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1954
Brown v. Board of Education
This was an infamous court case in the United States. It declared that "separate but equal is not equal" and ruled that segregation in classrooms was a violation of one's right to equal education (Western Governor's University, 2022). Despite this ruling, misplacement of Black students and immigrants into special education has become a new way to segregate classrooms, violating equal education.
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1979
Larry P. v. Riles
IQ tests are used in the United States public education system to determine intellectual disabilities in children. These results are used to place students into special education. This court case ruled these tests were bias against Black students (Chitiyo, 2021).
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1985
Swann Report
The Swann Report from Great Britain was published in response to education discrimination towards minorities. It promised to change behavior and attitudes in the classroom shown towards minority students. It also vowed to take steps to properly learn how to educate all students together. Previously, Great Britain would isolate minority students to special education (Great Britian et. al, 1985).
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2000
Dakar Framework for Action
This essay was an analysis of education around the world. It was requested by the World Conference of Education for All. It found that special education systems were not providing fair, equal opportunities to students with learning disabilities and also misplaced students in special education classrooms (UNIESCO, 2000). This information shows that misplaced students are not receiving equal education to their fellow peers.
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2011
World Health Organization Education Study
The World Health Organization found the population of children under 14 in Africa with severe to moderate disabilities was 6.4% of the total population, and that less than 10% of the children with these disabilities were enrolled in primary education (Harry et. al, 2014). This shows a lack of inclusion for African students with learning disabilities to receive equal education.
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2017
Europe Recognizes Special Education Discrimination as a Violation of Human Rights
The Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights wrote an essay outlining the improper placement of students of color into special education. This was sometimes caused by economic struggles or environmental factors rather than intellectual disability. Misplacing minority students into special education isolates them from their white peers, which is segregation. The education received in special education is also not the same in difficulty and non-disabled students fall behind their peers when improperly placed ("Human", 2017).