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6 Reasons Black Boys Without Disability Wind Up In Special Education

Posted byBy Nick Chiles | Published on: CommentsComments (8)

red shirts in class

Black Boys More Likely to Get Misdiagnosed

Many problems are associated with false positive diagnoses, according to Toldson. False positive children may be relegated to a learning environment that is not stimulating or challenging. There is research evidence that Black males are more likely than other races to have false positive diagnoses, due to culturally biased assessments, unique styles of expression and environmental stressors. The statistics support this notion of false diagnoses: Black boys represent only 9 percent of the total student enrollment in public schools, yet in the category of mental retardation their enrollment percentage is more than double (20 percent). In other categories such as emotional disturbance and learning disability, Black males are again overly represented, accounting for 21 percent and 12 percent respectively, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

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