Graves, Scott L, and Ye, Fei Fei. “Are Special Education Labels Accurate for Black Children? Racial Differences in Academic Trajectories of Youth Diagnosed With Specific Learning and Intellectual Disabilities.” Journal of Black Psychology 43, no. 2 (March 2017).

This article explored the impacts of special education designation on the academic trajectories of Black students. They assessed variation in the academic achievement of children who were diagnosed with learning disabilities and intellectual disabilities. This article sought to answer the following research questions: “Do the math achievement trajectories of youth differ by classification (Intellectual Disability and Learning Disability) and racial background? Do the reading achievement trajectories of youth differ by classification (Intellectual Disability and Learning Disability) and racial background?” Demographic data was necessary to conduct this research. The research looked at race, gender, socioeconomic status, and education level of the head of the household, which are all demographic data. The research was conducted nationally. They used existing data from the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study. While this original study, which spanned 2000-2007, used in-depth interviews, surveys, and direct student assessments, this research article showed the results from taking a random sample of 14,000 children from this longitudinal study. The article explains that the data analysis method used was a “growth curve model” which involves “grouping data from the same individuals across time” (Graves & Ye 2017).

This article talks a lot about the history of discrimination against Black students through special education and also the discrimination of IQ testing and other psychological testing on Black students. The authors, Scott L. Graves and Fei Fei Ye do a thorough job of providing historical context, analyzing existing data, and then conducting their own research to deepen the research on this topic. They noticed the gap in research on longitudinal academic outcomes. This study was able to show significant variety in achievement of children diagnosed with learning disabilities and intellectual disabilities. Graves and Ye found that, across time, the academic achievement growth was typically positive. As students got older, the growth plateaued. Black students displayed lowered rates of growth in two of four achievement tests when compared to their White and Hispanic peers. Another finding showed that Black students did not show as clear distinctions between diagnoses of learning disabilities and mild intellectual disabilities, when compared to their White and Hispanic peers. They demonstrated the need for further research on this topic and also demonstrated the importance of assessing the interaction of factors of race and diagnosis on long term academic growth.