![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
This article examines procedures and processes that result in the over-referral of migrant students to separate special education programmes and, as a consequence, their exclusion from general education. The particular focus is on the role of the school psychologist in this process. The empirical study is a comparison of Swiss teachers’ and school psychologists’ responses to the paper case of a boy with behavioural and learning difficulties whose name and ethnicity was varied so that one version identified him as from an ethnically mainstream, Swiss German background and the other as a migrant and foreign first language speaker. The results show that, compared with teachers, school psychologists’ assessments and choice of interventions demonstrated less cultural bias and higher levels of intercultural competence. These findings support the call that school psychologists have a vital role to play in the reduction of discrimination against migrant students and in the implementation of a more inclusive and equitable education system.
References
Section:
| Arrijn, P., Feld, S., Nayer, A. (1999) Discrimination in access to employment on grounds of foreign origin: The case of Belgium, Geneva: International Labor Organisation. Google Scholar | |
| Bartolo, P. A., Borg, M., Cefai, C., Martinelli, V. (2010) School psychology for diversity: Editorial. School Psychology International 31(6): 563566. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| Bauer, P., Riphahn, R. (2004) Heterogeneity in the intergenerational transmission of educational attainment: Evidence from Switzerland on natives and second generation immigrants. Discussion Paper No. 1354, Bonn, Germany: Institute for the Study of Labor. Google Scholar | |
| Beck, U. (1992) Risk society: Towards a new modernity, London: Sage. Google Scholar | |
| Bertrand, M., Mullainathan, S. (2004) Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A field experiment on labor market discrimination. American Economic Review 94(4): 9911013. doi: 10.1257/0002828042002561. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
| Blanchett, W. J. (2006) Disproportionate representation of African American Students in special education: Acknowledging the role of white privilege and racism. Educational Researcher 35(6): 2428. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| Coradi Vellacott, M., Wolter, S. C. (2004) Sibling rivalry in education: An empirical investigation for Switzerland. In: Backes-Gellner, U., Moog, P. (eds) Oekonomie der Evaluation von Schulen und Hochschulen, Berlin: Dunker & Humblot, pp. 7599. Google Scholar | |
| de Valenzuela, J. S., Copeland, S. R., Huaqing Qi, C., Park, M. (2006) Examining educational equity: Revisiting the disproportionate representation of minority students in special education. Exceptional Children 72(4): 425441. http://journals.cec.sped.org/ec/. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
| European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. (2011). Special needs education country data 2010. Retrieved from: http://www.european-agency.org/publications/ereports. Google Scholar | |
| Fagan, T. K. (2002) School psychology. Recent descriptions, continued expansion and ongoing paradox. School Psychology Review 31(1): 510. http://www.nasponline.org/publications/spr/about.aspx. Google Scholar | |
| Farrell, P. T. (2010) School psychology: Learning lessons from history and moving forward. School Psychology International 31(6): 581598. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
| Federal Statistical Office of Switzerland. (2013). Education indicators. Retrieved from: http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/index/themen/15/17.html. Google Scholar | |
| Federal Migration Office of Switzerland. (2013). Ausländerstatistik per Ende April 2012 [Statistics on foreigners, to end of April 2012]. Retrieved from: http://www.bfm.admin.ch/bfm/de/home/dokumentation/medienmitteilungen/2012/2012-06-19.html. Google Scholar | |
| Fibbi, R., Bülent, K., & Piguet, E. (2003). Le passeport ou le diplôme? Etude des discriminations à l'embauche des jeunes issus de la migration (Research Report 31/2003). Neuchâtel: Swiss Forum for Migration and Population Studies. Google Scholar | |
| Figlio, D. N. (2003). Names, expectations, and black children’s achievement. National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper 11195. Retrieved from: http://www.nber.org/papers/w11195. Google Scholar | |
| Forlin, C. (2010) The role of the school psychologist in inclusive education for ensuring quality learning oucomes for all learners. School Psychology International 31(61): 617630. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| Fryer, R. G., & Levitt, S. D. (2006). Testing for racial differences in the mental ability of young children. NBER Working Papers, 12066, 1–42. Google Scholar | |
| Gutkin, T. B. (2009) Ecological school psychology. A personal opinion and a plea for change. In: Gutkin, T. B., Reynolds, C. R. (eds) The handbook of school psychology, 4th ed. New York, NY: Wiley, pp. 463496. Google Scholar | |
| Hanna, R. N., Linden, L. L. (2012) Discrimination in grading. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 4(4): 146168. doi: 10.1257/pol.4.4 .146. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Hosp, J. L., Reschly, D. J. (2003) Referral rates for intervention and assessment: A meta-analysis of racial differences. Journal of Special Education 37(2): 6781. doi: 10.1177/00224669030370020201. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| Jimerson, S. R., Oakland, T. D., Farrell, P. T. (2007) The handbook of international school psychology. A review with implications for the profession’s future, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
| Johnson, R. A., Wichern, D. W. A. (2008) Applied multivariate statistical analysis, (6th ed). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Google Scholar | |
| Jussim, L., Harber, K. D. (2005) Teacher expectations and self-fulfilling prophecies: Knowns and unknowns, resolved and unresolved controversies. Personality and Social Psychology Review 9(2): 131155. doi: 10.1207/s15327957pspr0902_3. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
| Käser, R. (1993) A change in focus … without losing sight of the child: An ecological-systems approach. School Psychology International 14(1): 519. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| Klingner, J. K., Artiles, A. J., Kozeleski, E., Harry, B., Zion, S., Tate, W., & Riley, D. (2005). Addressing the disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education through culturally responsive educational systems. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 13(38), 1–40. http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/143. Google Scholar | |
| Kronig, W. (2003) Das Konstrukt des leistungsschwachen Immigrantenkindes. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft 6(1): 126141. http://www.zfe-online.de/. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Lanfranchi, A. (2007). Sonderklassenversetzung und integrative Förderung: Denken und handeln Lehrpersonen kulturell neutral? Vierteljahresschrift für Heilpädagogik und ihre Nachbargebiete (VHN), 2, 128–141. http://www.reinhardt-verlag.de/de/zeitschrift/5126/Vierteljahresschrift_fuer_Heilpaedagogik_und_ihre_Nachbargebiete_VHN_p_#Infotext. Google Scholar | |
| Lanfranchi, A., Jenny, G. (2005) Prozesse der Zuweisung von Kindern mit Problemen zu sonderpädagogischen Massnahmen. In: Häfeli, K., Walther-Müller, P. (eds) Das wachstum des sonderpädagogischen Angebots im interkantonalen Vergleich. Steuerungsmöglichkeiten für eine integrative Ausgestaltung, Luzern: Edition SZH, pp. 217278. Google Scholar | |
| Milic, A. (2007) Welche Schulpsychologie für Zürich? Beiträge zu einer Neukonzeption der schulpsychologischen Versorgung im Kanton Zürich, Göttingen: Cuvillier. Google Scholar | |
| Moser, U., & Lanfranchi, A. (2008). Ungleich verteilte Bildungschancen. In Familien—Erziehung—Bildung (pp. 10–21). Bern: Eidgenössische Koordinationskommission für Familienfragen. Retrieved from: http://www.ekff.admin.ch/c_data/d_Pub_Erziehung_08.pdf. Google Scholar | |
| National Education Association of the United States (2007). Truth in labeling: Disproportionality in special education. Washington, DC: NEA Professional Library. Retrieved from: http://www.nccrest.org/Exemplars/Disporportionality_Truth_In_Labeling.pdf. Google Scholar | |
| O’Connor, C., Fernandez, S. D. (2006) Race, class, and disproportionality: Reevaluating the relationship between poverty and special education placement. Education Researcher 35(6): 611. doi: 10.3102/0013189X035006006. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2006). Where immigrant students succeed: A comparative review of performance and engagement in PISA 2003. Paris: OECD. Google Scholar | |
| Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2009). Creating effective teaching and learning environments: First results from TALIS. Paris: OECD. Google Scholar | |
| Oswald, D. P., Coutinho, M. J., Best, A. M., Sing, N. N. (1999) Ethnic representation in special education. The influence of school-related economic and demographic variables. Journal of Special Education 32: 194206. doi: 10.1177/002246699903200401. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| Paez, D. (2004). Culturally competent assessment of English language learners: Strategies for school personnel. National Asociation of School Psychologists. Retrieved from: http://www.nasponline.org/resources/culturalcompetence/cca_personnel.pdf. Google Scholar | |
| Riley, T., Underleider, C. (2012) Self-fulfilling prophecy: How teachers’ attributions, expectations, and stereotypes influence the learning opportunities afforded Aboriginal students. Canadian Journal of Education 35(2): 303333. Google Scholar | |
| Robson, C. (2005). Students with disabilities, learning difficulties and disadvantages: Statistics and indicator. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved from: http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/464/. Google Scholar | |
| Scherer, L., Bösch, H., Zeberli, P. (2007) School psychology in Switzerland. In: Jimerson, S. R., Oakland, T. D., Farrell, P. T. (eds) The handbook of international school psychology, Thousand Oaks: Sage, pp. 391397. doi: 10.4135/9781412976138.n39. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Sheridan, S. M., Gutkin, T. B. (2000) The ecology of school psychology: Examining and changing our paradigm for the 21st century. School Psychology Review 29: 485502. http://www.nasponline.org/publications/spr/about.aspx. Google Scholar | ISI | |
| Sullivan, B. A. L., & A’Vant, E. (2009). On the need for cultural responsiveness. NASP Communiqué, 38 (3). Retrieved from: http://www.nasponline.org/publications/cq/mocq383culturalresponsive.aspx. Google Scholar | |
| Trentin, R., Monaci, M. G., De Lumè, F., Zanon, O. (2006) Scholastic integration of gypsies in Italy: Teachers’ attitudes and experience. School Psychology International 27(1): 79103. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| United States Department of Education (2011). 30th annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2008. Washington, D.C. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/osep/index.html: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Google Scholar | |
| United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (2012). Inclusive education. Paris: UNESCO. Retrieved from: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/inclusive-education/. Google Scholar | |
| United Nations Children’s Fund (2002). A league table of eductional disadvantage in rich nations. Florence: Innocenti Research Centre. Retrieved from: http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/340. Google Scholar | |
| Vedder, P., van Geel, M. (2011) Immigrant youth and discrimination. In: Garcia Coll, C. (ed) The impact of immigration on children’s development, Basel: Karger, pp. 99121. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| World Health Organization (2011). International Classification of Diseases (ICD)—10th Revision. Retrieved from: http://apps.who.int/classifications/icd10/browse/2010/en#/F90–F98. Google Scholar |
Author biography
Andrea Lanfranchi is Professor in the Research Department, University of Applied Sciences of Special Needs Education in Zürich, Switzerland. Previously he worked as a psychologist for the school psychology services of the City of Zürich, Switzerland. His research and publications focus on child and adolescent psychology, migration, and educational achievement. He currently leads a long-term study in Early Child Care and Education (funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation) using a randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of interventions for the prevention of educational failure (see www.zeppelin-hfh.ch). He is also a faculty member of the Training Institute for Systemic Therapy in Meilen, Switzerland.
