Over the course of my research this week, I found some interesting information that led me to a very specific aspect of my research topic. I have been very interested to learn more about disproportionate classification of minorities in special education. There has been a trend of overclassification of minorities as disabled for many years. It has led to federal oversight in classification and because of that there is a new study showing that now there is an underrepresentation of minorities in special education which means that there may be students who are not receiving the help they need because they are a minority and cannot be classified as disabled.

I learned a great deal about research this week and was so excited to be able to find sources from journals, books, studies, that have all been peer reviewed and offer so much research that I am eager to keep digging and learn more! Using the library sources was beneficial, but I was more interested in how much information I could access just from doing an advanced search on Google. I think the evaluation criteria we used was also extremely supportive. Analyzing the currency, relevance, authority, accuracy and purpose of each article helped me focus on the most important details of the research. I was able to eliminate a few different cases and articles based on the currency alone. I want to make sure I am studying recent and relevant information that takes into account federal measures to safeguard against overclassification.

I think the next direction I want to pursue in my research is how disabilities are classified and measured to determine whether or not the law affecting overclassification could be inhibiting students receiving services because of their minority status. I would also like to find out more about the history behind disproportionality, and what federal guidelines are in place to limit overclassification.