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tempt made to find out where the kid fits, but also a lot of times you hide behind the cultural deprivation and it's like an incurable disease which explains why the kid doesn't get XYZ. A lot of times, the teacher just doesn't know what to do about it."62 The former director of the Taylor School in Davenport had a different response. She admitted that a disproportionate number of children at the special school are black. She said, "disciplinarywise," teachers might try to refer "those kids if they are black, even if a white child is lower academically." And though she hated to tell us this, "IQ tests results are the sole criteria for determining whether a child is EMR or TMR."68 Other school districts like Sumter County, South Carolina and Canton, Mississippi completely rejected arguments of cultural bias and continue to rely mainly on IQ tests for classification and placement of children. 62 Interview with Karen DeRario, School Psychologist, Davenport, Iowa, 11 /7/73. 68 Interview with Mrs. Betsy Schellenger, ex-Director, Taylor School, Davenport, Iowa, 9/14/73. 106 Subjective Evaluation Classroom teachers evaluate their students continuously by observing their behavior, and they have a great deal of discretionary power to have children removed from their class and placed in special education classes. Often their assessments of students are based on subjective judgments and are not bolstered by other measures and opinions. Misinterpretation of behavior, equating symptoms with problems, and unfamiliarity with racially and culturally different children may result in misclassification. The head social worker in Cambridge, Massachusetts' Children's Developmental Clinic reported that: "Learning disability is a whole new thing. Many teachers refuse to believe that a bright kid has anything wrong with him. . . . What happens with so many of these bright kids with LD problems is the teachers will get very impatient. . . . They just label them off as lazy. "64 Another school official in Cambridge claimed that special education classes "... consist of kids that don't react normally to regular classroom situations rather than strictly retarded and emotionally disturbed kids. "65 A Davenport official said, "Teachers who feel 'low functioning' kids are too much trouble wish that special education would take them all away. Especially at the junior and senior high school level, the staff has often made a decision about placing a child in special education or kicking him out of school."66 In Davenport, the Director of Special Education said they have made good progress in keeping special education from becoming a dumping ground for children teachers don't want to handle. He added however, that "a teacher trying to differentiate among the 70+ IQs says 'I can handle the one who says "good morning," "good bye" and erases the blackboards but not the hellion.' "67 A former Springfield, Massa- 64 Interview with Mrs. Ruth Young, Head Social Worker, Children's Developmental Clinic, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1/17/74. 65 Interview with Howard Hughes, former Coordinator, Donnie Harding, Coordinator, Roberts Community School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 7/30/73. 66 Interview with an official in Davenport, Iowa, who asked to remain anonymous. 67 Interview with Donald Tupper, Director, Special Education and Pupil Services, Davenport, Iowa, 11/6/73.
chusetts counselor pointed out that "there is a big difference between a 'disturbed' child and a 'disturbing' child. . . . As a result, learning disabilities classes become another dumping ground."68 In Somerville a principal said: "Many people have been placed in EMR classes because they were problems."6o A special education official remarked: "In the past, many kids were placed in EMR classes who didn't belong there, particularly emotionally disturbed children."70 An official in Floyd County said that "lots of behavior problems are put into these classes now."71 And another school official recalled: "When we first started [special education] we got discipline problems in classes, but we shouldn't keep people in there just because of that."72 A Portland, Maine community worker complained that the children placed in classes for emotionally disturbed children are not those with really severe problems, that these children either are suspended or they drop out. She charged school officials with misclassification of educationally disadvantaged children as mentally retarded. "The kids grow up thinking they are mentally retarded when they are very intelligent."73 The D.C. Assistant Superintendent for Special Education said, "One out of ten [of the referrals from teachers for special education evalua "tion] are legitimate special education referrals."74 A retired school teacher in a Georgia county said she did not think misclassification was a major problem but commented there are many teachers who are quick to brand any slow learner retarded and try to place him in special education. 75 An EMR supervisor in Springfield said she reduced the number of children in EMR classes from 800 to 400, with the 400 who used to be in special classes now in the regular flow. Only 2 of all those who were put back into regular classes have returned to special classes. 76 68 Interview with James Fitzgerald, former Adjustment Counselor, Springfield, Massachusetts, 8/15/73. 60 Interview with a principal in Somerville, Massachusetts, who asked to remain anonymous. 70 Interview with an official, Somerville, Massachusetts, who asked to remain anonymous. 71 Interview with Roger Marshall, Regional Coordinator for Division of Developmental Services, Mountain Comprehensive Care Center, Floyd County, Kentucky, 1/22/74. 72 Interview with Henry Wallace, Director, Title I, Floyd County, Kentucky, 1/24/74. Funding In some instances, the main criterion for classification seemed to be the kind of funding available for special education programs. An official of the Kentucky Infant and Preschool Program (KIPP), a planning program for the delivery of comprehensive child development services in 16 Kentucky counties, circulated a proposal to label children as mentally retarded using IQ tests in order to tap available money sources and to ward off a possible program deficit. 77 We have heard similar complaints that Head Start programs in the District of Columbia and elsewhere 73 Interview with a member of We Who Care, ,Portland, Maine, 7/4/73. 74 Interview with Merle Van Dyke, Assistant Superintendent, Washington, D.C., 3/7/74. 75 Interview with a teacher, Athens, Georgia, who asked to remain anonymous. 76 Interview with Dr. Mary McLean, Special Class Supervisor, Springfield, Massachusetts, 12112/73. 107
Page 1:
CHILDREN OUT OF SCHOOL IN AMERICA A
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Copyright If.> October 1974 by the
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People Who Worked Oft This Report .
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Portland, Maine CDF staff Cambridge
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Foreword Introduction Chapter 1 Cha
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CHAPTER 1 Table I CHAPTER 2 Table I
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community leaders concerned with ed
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dren were suspended. The next highe
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described in this report, they can
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needed to improve and unify state c
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Bureaucratic Excuses for Inaction Y
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problems. Are teachers encouraged o
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Who Are the Children Out of School?
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vary. But while many of them descri
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Maxine, 14 Maxine Dolan is 14 and h
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until the new school year. Meanwhil
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awake until morning when the sounds
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He's had his chances, foreign or no
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Theresa, 12 Theresa Engler, a 12-ye
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34 Table I Children Not Enrolled! B
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Proportion of Minority Children 2 T
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Social and Economic Factors Poor ch
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Limitations of Census Data Our anal
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We found children out of school in
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.". 0\ Table VIII Chlldren Out of S
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VI o Table X All Children Out uf Sc
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Total % of Areas Surveyed Children
Page 73 and 74: Chapter 3 Barriers to School Attend
Page 75 and 76: TABLE I STATUTORY AND CONSTITUTIONA
Page 78 and 79: ter the four months because the cou
Page 80: Truancy Laws penalizing children an
Page 83 and 84: A Denver school official stated: "Y
Page 86 and 87: officers who spoke Spanish, and onl
Page 88 and 89: The principal of Lincoln Junior Hig
Page 91 and 92: For example, as of October, 1972, i
Page 93: think there is enough counseling, e
Page 97: fees required to take, for example,
Page 100 and 101: did not have books were not much of
Page 102 and 103: Consider what this would mean if yo
Page 104: no money to feed and care for all o
Page 107: Apparently a judgment has been made
Page 112 and 113: ecome self-sufficient adults are th
Page 114 and 115: In Cambridee, Massachusetts, an att
Page 116 and 117: Inadequacy of Special Education Pro
Page 118 and 119: over again for four or five years.
Page 120: Janice has not been suspended this
Page 123: ased. 56 They are modeled and norme
Page 128 and 129: that the city does not experiment w
Page 130 and 131: 1. The use of many kinds of people
Page 132 and 133: abuse laws of the state. However, t
Page 134 and 135: 116
Page 137: Many districts still have the power
Page 140 and 141: In contrast to the majority of publ
Page 144 and 145: The same pattern of secondary suspe
Page 148: Racial Discrimination in the Use of
Page 152: One southern school official admitt
Page 158 and 159: tion of the limitation on numbers o
Page 161 and 162: hold hearings, the reaction was sho
Page 164: or programs that operate as alterna
Page 167 and 168: complaints to the federal Office fo
Page 169: APPENDICES
Page 172: • most children who are instituti
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as opposed to every second, third,
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. Census Tract 123 Census Tract 123
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newal. Every third household was mo
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-secondary school children by sex a
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10. Are his special problems/needs
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Sheet E-l SCHOOL EXPULSIONS, SUSPEN
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Maine Portland Census Tract 11 I 1:
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ALABAMA State Officials Mr. William
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Mr. Milton Ogle, Associate Director
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Sumter County #2 School Officials D
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AppendixD STATE SCHOOL OFFlCIALS' R
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Los Angeles Unified School District
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AppendlxE u.s. CENSUS DATA Table I
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State Wisconsin Wyoming GRANO TOTAL
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AppendixE U.s. CENSUS DATA Table II
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.... \C 00 AppelldixE U.S. CENSUS D
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AppendixE u.s. CENSUS DATA Table II
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Appendix 6 RANK ORDERS OF AREAS IN
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AppendbH PERCENT OF HEADS OF HOUSEH
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State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkans
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State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkans
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AppendixM STUDENTS ENROLLED IN EDUC
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Lee I 4,925 2,663 2,260 2 83 18 65
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Walker I 9,671 8,924 745 2 230 164
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Collins I 35 29 6 (82.4) (17.1 ) Co
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Junction City 1,003 584 419 (58.2)
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SI. Charles I 245 149 96 (60.8) (39
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AppendlxM STUDENTS ENROLLED IN EDUC
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Appendix M STUDENTS ENROLLED IN EDU
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App@ndblfl STUDENTS ENROLLED IN EDU
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Appendix M STUDENTS ENROLLED IN EDU
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South Pike Cons. I 2,575 893 1,677
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Clarendon #2 I 3,246 784 2,462 54 8
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Orangeburg #7 1,112 158 954 9 9 (14
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A. ppendi.'\: N SPECIAL EDUCATION I
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Learning Deaf!Hard Blind! Speech Ph
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Rhode Island Society for Autistic C
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Federal Court Consent Agreements; P
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Mr. Peter E. Holmes Director, Offic
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census figures and often did not ch
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pils who dropped out of this school
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SUGGESTED REFINEMENTS IN THE INDIVI
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I. Name of School System _ II. Name
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2 1 1 16 2 14 Cotton Plant 586 72 5
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1 1 5 4 1 Tuckerman 820 711 109 (1)
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Appelldlx R OCR DATA ON STUDENT SUS
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APPENDIXR FOOTNOTES I Unless noted
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36There were 1,763 students, suspen
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Total Students Suspended At Least O
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APPENDIX T TABLES I-II FOOTNOTES IS
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Kentucky Floyd County Total I 2 0.5
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AppendixT SUSPENSIONS IN CD" SURVEY
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Kentucky Floyd County Total Mud Cre
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Appendix T SUSPENSIONS IN CDF SURVE
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Appenllb V STATUTORY PROVISIONS FOR
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Massachusetts I Official None -Misc
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itppe",db V STATUTORY PROVISIONS FO
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Bureau is interested primarily in d
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could be collected centrally at the
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