Diana v.

Board of Education

Cristina Magallon

Introduction to Special Education 203

Landmark Court Case

Wednesday February 26, 2020

 In 1970 Diana v. California State Board of Education court case was based on

discrimination against minority groups of students in this case Hispanics. Nine Mexican

Americans students whose primary language was Spanish were placed wrongly in

special education programs. They were forced to take an individually administered IQ

test in English. As a result, they all score very low and were classified with the label of

educable mental retardation. The court case filed against the school board of education

wanted them to use appropriate assessment when testing minority groups. The

California Supreme Court had students reevaluated according to assessment

instruments in their Native languages. When the students were retested in their primary

language by a Spanish-speaking examiner they found out that only one of the nine

students were classified as EMR. This case helped a lot against discrimination because

students were now placed based on their ability level instead of on English speaking

skills.

The Diana v. State Board of Education case is a landmark because it drew

attention that the placement and labeling of students into special education were based

on stereotypical beliefs. It made everybody question how objective these tests were,

and if they were based on their intelligence. It exposed that the tests were labeling

inaccurate many students placing them in restrictive special education classes. It was

clear that there was racial discrimination with the use of those evaluation instruments.

Test are still considered neutral and valid in many educational fields; others see them

as forms of institutionalized racism and question cultural and linguistic biases.

When Diana and eight other students were labeled as intellectually disabled

parents were not happy about the results especially since the test were conducted in
English and the children's primary language was Spanish, they decided to raised their

voices. They argued that students who were not raised in a “typical” white middle-class

family were more likely to have a difficult time succeeding in answering the assessment.

Also, the assessment mostly depended on verbal responses and that the questions

were also culturally biased.

The court ultimately ruled in favor of Diana. It ruled that in the state of California,

all future students being assessed for special education needed to be tested in their

primary language. As well as using non-verbal tests as well as extensive supportive

data. Linguistically different students must be tested in their primary language as well as

English. Also, students cannot be placed in special education classes based on an IQ

test that are culturally biased. Verbal test items must be revised to reflect a student’s

cultural heritage. This rule also applied to other Mexican American students who were

already determined to have an intellectual disability. They too were to be reassessed

with a nonverbal test or a test given in their primary language.

 Works Cited

Ferri, Beth A., and David J. Connor. "In the Shadow of Brown: Special Education and

Overrepresentation of Students of Color: RASE RASE TL & LD." Remedial and

Special Education 26.2 (2005): 93-100. ProQuest. 24 Feb. 2020 .

Gargiulo, Richard M., and Emily C. Bouck. Special Education in Contemporary Society :

An Introduction to Exceptionality. Sixth ed. 2017. Print.

Schraven, Jodie, and Jennifer L. Jolly. "SECTION 504 IN AMERICAN PUBLIC

SCHOOLS: An Ongoing Response to Change." American Educational History

Journal 37.1 (2010): 419-36. ProQuest. 24 Feb. 2020 .