Disciplinary disparities by race and disability: using DisCrit theory to examine the manifestation determination review process in special education in the United States. Issue 6 (2nd November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fisher, Amy E.; Fisher, Benjamin W.; Railey, Kirsten S.
• Is Part Of: Race, ethnicity and education. Volume 24:Issue 6(2021)
• Page Start: 755
• Page End: 769
• Publication Date: 2021-11-02
• Subjects: Manifestation determination review -- DisCrit -- discipline gaps -- race -- disability; Minorities -- Education -- Periodicals; Educational equalization -- Periodicals; Multicultural education -- Periodicals; Race relations -- Periodicals; Race awareness -- Periodicals; Black people -- Race identity -- Periodicals; 306.432
• DOI: 10.1080/13613324.2020.1753671
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1361-3324

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Exclusionary discipline practices in the United States are used disproportionately in the punishment of Black students with a disability compared to White and Black students with or without a disability. One potential mechanism leading to the disproportionate use of exclusionary discipline is a process called 'manifestation determination reviews' (MDR), a process mandated under the U.S. federal Individuals with Disabilities Act that is tasked with determining whether students' offending behaviours were related to their disability. Using a disability studies/critical race theory (DisCrit) lens, the MDR process can be understood as a mechanism that serves to sustain these inequities through vague guidance in critical elements of the MDR process, lack of clarity about the composition of the MDR team, and perpetuation of a race-neutral framework. Implications for policy, educators, and school psychologists within the United States are discussed.