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Dissertation Defense Announcement

College of Education announces the Final Dissertation Defense of

Sonia Barber

for the Degree of Doctor of Education

March 13, 2019 at 9:00 AM in Ball Hall Room, Room 123 

Advisor: Dr. Reginald Green

Building a case for Culturally Responsive Practices to reduce disproportionate representation among African American students in special education

ABSTRACT: Building a case for Culturally Responsive Practices to reduce disproportionate representation among African-Americans in special education. ABSTRACT: The federal law, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA, which was enacted to provide funds to states to support special education programs and to ensure that children and parents rights are protected, has been reauthorized several times. Yet, despite the multiple amendments to improve the law, there remains a disproportionate representation of minority students in special education. Such disparity creates a plethora of problems for African-American students. This study extends a previous case study in relation to using culturally responsive practices to reduce disproportionate representation among African Americans in special education. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent a Culturally Responsive approach to Response to Intervention (RTI) may have decreased disproportionate representation among African Americans in special education in two school districts. The researcher used content analysis in order to develop a consensus on the knowledge and use of culturally responsive practices aligned with RTI techniques to decrease disproportionate representation in special education among African- American students in Florida and Virginia. The researcher found that culturally responsive practices used with RTI can reduce disproportionate representation in the two school districts. The findings, implications and recommendations for using culturally responsive practices with RTI models could reduce disproportionate representation among African American students in special education by using a theoretical framework as a guide for implementation. The results may also suggest the need for continued research to improve how states define the criteria for determining disproportionate representation for all subgroups of students.