Students With Special Needs

¶ … representation has become a very contentious issue of late. Typically, overrepresentation is characterized with race or socio-economic status. Society often wants to an equal distribution and equal opportunity for all. This concept on the surface should be applauded. However, although it is well intentioned, it should not apply to all facets of life. In some instances, particularly with special education, overrepresentation is welcomed.

According to studies, it is estimated that about twelve percent of the American student population experiences some type of disability in regards to physical activity, mental activity, or overall health. Whenever a disproportionate number of students are identified from specific populations of students as having disabilities, this group is considered "over-represented." One would believe that students with disabilities would be roughly equal to the overall demographics of an area. However in some instances, it is not. Overall however, I believe over representation should not be welcomed.

Overrepresentation is should not be welcomed in special education policies due in part to demographics. In some areas of the United States, demographics are skewed towards a particular group. For example, in Duval County Florida, a disproportionate amount of citizens are African-America. It is therefore likely to conclude that special education programs and policies will have a disproportionate amount of African-American students. In some instances however, policy will penalize the very constituents it is attempting to help.

In this instance, if African-Americans are overrepresented, it is a reflection of the demographics in the area, not necessary the result of policies and procedures. However, what is occurring in some instances is misidentification of students. Using the Duval County example above, misidentification of African-American students could ultimately undermined their overall education experience. For example, some students may have their experience unnecessary limited because of a misidentification. Due in part to this limited experience, students who would otherwise learn critical concepts are not learning them.

This places students in a precarious position as they must now work even harder to eventually "catch up" to the levels of their respective peers. These individuals are often caught in a vicious cycle of trying to catch up to peers by learning past concepts while still attempting to learn concepts that are currently being taught. This can be overwhelming and cause students to give up their pursuit of education altogether.

Ultimately, this misidentification deprives society of the talent of other perfectly health student who simply learns in a different manner form his or her peers. Misidentification also causes a misallocation of resources. Due to having children classified as "special needs" when they actually are perfectly fine causes resources to be allocated inefficient. Students who don't need these resources are taking them from students who actually need them. School budgets continue to be constrained due to tepid economic growth, bloated municipalities with high amounts of debt, and increasing educational costs.

Having students using resources they don't otherwise need puts a strain on these budgets and on teachers. In conclusion, misrepresentation should not be welcomed in society. As noted misrepresentation is often a result of simply.