Equity, Bias, & Disproportionality in Special Education

Equity in special education is all about giving children exactly what they need to thrive and be successful at school academically, socially, and emotionally. Children who receive special education services have been identified with one disability area or other co-occurring exceptionalities such as speech language impairment, Deaf/hard of hearing, specific learning disability, other health impairment, autism, or intellectual impairment. Every child and adolescent are different. They have different strengths and areas of need. Therefore, it is imperative that they have effective interventions and classroom instruction that is tailored to their diverse learning and socio-emotional needs. There really should not be one standard manner of instruction that is provided for all students in any classroom and especially not in a special education classroom. Speech/language therapy & instruction must be differentiated according to learner needs. Each child must receive what they need to be successful at school. Instruction and expectations must be developmentally appropriate.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Jillian Whatley on March 14th, 2021 on the topics of Equity, Implicit Bias, and Disproportionality in Special Education. We had an excellent discussion on how professionals can advocate for equity in education for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) children and adolescents. She explained implicit biases and how these biases contribute to the over representation of minority males in special education. We discuss how multidisciplinary teams should ensure that culturally responsive assessment methods are used for initial evaluations and re-evaluations in the public school system. Dr. Whatley shared how parents may be involved in a positive manner to advocate for an increase in equitable educational practices for BIPOC children and children with special education needs. This interview is packed with beneficial information for speech/language pathologists, educators, psychologists, and administrators. You will learn success keys for children and adolescents so they may excel academically, socially, and emotionally. Click here for direct access to the interview. Dr. Whatley shares information about the significance of trauma informed care, mental health, mindfulness, and having an effective bank of quality interventions for students.

Dr. Jillian Whatley is a native of Birmingham, Alabama. She is the founder and CEO of Jillian Whatley & Associates, LLC that provides implicit bias training for educators and professionals with research that contributes to changed practices, perceptions, and expectations for students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Her family has a predominate role in the Civil Rights Movement and she obtained her undergraduate degree from Miles College in Birmingham. She earned her M.S. in Education from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and later attended Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. where she earned a M.A. in Developmental Psychology and Specialist degree in School Psychology, with an emphasis in deafness.

Dr. Whatley is a phenomenal servant leader. In 2018, she successfully defended her dissertation, “Implicit Bias as a Contributing Factor to Disproportionality of African Americans in Special Education, and graduated with her Ph.D. in Education & Leadership from Mercer University. She is the current Executive Director of Student Services for The Clarke County School District and an adjunct professor at Georgia State University. Her prior positions include acting as the Coordinator of Psychological Services for Atlanta Public Schools and School Psychologist for Georgia Network for Educational and Therapeutic Supports (GNET) serving Fulton County Public Schools.

You can stay connected to the passionate and life changing professional work of Dr. Whatley here. I welcome your comments on my website.

All the best,

Tamara Anderson, M.S., Ed.S., CCC-SLP

Speech Language Pathologist

Education Specialist & Consultant

Diversity & Equity Advocate

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