Abstract:
Disproportionate representation of minority students in special education programs is one of the historical issues facing the educational system in the USA and elsewhere, as mentioned by many previous studies. Thus, a large number of published studies had been trying to determine the factors contributed to this issue alongside its negative impact. After reviewing the published literature, this study found that this issue were mostly underlying by researches, whereas, many other researchers argued that the overrepresentation of minority students in special education seemed to be a global intractable issue, and could be found in some countries such as Canada, Germany, and New Zealand. This study Demonstrated the factors that mainly contributed to this issue, which related to students, teachers, and practices or processes, and negatively impacted students and their parents, as well as the field of education. Additionally, in this study, Response to Intervention (RTI), and culturally relevant teaching practices were introduced as approaches to resolve the issue of overrepresentation and reduce the high-percentage of minority students in special education programs. Some suggestions for futures studies and implications were also provided.