 2001).

Response to Intervention is designed to address the different learning needs of students who exhibit academic performance difficulties. The Response to Intervention approach is multipronged, a factor that is considered to strengthen the effectiveness of the methods used ("American Institutes for Research," 2015). The four primary aspects of the Response to Intervention system are: 1) Screening, 2) progress monitoring, 3) data-based decision making, and 4) multi-level prevention ("American Institutes for Research," 2015).

RTI has been deployed successfully in many schools. The leadership in these schools is responsible for this success. It has been noted that where a school is run by a focused principal or head, and this principal is able to access the funds to run the program, the process can be successful. Such a principal will be able to bring in specialists and learning professionals to ensure that the children get the quality of education that they deserve. These leaders can adequately manage resources to accommodate these professionals so that the focus remains on the child and the teachers can be satisfied that the job has been well done (Gresham, 2002; Kovaleski and Prasse, 2004).

Those who engage with students at school can, with the help of RTI, recognize the students who have disabilities and even aid those who are having difficulty with learning. However, assessment and intervention must be approached carefully and with much thought. At times, it may be necessary to seek help from experienced professionals. At any time, however, a parent can ask that their child be evaluated fully so that it can be clear whether they actually need special education or not (Gresham, 2002; Ladner and Hammons, 2001).

Response to Intervention is conducted on three prescriptive levels. The primary level focuses on all students in a school and is conducted in general education settings. Assessments are accomplished through screening, continuous progress monitoring, and outcome measures ("American Institutes for Research," 2015). Instruction is conducted by using the district curriculum and evidence-based instructional practices that are aligned with state and district standards, while ensuring that differentiated instruction is provided ("American Institutes for Research," 2015).

The secondary level is also conducted in general education settings and uses diagnostic progress monitoring ("American Institutes for Research," 2015). The focus of the secondary level is on students who are identified through screening because they are at risk for low academic achievement or poor learning outcomes ("American Institutes for Research," 2015). Instruction for students in the secondary level is targeted, delivered to small groups of children, and supplemental to the instruction provided to the students in any given classroom ("American Institutes for Research," 2015).

The intensive intervention level of Response to Intervention is provided in the general education setting or in special education settings as determined by the needs of the students ("American Institutes for Research," 2015). Assessment is conducted through monitoring of progress and diagnostic measures ("American Institutes for Research," 2015). The focus students for the intensive intervention level are those who have not responded to either the primary or secondary levels of prevention, or who demonstrate very low levels of achievement, or who are students with disabilities who are not meeting their Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals ("American Institutes for Research," 2015). Instruction in the intensive intervention level is customized to meet individual student needs ("American Institutes for Research," 2015). This customization or individualization is arrived at through systematic use of data-based assessment, validated evidence-based interventions, instruction that is research-based, and/or implementation of behavior support strategies ("American Institutes for Research," 2015).

However, it seems that despite of all these constructionist strategies, the cultural barriers seem to be a major hindrance in providing proper education to the minority students. In addition, the poverty issue associated with their ethnicity is violating the basic right of human dignity. The parents of these students are suffering from poverty since long times, and hence, are deprived of choices and opportunities.

The parents also lack the basic capacity to participate in the given social society. Further, due to either lower access to income sources or no access to income sources, their entire family suffers from several perspectives. These parents are suffering from issues such as powerlessness, insecurity, and exclusion due to lower status in the given society. Thus, overall, it is observed that, the students are deprived of each and every thing, which in turn might even lead to suicide cases for them.

The former President of the World Bank, Robert McNamara has defined absolute poverty as a condition that is limited by illiteracy, malnutrition, squalid surroundings, disease, low life expectancy, and high infant mortality. Now, the prices of the basic necessities are turning out to be higher, due to inflation and over-population issues. The children of these communities are deprived of proper nutritional food, and, hence, lack the proper concentration in their studies (Harry, 2014). Their minds are not developed as to that of a student belonging to a white family.

As per the reports published by Chen and Ravallion, there are about 1.80 billion people in the developing nations that are earning only $1.25 per day. There are about 1.90 billion people who are earning less than $1.25 per day. As per their estimates, the overall population of the world shall increase over the next 20-25 years. And, if the same situation persists, the number of people living below the poverty line shall increase. Consequently, the students of these communities will be affected the most from the perspective of education.

As per the research estimates provided by the United Nations in 2011, the slum-dwellers make up around one third population of the world's urban population. The children of these families are deprived of the schools and other education facilities, and hence do not receive a safe and clean environment of education. As a result, these students are not able to develop their careers, and lack the necessary skills and qualifications for carrying out any basic jobs. In addition, the children of these families are able to get access to low resources, and hence the risk factors for other issues increase.

Further, due to lack of proper education amongst these students, and due to cultural ethnicities their social focus changes completely. The children of these families face the issues of high levels of teenage pregnancy, juvenile delinquency rates, economic dependency on their parents and their families, and higher exposure to crime and other violent activities. Hence, it is very much important for the government to take steps, for not only solving the issues of education, but also of solving the negative consequences of education amongst these groups.

The cultural issues of stereotyping, age discrimination, racial discrimination, gender discrimination, and not providing proper education to the students are adding fuel to the fire for the given class of people. It is due to these factors that, Max Weber has suggested that cultural values can affect the economic success of the entire nation. It is therefore important from the cultural and social perspective to educate the society, and make them understand about the equal status of all the people. It is therefore important now to take steps in the direction of accessing the basic needs, providing appropriate food and nutrition, providing necessary and required healthcare and education, controlling over-population, increasing the personal income of these families, and finally removing all the constraints that are turning out to be major hindrances in the progress of these individuals (National Center for Education Statistics, 2014).

RTI in states and districts will involve decisions being made concerning how students with disabilities will learn or be educated. Parents must, however, be made aware of their role so that they question the process and ensure that it is the right decision for their children. They must, at every point, act on their right to be involved in their children's education. Some of the things that parents may need to be clarified, at the outset, are the elements of RTI applied, how parents will participate, who will instruct the child and on what, when a change will be necessary, who will participate in decision-making, and how the learning disability will be determined and what this will mean for the student (Gresham, 2002; Ladner and Hammons, 2001).

Developing an RTI requires that specific components be included by the states and districts that adopt them. The process must screen all children or should be availed to all children. At the minimum, there should be two tiers, ideally up to five, and these should integrate the individuality of the student, the specialization required and the necessary intensity. The parents should be involved at all stages, from the detection, evaluation through the program until the student is able to make progress according to his/her age. It is good to ensure that these programs incorporate professional scientific evaluations, learning, observation and examination of progress made. Specialized teachers must be made available so that the student can receive the necessary instruction. Students should be monitored and evaluated using processes that have been proven (Gresham, 2002; Kovaleski and Prasse, 2004).

Socio-economic status

The literature clearly shows an overarching influence of socio-economic status on school performance (Odaba? & Gurdal, 2013). Education outcomes of children are heavily influenced by family income and children from low-income families and neighborhoods generally show lags in school readiness that has persistent effects throughout the early grades.

This lag builds up as the children progress. A lack of early recognition of the difference between two groups of children results in even wider gap between children from socio-economic groups. A tendency has been noticed in the education sector whereby the students are funneled into two groups. The better performing students who usually come from better socio-economic backgrounds get through normal education system with better opportunities. However, the other group that doesn't perform well and that usually comes from poor socio-economic backgrounds is funneled into technical and vocational education system.

However, it is important to note that, there are students who have higher aspirations despite their poor economic backgrounds. The school administrators, decision-makers, and the teaching counselors need to take certain steps that will improve the current position of the students in the school (Donovan & Cross, 2002).

Further, school administration is often pressured to work toward the goal of certain success rate at school. The presence of under-performing students affects the statistics of the school negatively. In this scenario, the provision of vocational and technical schools for underperforming students might be an easy way out for the school administrators. The teaching staff and the school administrators can argue that it is in the benefit of the children to attend such schools to get a chance for them to improve their future.

However, the real hidden agenda can be the bolstering of statistics for the school. If one looks at the issue from the administrator's point-of-view then it seems fair but this still leaves the question of morality. In addition, the schools that were receiving fewer resources and lesser funding will be closed due to lesser number of students. In addition, these schools are not having facilities of library, computer rooms, and several other facilities. Hence, both the students and their parents will not find any interest to study in such schools. As a result, these schools will get shut down, and the management of the schools, the teachers, and the students of the minority communities will suffer (Garcia, 2000).

Teachers on the other hand are facing with the dilemma of either meeting the education standards as per the goals decided by the top level management. On the other hand, the same teachers also need to provide proper education and need to look after each and every student. The teachers need to take care of them, and provide them with all the necessary education material, which will help them to get good results during the exams. But, meeting the education standards will help them to get better promotions and better rise, by obeying all the education system norms and practices.

Under such conditions, it will be the students who will actually suffer since these students will neither get proper education from their teachers, nor will get appropriate study materials to study. Thus, in order to overcome all these challenges, it is important to incorporate new technologies and teaching mechanisms that will make delivering education easier.

Hence, under such conditions, the teachers can make weaker students learn through visualization education system, so as to help them in their studies. One can take the examinations online, to at least clear their exams. Further, the school administrators can include devices that will track the entire performance of each of the students of the school. The educators can even display the best performing students and their results outside the class on a big screen. This will encourage other students to perform better. There needs to be updating of these devices on regular intervals, so that one can update the versions, as well as one can check out on new software programs and applications related to education.

The usage of technological devices will even reduce the paperwork for the clerical staff of the organization. The costs of conducting examinations will also come down. The students, the teachers, and the school management therefore need to learn about the usage of these technological devices, for improving the techniques of education and for delivering value-adding education to all the students of the given school.

Therefore, it is equally important to implement projectors and online teaching equipment in each of the classroom. This will improve the visuals and the weaker students shall be able to concentrate better. Visuals, imaginations and presentations make the explanation of any subject easier to understand as compared to the blackboard teaching methods (Greene & Forster, 2002). Teachers can even include video clips to explain the concepts and theories in a better way.

Further, not all students possess equal intellectual power and memory. Some of the students might be able to perform better, and some might need to work hard, by attending the remedial or the extra classes arranged for them. It will definitely seem to us to be easy, by putting less-performing kids into the remedial classes. The responsibility seems to be finished, once the educators put these children into the remedial classes. The school will be thus devoting their extra time after the below average test takers. This might help these students, but the school management needs to think about the balance between both the categories of students.

The school management authorities need to devote equal amount of time, so that proper justice is done to all the students. Hence, remedial classes should be meant for all the students, and if certain students do not wish to attend it, it would be solely their decision. But, the challenges to organize remedial classes and helping the under-performing students will definitely not meet the education standards.

However, it is never going to be an easy task for the teachers, for the students, and for the management committee; but, through hard work and better cooperation with each other, the desired goals of the education system can be achieved. This will also help in achieving education benefits for all the students of the given education system.

One of the reasons offered for the disproportionate representation of minorities in special education has been their socio-economic backgrounds, which have arisen from being economically disadvantaged. The U.S. Census Bureau (2001) stated that exposure to poverty is more prevalent in the minority students. This sets the background for an expectation that these students, because of the risk factors involved, will be under achievers and exhibit behavioral problems. This is part of what causes the increase in their referrals.

Some demographic factors in certain locations have been associated with cognitive development in the early stages of learning and the educational achievement of students. Ainsworth (2002) indicates that housing and the neighborhood where the child lives, are some of these factors. This indicates that the atmosphere at the child's home, how stable the family is, even in terms of accessing health care, and the location of the home, all contribute to this. How long the poverty lasts, at what stage in the child's life and in what neighborhood, are thus key things that will affect the child in terms of their cognitive development, how they function emotionally and even how well they perform in school. The cognitive and behavioral results that are low in minorities have been attributed to the biological and social elements that affect these minorities more than other groups. This was noted by the National Research Council in 2002, when it aimed to find out why disproportionality was occurring in special education.

However, that is not to say that poverty leads to disproportionality in special education. Skiba et al., (2005) noted that there is not enough research proving this connection, and thus low academic achievement and behavior cannot be attributed to poverty. However, the U.S. Census Bureau (2001) proved that there was a link between poverty and minority status. Special education, however, should not be seen as the solution for academic problems or social problems. IDEA does not recommend this. Assuming that special education is the answer, would require that those with an economic disadvantage be seen as having a higher risk for low academic achievement and behavioral outcomes that are defined by IDEA.

It is acknowledged that some risk elements linked to poverty may foretell behavioral outcomes and learning outcomes, which may require special education or cause one to be referred to it. This indicates that the disproportionality that minorities experience may be caused in part by their economic disadvantage. However, the process of qualifying for this is complex and governed by regulations (Skiba, et al., 2005). The hypothesis that poverty is the key source of disproportionality in special education has thus not been proven this far. The quality of the minority families cannot be alluded to because they have not been proven to have lower quality parenting than other races. What this also leads one to wrongfully predetermine is the criterion for shortlisting students who require special eductaion. The fact of the matter is that the link between socio economic status and special education have not been proved as there seems to be no direct corelation and assuming a corelation can lead to wrongful placement of students within an education sector that they don't necessarily belong in. This wrongful placement can later on lead to significant other problems, that have also been discussed in this paper. Once wrongfully placed, it can also lead to behavioral problems in students as opposed to behavioral problems being the precedent for special education placement. It is important to note here that these issues can very easily be avoided by simply not predetermining a link between poverty, socio economic standing and the need for special education.

Counselor/Teacher/Parent Professional Development

Never the less, it has been found that, majority of the schools are linked to their respective funding from the government and other authoritative agencies, on the basis of the performances of the children in each of these schools. This would mean that, poorly performing schools will not be able to receive proper funding, and would thereby receive fewer resources in comparison to others. Hence, the parents of these students will be sending their children to other schools, wherein appropriate resources are available. This in turn will help them to improve upon their grades, and in turn will improve the overall performance of the school (Losen & Orfield, 2002).

These issues have never been put before the government. Hence, the government along with the education authorities needs to prevent such schools from shutting down, and need to eliminate the system of tying funding with the school performance. All schools need to be treated equally, and all of them should be provided with necessary resources, books, computers, etc. so that all students can study well in each of these schools (Neuman & Celano, 2001). One of the ways that this can be done on the governmental level is by conducting regular cross checks of school standards for all registered institutions. For instance, the government can keep an updated list of schools that are registered and make sure that these schools have a through understanding of what is required of them in terms of performance outside the completion of the annual syllabus. Then the government can conduct regular surveys or yearly surveys whereby administrative staff members, teachers, students and parents all partake and give their opinion on how the school has performed by the standards set forth from the government. This will ensure a regular monitoring and checks system whereby the government will not remain in the dark about the standards met by schools; and, thus can also provide them with the resources necessary to get their performance on par in sections that they are lacking.

Teachers thus should not focus too much upon meeting of the education standards. This will help them to provide better facilities, books from the libraries, and computer systems for their respective education. The teachers should collaborate with the school management and try to find out alternative ways that will help these children get their education. The teachers need to prepare schedules and timetables, which will take care of their standards, their daily tutoring, and their daily monitoring.

Students need to be motivated, to make them learn in an easy way. The authorities will be required to work upon the content, so as to easily integrate the language first into other courses. The students need to learn other subjects such as science, math, social studies, and other academic subjects on the basis of same language. The school is required to incorporate technology, which will help in making videos of the events, activities, and places of all round the world (Botelho, Turner, Wright 2006).

Further, there are no specific principles and theories working behind the development of these children. It is just the matter of time, wherein these children slowly and gradually develops in each of their successive age. There are certain strategies that need to be adopted by the teachers and the school authorities in designing of the course content.

The course should be so designed that, it will help in developing the learning abilities of the students, in developing their current grasping levels, and in developing their intensity to know the surrounding environment. Both, the teachers as well as parents need to support their children in such events and occurrences of learning. For the designing of course content, Jain mentions that there need to be certain principles of learning kept in mind. This is important because the child should be trained as per the learning requirements. Besides, the all the schools should try to evaluate their teaching methodologies and try to adapt the best one out of it for the betterment of the entire student community. The board members of the school should also provide their reviews and opinions regarding the design of the course content.

There has been the Total Physical Response teaching strategy, which aims at introducing a new language through series of commands. The students should be provided with a log journal, in order to note down their daily communications. All the words and sentences should be spoken loudly, so that both pronunciation and meaning becomes clear to these students. Further, in order to involve them into the other academic subjects, the students should be provided with the hands-on learning experiences.

The teachers can utilize charts and outlines, in order to instruct them as well as teach them in an appropriate way. Students should be encouraged on an individual basis, in subjects like math, science, and social studies, in order to eliminate their fear, lack of self-confidence, and instable motivation. This in turn will help these students to overcome all the barriers in their school as well as in their surrounding environment.

In RTI development, the parents and the families of the student must be involved. This should happen when the plan is being formulated and continue through to its implementation. These people should be involved, even at the state special education panels as well as the local ones. The procedures that have been put in place must ensure that, at all stages, the parent is involved. This will be from the beginning, when the difficulties in learning is indicated, teams discuss and come up with decisions, the learning instructions change to the final stage and when evaluation is done so that identification can be made. The parents should follow up so that the school always provides them with progress reports of the student. This information should be volunteered by the school. The parent should also be able to initiate an RTI meeting so that there can be consideration of changes to the interventions (MacMillan and Reschley, 1998; Skiba et al., 2008).

Where RTI is applied in a school, the struggling students will have access to different instructions aimed at improving their academic performance and behavior. Earl intervention is encouraged in education so that the problems that can be addressed are managed before they escalate into bigger and less manageable ones. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 has thus in this endeavor given more financial muscle to local education agencies (LEA). These findings can be used up to 15% to give services of academic and behavioral nature to help identify struggling students early and even prevent problems from developing, and this will help reduce over referral of cases [P.L. 108-446, 613(F)(1)]. LEAs have also been empowered to use 50% of their increase in funding for Tier 1 activities (MacMillan & Reschly, 1998; Serna et al., 1998; Guiberson, 2009; Davis, 2005).

Summary

Due to mis-judgment in placing the students of the minority communities in the special education services, and due to over-estimating the performances of the white students, there arises the problem of over-representation of the minority students. In addition, the students of the minority community are also suffering from the cultural, socio-economic and poverty barriers. As a result, the students are deprived of basic education needs, which further fail their academic career.

Furthermore, it is thereby, recommended to the U.S. Department of Education to install an effective collaboration strategy that will solve the issue of over-representation of minority students in a given society. The schools need to be more funded so as to initiate more programs and services for these children. The teachers and other teaching staff need to be trained in the area of reading so as to improve the teaching capacity of these personnel. The data of all the students need to be disaggregated on the basis of racial and ethnic backgrounds, and the local governments need to monitor the performances of each of them (Stewart, 2008).

The school management needs to welcome other education professionals that can help in eliminating this issue. Even, the teachers should take part in improving the classroom environment and also seek professional development. It will help them from two different perspectives. The school management authority in association with the government and other concerned authorizes need to participate in the collaborative program planning. The schools need to hire professionals and provide them with the leadership to lead the area of reading.

The special educational services should comprise of the experts that have a wide knowledge on reading assessment and instructions. The experts can further collaborate with other professionals to develop interesting and effective reading intervention programs. The principals of all the schools need to lead the team of all these members from the front and facilitate all sorts of collaborative activities. Together, with the professional developers and teacher educators the school authorities need to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each of the students. The education authorities can accordingly plan their strategies of actions. Finally, even the parents should be requested to take part in all these activities and in the placement and assessment of their children. The parents should respond to the information regarding the trends in special education placement at local levels and accordingly, provide their useful suggestions.

Early pre-school education should be mandatory for all the students, irrespective of their belonging to different communities. Different incentives can be created for all the entities so as to enhance the effectiveness of the collaboration intervention programs. If such strategies are implemented, only then the problem of over-representation of the minorities in special education will be solved.

Research Method

A qualitative collective case study anchored by multi-perspectival analyses' approach will focus on a comparison of enrollment in special education based on cultures from both an urban and rural county perspective. The benefit of the qualitative approach is that the information is richer and has a deeper insight into the phenomenon under study. The collective case study presents an opportunity to make comparisons, build theory, and propose generalizations (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010). This triangulated research strategy using three data collection processes may provide details about the context surrounding the case, which would include physical environment and any historical, economic and social factors that may have any bearing on minorities in special education. In addition, since it is grounded in the philosophy of epistemology -- the study of knowledge -- and accepts the value of individual accounts (perceptions), a qualitative methodology is beneficial for learning more about the effect of special education programs on relevant stakeholders. A multicultural theoretical perspective about the phenomenon enables the analysis of belief systems, views and opinions of stakeholders while allowing assumptions to be made through three methods of data collection.

Data Collection, Processing, and Analysis

The collection of data will include, observations of best practices, surveys and interviews of two urban and two rural school districts in New Jersey. The urban schools to be observed are New Brunswick and Franklin Middle Schools and the rural schools are located in Warren and Bedminster School districts. Study participants will include; one administrator and teacher from each school, two members from each child study team to be observed and interviewed as well as families connected to their respective special education programs.

Questionnaire. Following the completion of the informed consent process and agreement to participate in the study, the participants will receive surveys via an email, which will be sent from the building principals to the stakeholders. In this way, the stakeholders understand that the district is supporting and approves of the research study in which they have been asked to participate. Upon receipt and review of the completed surveys, a follow-up interview will be conducted to discuss and to ask the stakeholders to explain their thoughts in more detail and/or elaborate on what they have selected in the survey.

A field test will be conducted to show questionnaire validity, with at least two significant stakeholders participating in the field test to assess the utility of the type of questions in the study and to ensure that the field test participants readily understand the questions. Acceptability will be determined by asking the stakeholders about their experience and perceptions while answering the survey during the field test. This procedure will help identify any wording issues and assist with the process of ensuring the questions to be used in the study are clear and not susceptible to substantive misinterpretation.

Interviews. A field test will be conducted to evidence validity of interview questions. Moreover, a non-directive style of interviewing using open-ended questions allowing the stakeholders the autonomy to control pacing and subject matter of the interview. In addition, a more directive style of probing questions will be used as needed when more stakeholder clarification of information is needed. Stakeholder information will be recorded during the in person interviews as well as telephone interviews by making hand-written notes. Additional sub-questions will also be used as needed.

In some instances it will be necessary to conduct telephone interviews. The same interview protocol will be used with both face-to-face and telephone interviews. Data gathered through the interviews will be triangulated with the survey and observational data.

Observations. Field notes and observation checklist will provide consistent tracking and analysis of procedures at student intake. In order to address the implementation of IDEA regulated best practices with regard to the referral and placement process of high incidence students, observations will be conducted during placement meetings in which the child study team presents their evidentiary information and opinions regarding the placement. The observations will enable the researcher to listen for culturally sensitive communication and indicators of stakeholder beliefs. The referral and placement process will be further explored through the interviews with stakeholders.

The concepts of reliability and validity are not a good fit with qualitative research. Qualitative researchers substitute data trustworthiness for reliability and validity. Trustworthiness is said to be manifested by these components: (a) Credibility; (b) transferability; (c); dependability; and (d) confirm-ability. Credibility contributes to confidence in the trustworthiness of data by demonstrating the following: (a) prolonged engagement; (b) persistent observations; (c) triangulation; (d) referential adequacy (e) peer debriefing; and (f) member checks. Both triangulation and member checks are commonly to demonstrate credibility. Triangulation is accomplished by asking the same research questions of different study participants, such as in a survey and interview protocol. Triangulation is also conducted by collecting data from different sources and by using different methods to answer research questions. Member checks are employed when participants are asked to review the data from an interview, and particularly attending to the researchers' interpretation of that interview data. Participants typically appreciative the member check process, and are more willing, generally, to fill in gaps when researchers probe for more information because they know that they will have a chance to verify their statements. Trust is an important aspect of the member check process. Transferability is the generalization of the study findings to other situations and contexts, however, qualitative researchers who use naturalistic approaches do not seek to achieve transferability. This is because the context in which qualitative data collection occurs both defines the data and contributes to the data interpretation by the researcher. This means that the use of the term generalization in qualitative research is limited. Dependability of data can be assessed through the use of a data audit. A data audit is conducted when the data set is rich-thick, which lets an auditor determine if the research situation applies to their own circumstances. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that the aim is not to generalize beyond the sample.