Chapter 4 Disproportionate representation in special education: Overrepresentation of selected subgroups

Misidentification has two meanings. First, it refers to the identification of a student with a disability when in fact he or she does not have a disability. This is also referred to as a false positive. Misidentification can also mean a student has been identified with the wrong disability (e.g., specific learning disability (SLD) instead of mental retardation (MR)). Disproportionality includes both overrepresentation and underrepresentation. Overrepresentation is identifying more students with disabilities than would be expected based on proportions within a defined population. Conversely, underrepresentation refers to identifying fewer students with disabilities than their prevalence in a population.