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Jun 1, 2021Liked by John Wills Lloyd

The findings of Ballis and Heath certainly refute the idea that special education benefits no one, but the statements seem contradictory--unless one assumes that black students are disproportionately misidentified. However, the B&H findings don't seem to indicate that all black children are misidentified and that perhaps some who are not black are misidentified as well. Their findings certainly do not suggest the discontinuation of special education but do seem to emphasize the importance of careful identification processes. Errorless identification, however, is not likely, given human fallibility and the limitations of algorithms. But improving both identification and instruction of the identified is critically important.

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