Appendix A: Lozano Smith Attorneys at Law Opinion Letter
Propriety of Administering I.Q. Tests to African-American Students
XX. XXXX XXXXXXXXXX, Director
March 18, 2002 Page 3
1992 Legal Advisory from the CDE
Following the district court decision in the Crawford case, but before the appeal to the Ninth Circuit, the CDE issued an analysis of the district court order vacating the 1989 modification to the injunction. In this Advisory, the CDE noted that the original Larry P. decision concluded that I.Q. testes were racially and culturally biased and resulted in disproportionate placement of black students in “dead - end” classes. The CDE adopted criteria for complying with the original Larry P. injunction from the unpublished district court opinion. The CDE determined that all special education designations could result in the placement of African- American students in “dead - end” classes, because research showed that many black students of all designations ended up in special day classes and were seldom returned to regular education. The CDE took the position that alternative assessments should be used to assess African-American students for special education eligibility.
The Larry P. Task Force
In response to the 1986 modification of the Larry P. injunction, the State Director of Special Education appointed a task force to develop recommendations regarding policies and alternative assessments to comply with the injunction. In 1989, the task force issued a lengthy report that included lists of prohibited intelligence tests. The task force lists included the tests from the Larry P. decision, as well as about twelve additional tests the task force suggested were subject to the injunction.
1992 Legal Advisory from the CDE
Following the district court decision in the Crawford case, but before the appeal to the Ninth Circuit, the CDE issued an analysis of the district court order vacating the 1989 modification to the injunction. In this Advisory, the CDE noted that the original Larry P. decision concluded that I.Q. testes were racially and culturally biased and resulted in disproportionate placement of black students in “dead - end” classes. The CDE adopted criteria for complying with the original Larry P. injunction from the unpublished district court opinion. The CDE determined that all special education designations could result in the placement of African- American students in “dead - end” classes, because research showed that many black students of all designations ended up in special day classes and were seldom returned to regular education. The CDE took the position that alternative assessments should be used to assess African-American students for special education eligibility.
BP 5002 – Evaluation and Assessment
Page 17
Desert Mountain Special Education Local Plan Area (DMSELPA) (rev. 02/14)
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