Minority Students

Minority children often perform poorly in school solely because they are not well prepared. Their poor performance is wrongly assumed to be disability based and causes them to be referred for special education services. However, special education services are not designed for children who do poorly in school based on lack of opportunity. This is one of the findings discussed in a new report issued by the National Academies' National Research Council, called Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education.

The report goes on to say that in order to decrease the number of minority students wrongly referred to special education, educators should be required to provide these students with high-quality instruction and social support in a general education classroom. Other recommendations from the report include:

• There is a need for more research to find ways to identify talented students who excel in verbal, mathematical, or other skills.
• Teachers need to know effective intervention methods to assist students who fail to meet minimum academic standards or who substantially exceed them. These needs should be reflected in each state's teacher licensing and certification requirements.
• Teachers need to be familiar with students' beliefs, values, and cultural practices that may affect classroom participation and success.
• Early childhood services related to health care, family support and preschool education need to be improved and expanded by Federal and State officials.
• Links between scientific findings about school achievement and everyday classroom practice need to be strengthened by expanded research and development. Much of the research needs to be focused on student academic improvement in schools with large numbers of children from low-income families.

The study can be found online at http://www.nap.edu/books/0309074398/html.

National Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Lockbox 285, Washington, DC 20055, 800.624.6242 (toll-free), 202.334.3313 (voice), 202.334.2451 (fax), www.nap.edu (web), zjones@nas.edu (e-mail).