Reducing Subjectivity in Special Education Referrals by Educators Working with Latino Students: Using Functional Behavioral Assessment as a Pre-Referral Practice in Student Support Teams

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2013

Abstract

Over the past several decades, the Latino population throughout the USA has demonstrated significant growth and exceeded that of other ethnic minority groups. This influx is particularly evident in the student enrollment of US schools as the number of Latino students has increased by approximately 10 million within the past 10 years. With this dramatic increase, there are a number of critical issues that present significant barriers to a high-quality educational experience for Latino students, specifically overrepresentation of Latinos receiving disciplinary actions and the high number of referrals to special education evaluation for emotional and behavioral disorders. This paper will discuss the impact of the Latino population in US schools, the concern of overrepresentation and biased referrals, and the use of a culturally attuned functional behavioral assessment as a pragmatic solution to better serve this growing population.

Version

The work available here is the abstract of the article. Locate the full-text of the article using the DOI below.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/13632752.2012.675132

Publication Title

Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties

Volume Number

18

Issue Number

1

First Page

88

Last Page

101

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