Date of Award/Publication

12-2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MS in Special Education

Department

Education

Abstract

As studied in recent years, there is a growing number of minority students who are enrolled in special education around the country. In many schools, the percentage of minority students in special education compared to the total number of minority students is surprisingly high. The purpose of this study was to determine if this was true for schools in the Rochester, New York region. As a teacher, I wanted to learn more about why the high percentage of minority students in special education existed so that I can better serve the students that I work with. If we know why this happens, we could potentially prevent and/or create a more effective learning environment for these students. In order to study this trend, I collected information about special education programs in different elementary schools around the Rochester, NY area. Since students are most often labeled with having a disability in elementary school, I chose to focus my research on data collected from elementary schools. I interviewed school administrators and professionals to discuss their special education programs. Finally, to add to my research, I went to a summer school program that was aimed at students with disabilities and/or students who receive Academic Intervention Support (AIS) during their regular school year.

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