Predictive Factors for the Enrollment of African American Students in Special Education Preservice Programs.

The overrepresentation of African American students in special education programs is of national concern. Research has identified a higher special education placement rate of African American male students with Caucasian teachers. Yet the current U.S. teaching force includes only 4 percent African American teachers. To identify factors predictive of African American students enrolling in special education preservice teacher preparation programs, African American students were surveyed at 25 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) nationwide and 8 Missouri public universities and colleges that offered special education teacher preparation programs. For students enrolled in HBCUs, the major factors were a desire to reverse the overrepresentation of African American students in special education programs, a desire to advocate for special needs students with the same cultural background, and the inspiration of a special needs person. For students in Missouri universities and colleges, the decisive factors were the inspiration of a special needs person and the feeling of being called to be a special educator. Role models and the financial advantages of forgivable loans, scholarships, and teaching were not factors in the decision-making process for either group. Recommendations are offered for recruiting African American students into special education preservice teacher preparation programs. Five tables present survey results. (TD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) II/his document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Judy Weyrauch TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC). " Rebecca Newcom Belcher Lincoln University 820 Chestnut 452A MLK Jefferson City, MO 65102 PREDICTIVE FACTORS FOR THE F NPIILLMENT OF AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS IN SPECIAL EDUCATION PRESERVICE PROGRAMS The need for highly qualified diverse special educators has reached crisis proportions. Every state reported a serious shortage of special education classroom teachers during the past school year (NCPSE, 2000). There is an alarming racial disparity between students and teachers in our nation's schools that threatens to impact the quality of education for all students. Currently nine out of ten teachers are Caucasian nationwide, while students of color represent 37% of elementary and secondary school students (Alliance for Equity in Higher Education, 2000). The racial composition of the teaching staff and the disparities in representatives of Caucasian and African American males in special education were studied in ten United State cities, Atlanta, Cleveland, Miami, Chicago, Houston, Detroit, New York, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and San Diego (Herrera, 1998). A relationship was found between the number of African American male students placed in special education and the number of Caucasian teachers in the school system. Currently enrollment in teacher education programs is identified as over 80% Caucasian and 16% minority (Alliance for Equity in Higher Education, 2000). The United States is significantly more diverse than it was at the beginning of the last century. In 1999, the United States Census Bureau reported that 72% of the total population was Caucasian.